One of the best basketball conferences in all of NCAA Division II is showing its might on the hardwood.

The men’s and women’s Lone Star Conference title races are tight, and major moves have been made league-wide over the course of the first two months of the season. With the second half yet to come and the meat of conference play up next, however, there are still plenty of scores left to be settled ahead of the pageantry of March.

• Here's More Information On How To Stream The LSC On FloCollege
• The FloCollege End Of Year Awards Are Here, Vote Now For Your Favorites
• See Upcoming Basketball Games On FloCollege

Here’s a debrief on the state of the Lone Star Conference to date — and what to keep an eye on going forward in the second half of the regular season:

LSC Men’s Basketball

Best Team: St. Edward’s Basketball

Smart, cerebral basketball is the reason why the Hilltoppers are sitting at 13-1 and are the LSC’s best team at Christmas.

St. Edward’s has a pair of top-25 wins (Central Washington, Dallas Baptist) so far while backed by the league’s second-best defense (63.6 points allowed per game), best opposing field goal percentage allowed (38.6%), and best assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6), being adept at limiting mistakes while forcing opponents to make them. 

Veteran guard Blake Neilsen has returned from an injury-plagued 2024-25 season to shine this year, averaging 18.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Best Player: Jose Murillo, F, Sr., Eastern New Mexico Basketball

The reigning LSC blocks champion remains the league’s best shot-swatter at 1.6 blocks per game, all while averaging nearly a double-double per night on by far the best shooting (65.3%) of anyone in the conference. 

The Mexico native only seems to be heating up, too; going into the holiday break for the 10-1 Greyhounds — whose 10-game winning streak is the program’s longest since 1992-93 — Murillo has notched a double-double in each of his past four games to make it seven in total, all while shooting at least 50% from the field in 10 of his 11 contests thus far on the year. 

Surprise Team: Western New Mexico Basketball

The Mustangs only won five games in 2024-25. They’ve already eclipsed that tally by three games before the start of the new year. After being picked to finish in 15th place in the preseason, third-year coach Mark Bunker has finally gotten things to click at WNMU, highlighted by a huge win at then-No. 11 St. Edward’s on Dec. 6 in which the Mustangs stormed back from 15 down to pull off the upset in Austin. 

Four players average double figures, and the return of guard Cortaviaus Seales (who transferred away from WNMU after his junior year only to come back for this season) has been a big addition, with the Illinois native averaging a team-high 16.6 points per game.

Best Newcomer: Tash Lunday, F, Gr., UT Permian Basin

Lunday made the jump up to Division II after being a near 20-point-per-game scorer at the NAIA level, and the South Dakotan small forward has successfully risen up to the challenge. 

An efficient scorer who shoots 50% from the field and has made over half of his 3-pointers (12 for 23), Lunday is the LSC’s third-leading scorer at 18.8 points per game going into Christmas, instantly becoming the focal point of the Falcons’ offense as the league’s minutes leader (36.2 minutes per game). His 29-point, 17-rebound, five-assist explosion against Metropolitan State on Nov. 29 was a major statement of how he can terrorize LSC defenses down the stretch.

Game to Watch: Lubbock Christian at Dallas Baptist – Saturday, Jan. 24

The LSC is still extremely wide-open, and with many key matchups in the season’s second half to choose from, this is the one we’re choosing to pencil in on your calendar. 

Preseason favorite Dallas Baptist has four losses, but two came in nonconference play to top-15 competition, and another came to St. Edward’s, putting the Patriots in line for a potentially strong late stretch once they get into the meat of LSC play. 

Punctuated by their defeat of then-No. 7 St. Mary’s on Dec. 11. Lubbock Christian, meanwhile, is the only team in the league with a top-four offense and defense thus far this season, and with the conference’s leading scorer in Amondo Miller, Jr. (22.0 points per game), it should make for a heavyweight clash with potential LSC title implications.

LSC Women’s Basketball

Best Team: West Texas A&M Women’s Basketball

The margins are razor-thin at the top of the LSC standings as Lubbock Christian and Texas Woman’s also have legitimate claims at being the conference’s best team, but we’re giving the edge to the Lady Buffs by way of an impressive resume that includes an exhibition win over Arizona and a lone defeat against the No. 1 team in the country and defending national champion (Grand Valley State). 

Featuring the most electric offense in the LSC by far — 77.8 points per game, more than six points above second place — and the best rebounding in the league by way of pulling down boards (45.0 rebounds per game) and preventing them (29.9 rebounds allowed per game), West Texas A&M has the package to pull ahead in D-II’s most brutal league.

Best Player: Gabby Elliott, F, Sr., Texas Woman’s Basketball

Averaging a double-double for a national title contender is a great way to find yourself on lists like these. Elliott, who had a quiet junior season in her first year at TWU after previous stops at St. Mary’s and UT Tyler, has exploded into a breakout star for the Pioneers averaging 16.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game while simultaneously being the LSC’s third-best shot blocker (2.5 blocks per game). 

She scored 20 points and pulled down eight boards in TWU’s signature victory, a dominant 25-point win at then-No. 2 Pittsburg State, and is shooting 52.8% from the field for a Pioneers squad in the hunt to capture what could be a fourth consecutive LSC championship.

Surprise Team: St. Mary’s Women’s Basketball

Though back-to-back losses entering the holiday break have dinged the Rattlers a little bit, you can’t take away the fact that St. Mary’s seven-game winning streak to open the season was the program’s best start in program history and that it is playing far above its 10th-place projection in the preseason. 

The key? The Rattlers are clutch in close games: St. Mary’s is 5-0 in games decided by six points or less, while sophomore guard/forward Christin Callens (12.0 points, 6.2 rebounds per game) has emerged as one of the LSC’s top underclassman players.

Best Newcomer: Umi Otsuka, G, Jr., UT Dallas

It’s been a so-so season for the Comets, who are .500 at the holiday break in their first season in the LSC, but they found a gem in the transfer portal from Otsuka, who UTD nabbed from Southern Nazarene. Only she and Lubbock Christian star Kennedy Chappell rank in the top five in the LSC in both points and assists, and though Otsuka only stands at 5-foot-5, she often plays bigger than her stature — like when she flirted with a triple-double against Paul Quinn on Dec. 4, scoring 10 points with 10 rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks. 

Averaging 15.8 points and 3.4 assists per game on the season, Otsuka has been penciled into the role of the Comets’ floor general and passed the test with flying colors.

Game to Watch: West Texas A&M at Lubbock Christian – Thursday, Jan. 15

Both West Texas A&M and Lubbock Christian have big potential to finally knock Texas Woman’s off of its perch and claim the LSC throne, making their upcoming clash on Jan. 15 that much more important. 

The Lady Buffs’ potent offense will be matched by a Lady Chaps attack that heavily (and often successfully) relies on the 3-ball, with LCU’s 39.7% 3-point percentage ranking No. 1 in the LSC and No. 5 nationally, and freshman guard Meg Meekins (43.8% 3-point percentage) leading the charge from deep. 

LSC Preseason Player of the Year Kyla Kane, however, is playing at that level for the Lady Buffs at a team-high 13.7 points per game, being the figurehead in a deep West Texas A&M lineup that can put up points quickly.

How To Watch College Basketball On The FloSports Network

Basketball games are streaming all year long on FloHoops, FloCollege and the new FloSports streaming app. Game replays, highlights and more will be available on all platforms. 

Archived Footage On FloCollege

Video footage from all games will be archived and stored in a video library for FloCollege subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions

How To Watch College Basketball

Stream college basketball games on FloHoops and the FloSports app.

Don't miss the latest college basketball action by bookmarking the FloCollege schedule page for the latest games.

Join The College Basketball Conversation

• Follow us on Twitter @FloCollegeHoops
• Follow us on Instagram @FloCollegeBasketball
• Follow us on TikTok @FloHoopsTV
• Watch us on YouTube 
• Like us on Facebook