Women's Basketball | 2/7/2017 3:44:00 PM

SAN ANGELO - The No. 12 Angelo State women's basketball team will be on the road for two of its final four road games as they take on Texas A&M-Commerce at 5:30 p.m. Thursday before facing Tarleton State Saturday at 2 p.m. The game at Tarleton State will be broadcast on ESPN3.

The Belles (18-2, 12-)  are currently riding a four-game winning streak dating back to a January 24 win against Texas A&M-Kingsville and are tied for first place in the Lone Star Conference with Eastern New Mexico.

"This will be by far our toughest road challenge all year," ASU head women's basketball coach Kevin Baker said. "Both of these teams play better and are more confident at home. I think our team is looking forward to the challenge though, and we will have them prepared for it."

ASU is currently No. 8 in the nation in scoring offense and ranked in the top 25 in the nation in many other categories including fewest turnovers (No. 16), field goal percentage (No. 18), free throws made (No. 14), and scoring margin (No. 17).

Jasmine Prophet, Taylor Dorsey and Christina Robinson have led the way for the Belles' prolific offense so far this season. Prophet had one of her best games of the season in ASU's most recent game against Midwestern State, hitting her scoring average of 13 points while bringing down a career-high 17 rebounds. The performance was the post's fourth double-double on the season.

Dorsey and Robinson have contributed from the guard positions on the floor, with Dorsey leading the team in scoring at 17.7 points per game. The Fort Worth native is first in the conference in field goals made and leads the team in assists with an average of 4.3 per game. Robinson has slowly seen her scoring average increase throughout the season, reaching the double-digit scoring mark in five of Angelo State's last seven games. The senior point guard is up to 9.2 points per game and is also first on the team making 45 percent of her shots from behind the arc.

The Belles have gotten strong production off the bench as well so far this season, led by Madi Greenwood and Lexi Murphy. Greenwood is averaging 8.4 points per game off the bench this season as well as three rebounds, while Murphy averages 8.1 points and is the team's second best rebounder with 5.7 per game.

Bria Frierson, Keanna Kelly and Chenelle Pelle are all averaging more than five points a game for the Belles as well, helping to provide a balanced scoring attack.

Defensively, Prophet has been on top of the team as well, averaging more than seven boards a game and leading the conference in blocked shots with 31 on the season. Dorsey leads the team and is third in the conference in steals with 2.05 per game, and Robinson, Murphy, Kelly and Frierson all average more than a steal per game too.

Angelo State defeated Texas A&M – Commerce 78-71 when the two teams matched up in San Angelo earlier this season, but the Lions are one of the hottest teams in the LSC right now having won five of their last six games, including an 85-67 when over Eastern New Mexico who is tied for first in the LSC. The only loss TAMC has suffered in the past three weeks was a 96-94 thriller to Cameron in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Tarleton State enters its weekend matchups with a 10-10 overall record including a 9-5 showing in conference play. The TexAnns are much better at home (6-5) than they are on the road (3-5), but they did take ASU to overtime before losing 81-74 on January 5 when the two teams met in San Angelo. The Belles have not won in Stephenville since 2008-09 season and have only won there twice in the last 10 years.

"I don't know that there is ever an advantage when you go to Tarleton State. You've just got to play at a very high level," Baker said. "Our team didn't play their very well last year, but that is not this year's team. They play quite a bit better on their home floor for whatever reason so we know it's going to be a tough battle, but we'll be prepared and hopefully be better for playing them."