Basketball Game Preview: Tulare Western Mustangs vs. Dinuba Emperors

Tulare Western is 2-8 against Dinuba since December of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Tulare Western Mustangs will face off against the Dinuba Emperors at 7:15 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Tulare Western will bounce into Friday's game after beating Mission Oak, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Tulare Western walked away with a 41-32 victory over Mission Oak on Wednesday.

Tulare Western's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Annette Lopez led the charge by putting up eight points in addition to seven steals and five boards. Lopez is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Regina Toscano, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and ten rebounds.

Meanwhile, Dinuba had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 37.3 points) and they went ahead and made it eight on Wednesday. They came out on top against the Bullpups by a score of 44-31. Given the Emperors' advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 193rd, while the Bullpups are ranked 865th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Dinuba's win was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 16-5. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.4 points per game. As for Tulare Western, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 15-8 record this season.

Tulare Western suffered a grim 45-22 defeat to Dinuba when the teams last played on January 14th. Can Tulare Western avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.