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Lady Buffs Dropped By Bronchos, 73-68
Jan. 8, 2005
The West Texas A&M University Lady Buffs couldn't take advantage of double-doubles from senior forwards Celeste Stevenson and Vasha Adams as WTAMU dropped its second home game in a row, falling to the University of Central Oklahoma, 73-68, Saturday night at the WTAMU Event Center.
The Lady Buffs are now 7-4 overall, while the Bronchos improve to 8-4, surpassing last year's win total, as UCO had a ledger of 7-20.
Saturday's UCO win was its first ever on WTAMU's home court and was just the Bronchos' fifth win in the 27-game all-time series between the two teams.
Stevenson posted her third straight double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Adams netted a team-high 24 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. WTAMU's shooting woes continued though, as the Lady Buffs shot a paltry 32.3 percent (20-of-62) from the field, despite holding a 51-39 rebounding advantage.
UCO had three players in double-figures, led by Laura Hamilton's game-high 27 points, including 15 in the second half, followed by 11 points from Meghan Craig and 10 points from Lacie Allen.
The Lady Buffs lost consecutive games for the first time since the 2002-03 season, after losing to Northeastern State, 51-48, Thursday night as WTAMU shot 28.8 percent from the field.
UCO took a 5-0 lead in the first minute of Saturday's game, before WTAMU took a shortlived lead at 12-11 on an Adams jumper and 13-13 on a layup from senior guard Stephanie Williams.
The Lady Buffs later had a 23-21 lead with 6:51 to play in the first half on a pair of free throws from Stevenson, but the Bronchos went on a 15-4 run to take a 36-27 lead with 2:32 left in the half on a two free throws from Allen and coasted to a 41-31 halftime lead.
After Hamilton gave UCO a 56-45 lead with 10:39 to play on a jumper from the top of the key, WTAMU went on a 10-0 run, sparked by a trey from senior guard Suni Jo Petty and capped by a free throw from junior guard Sassy Pyburn to close to 56-55 at the 8:01 mark.
That would be the closest the Lady Buffs would get as UCO took a 69-61 lead with 41 seconds to play on two free throws from Jennifer Bullis.
The Lady Buffs twice cut it to six points, both times on free throws, but the Bronchos matched the made free throws.
Adams hit her first 3-pointer of the season, on a desperation shot from the corner with 3.2 seconds left for the final scoring.
WTAMU opens LSC South play on Monday, Jan. 10, by traveling to Portales, N.M. to take on border-rival Eastern New Mexico at 8 p.m. Central Time (7 p.m. Mountain Time). ENMU is 5-6 after losing for the third-straight time, falling to Northeastern State, 46-43, Saturday.
The Lady Buffs remain on the road for their final crossover games, traveling to Ada, Okla. on Thursday, Jan. 13 to take on East Central University and continuing on to Durant, Okla. to face Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Saturday, Jan. 15. Both games tip-off at 6 p.m. and are part of doubleheaders with the WTAMU men.
Fans can tune into the action on the Buffalo Sports Network on KGNC 710 AM or streamed on the internet at www.gobuffsgo.com.
The Lady Buffs and Buffs return home on Jan. 20 for LSC South play against Midwestern State University in a doubleheader at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Contact the WTAMU Athletics ticket office at 806-651-4424.
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