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Feb. 2, 2008

Box Score

CANYON, Texas - Junior All-American Emily Brister poured in a game-high 24 points to lead the West Texas A&M women's basketball team to its 41st consecutive victory at the First United Bank Center, as the No. 14 Lady Buffs downed Texas Woman's 74-56 Saturday afternoon.

The victory also marks WT's 32nd straight win over a Lone Star Conference South Division opponent, a streak that dates back to the 2005-06 season, while improving the squad's overall record this season to 16-3 and its league mark to 6-0. The Pioneers, meanwhile, fall to 7-12 on the year and 2-4 in LSC South Division play.

Four early points from Jamie Dreiling gave the Lady Buffs a 6-2 advantage during the game's opening minutes. The initial advantage for WT would swell to as much as at six at 9-3, but TWU battled back to tied the game at 9-9 and again at 11-11.

Dreiling, a Lake Kiowa, Texas, native finished the contest with 10 points and a team-high six rebounds. Also ending play in double-digit scoring was freshman Joni Unruh, who tallied 11 points, three assists and three steals.

"I thought Jamie played really well," said head coach Krista Gerlich. "She was really active and she made some nice drives for us. Joni also does a great job on defense while also being very potent on offense. She's a complete player and we're really pleased with how both of them are playing."

Three-pointers by sophomore Holly Issacs and Dixie Bell on back-to-back possessions gave the Lady Buffs a 25-19 lead with 3:49 to play. Bell's running jumper on the Lady Buffs' next trip down the court and a subsequent steal and lay-up by Isaacs pushed the WT run to 10-2 as the Lady Buffs went ahead, 29-19.

Another long distance shot, this time by freshman Joni Unruh with 28 ticks left, highlighted WT's final possession of the first half, but the Pioneers were able to salvage some momentum heading into the intermission with a short jumper as time expired, sending the teams to the locker rooms with the Lady Buffs holding a 33-23 advantage.

Following the intermission, WT took reasserted control of the contest as it claimed the first seven points of the second period - all scored by Brister, including a three-pointer, two free throws and a lay-up - to open a 40-23 lead.

Renee Renz sank a jumper then made a lay-up within 40 seconds to cut the Lady Buffs' advantage to 10 at 8:09, but that was as close as the Pioneers would get in the game; another Brister lay-up and two made free throws by Dreiling pushed WT back ahead by 14 points.

The second half lead for the Lady Buffs grew to as many as 18 when Bell drained a long range basket with 1:23 left in the game as WT went on to finish with a 74-56 advantage.

The Lady Buffs are back on the road next week as they travel to Abilene and San Angelo, Texas, to battle Abilene Christian and Angelo State in LSC South Division action.