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Lady Buffs Rammed By #9 Angelo State, 81-66, Thursday
Feb. 3, 2005
The West Texas A&M University women's basketball team was rammed by No. 9 Angelo State University, 81-66, Thursday night in a Lone Star Conference South Division showdown at the WTAMU Event Center. ASU took a half-game lead over WTAMU atop the LSC South standings.
Senior guard Stephanie Williams netted a career-high 21 points, including 12 in the first half for WTAMU which lost for the fourth time at home this season, and had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Lady Buffs are now 14-6 overall and 5-2 in the LSC South.
ASU won its fifth-straight overall and snapped the Rambelles a two-game losing streak to WTAMU in the regular season. ASU is now 17-2 overall and 5-1 in LSC South action.
The Lady Buffs yielded the most points since losing at Emporia State University, 85-71, in the second game of the season, as Angelo State outscored WTAMU, 48-33, in the second half, pulling away from a 33-33 halftime score.
Senior forward Vasha Adams and junior guard Tiffany Lewis notched 14 points apiece, while senior forward Celeste Stevenson tallied a season-low eight points, but pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
ASU had five players in double-figures led by Natalja Tsurbakova's double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, along with seven blocked shots. Courtney Nowlin added 15 points, followed by 13 points apiece by Sharon Ballenger and Christina Johnson, and Ashley King chipped in with 10 points.
ASU outrebounded WTAMU, 35-27, and shot 57.9 percent (33-of-57) from the field, including 17-of-27 (63.0 percent) in the second half, while WTAMU was 44.8 percent (26-of-58) field goal shooting.
Lewis hit three 3-pointers and Williams hit a pair of treys, as the Lady Buffs were 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) from 3-point land, compared to 1-of-7 (14.3 percent) for the Rambelles.
ASU dominated inside though, as they outscored WTAMU, 54-38, on points in the paint.
There were six lead changes and five ties in the first half, as neither team could open more than a four point lead, with each team doing so on two different occasions.
A putback by Johnson with one second left knotted the score at 33's going into halftime and the second half opened just as tight, as Stevenson hit a pair of free throws with 14:12 to go to pull WTAMU within 47-45.
On ASU's ensuing possession, the WTAMU bench was issued a technical foul after a controversial no-call in the Rambelles' backcourt.
Ballenger hit both free throws, then hit a 3-pointer from the right wing, and ASU suddenly had a seven-point lead at 52-45 with 13:31 to play and WTAMU didn't get any closer than six points from there on out.
The deficit climbed to double-digits for the first time at 64-53 with 6:34 to go on a layup from King before the Lady Buffs battled by to 70-64 with 2:38 left on a layup from junior forward Keisha Monroe, who had nine points on the night.
ASU took a timeout with 2:27 remaining and closed out the game with an 11-2 streak, hitting nine-of-nine from the free throw line to secure the victory.
The Lady Buffs return to the court for another LSC South showdown on Saturday, hosting Abilene Christian University. ACU is 14-5 overall and 5-1 in the LSC South after edging Eastern New Mexico University, 76-73, Thursday night at Portales, N.M. ACU led, 34-12 in the first half, but had to rally from a 68-66 deficit with two minutes left for the win. Call the WTAMU Athletics Ticket Office at (806) 651-4424 for more information, or visit the official WTAMU Athletics web site at www.gobuffsgo.com. More stats and info to follow later.
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