Feb. 3, 2010

Final Stats

PORTALES, New Mexico – The #9-ranked West Texas A&M Lady Buffs put together an impressive second half of play to defeat the Eastern New Mexico Zias, 75-57. The win lifts the Lady Buffs to 21-2 and 5-1 in the LSC, while ENMU falls to 6-15 and 1-5 in conference play.

WT struggled to get their rhythm in the first half, while ENMU posted a solid 57.7 percent shooting clip compared to the Lady Buffs’ 37.5 percent in the first half. The result was a very close game, with WT leading by only two points at halftime, 35-33.

The second half was a different story as the Lady Buffs picked up the action and hit 12-23 shots from the field with four three-pointers for a 52.2 percent shooting percentage, while Eastern found the bucket only six times for a 35.3 percent shooting clip.

Four Lady Buffs tallied double-digits, led by Joni Unruh (Jr., G, Amarillo, Texas) with her second 20+ outing with 21 points. Jamie Simmons (So., F, Houston, Texas) followed with a double-double, recording 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Ceciley Johnson (Sr., C, Berkeley, Calif.) and Maddy Brown (Sr., F, Honeoye Falls, NY) with 10 points each.

Johnson grabbed six boards and Unruh pulled down four to contribute to the Lady Buffs’ 29 total boards. The Zias did outrebound WT by one, pulling down 30 total rebounds.

Turnovers were a game changer as Eastern turned the ball over 25 times, while the Lady Buffs gave the ball up only 16 times. 14 of the Zias turnovers were from WT steals, led by Unruh with five, and Simmons and Aly Sherman (So., G, Mt. Vernon, Texas) with three each.

The Lady Buffs will face Eastern New Mexico again at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas, on Saturday, Feb. 6,  for Lone Star Conference rivalry week. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m., with the men’s game following.