Feb. 5, 2005

Box Score

The West Texas A&M University women's basketball team used a 42-24 difference in points in the paint to lead the Lady Buffs to a 80-55 walloping of the Abilene Christian University Wildcats Saturday night in a Lone Star Conference South Division showdown. The win was head coach Bob Schneider's 600th victory as a collegiate head coach, as he is now 600-193 in his 27 seasons as a head coach. Schneider coached for three seasons at Texas Woman's University before becoming the Lady Buffs' bench leader, a post he has held for the last 24 years.

There were many former Lady Buffs in the stands, gathering for a reunion to watch the retiring of two of their alumnus have their numbers retired, as Pat McDonald's #52 and Natasha Taylor Stewart's #32 were retired in a special ceremony after the game. The 2004-05 edition of the Lady Buffs put on a performance resembling the Lady Buffs of many of the teams with members in attendance, led by senior forward Vasha Adams, who netted a game-high 20 points, including 12 in the first half. Adams also pulled down nine rebounds, one board shy of her 11th career double-double, as well as tying a career-high for the fifth time with seven steals..

Senior guard Stephanie Williams tallied 15 points, a game after recording a career-high 21 points Thursday. Senior forward Celeste Stevenson added 12 points, while senior guard Suni Jo Petty chipped in 10 points.

ACU was led by Ashley King with 19 points, followed by Stephanie Riles with 16 points.

WTAMU improved to 15-6 overall and 6-2 in the LSC South as the Lady Buffs won their third-straight over ACU and second in a row at the Event Center.

The Lady Buffs outscored the Wildcats in the paint, 42-24, offsetting for their outside struggles, as WTAMU was a paltry 2-of-12 (12.5 percent) from 3-point land.

WTAMU finished the night 25-of-60 (41.7 percent) from the field, while ACU was 20-of-60 (33.3 percent) from the field, including 7-of-17 (41.2 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.

The difference in the game was at the free throw line, where WTAMU was 28-of-38 (73.7 percent), compared to 8-of-8 (100 percent).

The Lady Buff defense forced 32 ACU turnovers, tying the second-most for opponent turnovers this season.

WTAMU was down, 28-27, with 4:13 left in the first half before Adams hit a pair of free throws at the 4:01 mark to give the Lady Buffs the lead for good, as they took a 38-32 lead into halftime, and outscored the Wildcats, 42-23, in the second half.

Adams had a swipe and layup at the 15:15 point of the second half to give WTAMU its first double-digit lead of the game at 47-36, and ACU never got within nine the rest of the game.

The Lady Buffs lead reached 20 for the first time at 62-42 with 7:55 left on a two Adams free throws, and Williams hit a pair of charity shots for WTAMU's biggest lead at 79-52 with 43 seconds left.

The Lady Buffs now hit the road for five-consecutive games, as WTAMU heads to San Angelo, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 10, for a rematch with No. 9 and LSC South leader Angelo State University, who dropped the Lady Buffs 81-66, last Thursday. WTAMU will then head to Abilene to face ACU again, on Saturday, Feb. 10.

Follow WTAMU Basketball on the Buffalo Sports Network on KGNC 710 AM and streamed on the Internet at www.gobuffsgo.com.