Roster | Schedule | News | Archives | Home

Feb. 7, 2008

Box Score

ABILENE, Texas - The No. 12 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs dropped a hard fought overtime loss to Abilene Christian, 71-66, on Thursday night at Moody Coliseum, ending WT's 29-game win streak in conference play. Juniors Emily Brister, Courtney Lee and Jamie Dreiling all finished with double-digit point tallies as Brister finished with 20 and Lee and Dreiling scored 10 apiece.

The Lady Buffs fall to 16-4 on the season and 6-1 in Lone Star Conference South action, but remain on top of the standings; meanwhile, the Wildcats improve to 11-9 overall with a 5-2 conference mark, tying with Angelo State and Tarleton State for second place.

WT missed its first four baskets while Abilene Christian started the first half with three made buckets to go ahead, 6-0, before junior Jamie Dreiling put the Lady Buffs on the board with a jumper just outside the paint. Sophomore Holly Isaacs converted an old-fashioned three-point play at 13:09 to give WT its first lead of the game; Isaacs' points followed another lay-up by Dreiling to spark a 13-0 run by the Lady Buffs.

The Wildcats battled back, though, going on a 12-4 run of their own, but WT took over the scoring and Brister sank a buzzer-beater jumper after ducking under ACU's defense to send the teams to the locker rooms with 30-26 lead in favor of the Lady Buffs.

ACU committed 16 turnovers in the half and finished the game with a total of 27, but WT only scored 25 points off of the giveaways. Abilene Christian also out-rebounded West Texas A&M by a 42-28 margin.

The second half was almost a different game as the teams set out with a breakneck pace; ACU took its first lead of the game since the 14:00 mark in the first stanza on a lay-up by Audrey Maxwell, but the Lady Buffs benefited from a three-pointer from Dixie Bell which tied the game at 39 apiece with 14:25 on the clock.

With a three-pointer from junior Chelsea Blackshear at 8:39 that gave WT a one-point lead, the Lady Buffs went on a 12-2 run, capped by a jumper by freshman Joni Unruh. Unruh, a native of Amarillo, Texas, made a huge defensive stop for the Lady Buffs as she took a change with 1:06 to play, nullifying Kristee Davidson's made jumper and causing Davidson to foul out. But ACU again worked its way back from the deficit to go ahead, 61-60, as Maxwell sank two free throws with just 16 ticks on the clock.

Blackshear took the ball up the court and drove to the basket, drawing a foul and two free throws with 4.08 seconds left. She missed the first attempt but refocused to sink the second try, sending the game into overtime despite WT shooting just 36.7% from the floor in the second half.

Senior Jenessa McKray muscled around ACU's Maxwell and sank a lay-up that put WT ahead, 63-61, just over 30 seconds into the overtime period. Wildcat Jody Meyer was fouled on ACU's next possession and she made both free throws to tie the game. The Lady Buffs got the ball back but quickly committed a turnover; McKray came up with a bit steal on the Wildcats' drive and dished the ball to Brister for an easy lay-up, but for the second time in OT the Wildcats tied the game, this time at 65 points apiece with 2:16 to play.

Maxwell made a lay-up over the WT defense with just 44 seconds left to push ACU ahead, 67-66, then Kat Kundmueller was fouled and sank the ensuing two free throws to give the Wildcats a three-point lead with 22.21 seconds on the clock. West Texas A&M tried to tie the game with a three point basket, but Isaacs misfired and although Blackshear grabbed an offensive rebound, her shot aired out of bounds. ACU inbounded the ball and Alex Guiton was fouled promptly; she sank both free throws with two seconds in the game to put the game out of reach of the Lady Buffs.

West Texas A&M continues its road trip with a 6 p.m. match-up at Angelo State on Saturday, followed by the men's game at 8 p.m.