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No. 22 WTAMU Avenges Loss With 10-Point Win Over MSU Saturday
Feb. 14, 2004
The 22nd-ranked West Texas A&M University Lady Buffs avenged last week's loss to Midwestern State University by knocking off the Lady Indians, 67-57, Saturday night in an important Lone Star Conference South division contest at the WTAMU Event Center.
With the win, the Lady Buffs maintain the three-way logjam atop the division standings with Eastern New Mexico and Abilene Christian who both won Saturday. All three teams have 8-2 LSC South records. The win also avenges last Saturday's 70-66 overtime loss to MSU at Wichita Falls, Texas, a loss that snapped WTAMU's 13-game winning streak.
The win was the Lady Buffs' 19th in their last 21 games as they improve to 20-3 overall and 8-2 in LSC South action. It also snapped a four-game MSU win streak in the overall series, as the Lady Buffs now lead the all-time series, 23-8.
Senior guard Carlee Howard was one short of a career-high by draining six 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 18 points. Howard has drilled 11 3-pointers in the last two games, after making a total of just five treys in the previous four games.
Junior forward Celeste Stevenson posted her second-straight double-double and third of the season with 15 points and a team-high 12 rebounds to go with a career-high five blocked shots, while fellow junior forward Keisha Monroe scored 13 points off the bench, including 10 points and five rebounds in the first half, staking WTAMU to a 38-26 lead at intermission. Monroe led WTAMU's reserves to a 22-13 scoring advantage over the MSU bench.
MSU's Jel-ani Armstrong maintained her double-double per game average with game-highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds to register her 13th double-double of the season. However, she was the only Lady Indian in double-figures, as MSU's leading scorer Meosha Walker netted just seven points, 11 below her season average, but did pull down 10 rebounds.
WTAMU shot just 38.2 percent (21-55) from the field, and was 7-19 (36.8 percent) from 3-point land, but the Lady Buffs shot 72 percent from the free throw line, outscoring MSU, 18-11, from the charity stripe.
The Lady Indians had a 34.4 shooting percentage (22-64), including 2-11 (18.2 percent) from the behind the 3-point arc. MSU outrebounded WTAMU, 46-40, but committed 19 turnovers, compared to 16 by the Lady Buffs.
The intensity level in Saturday's contest was of heavyweight proportions, as WTAMU maintained a close-but-not-too comfortable lead for the majority of the game, with the Lady Buffs matching every Lady Indian run with a streak of their own.
After MSU opened an 8-6 lead three minutes into the game, the Lady Buffs scored the next six points as part of a 17-5 run to open a 23-13 lead with 9:25 remaining in the first half, capped by a layup from Monroe.
The Lady Indians went on a run of their own, reeling off the next seven points to pull within 23-20 with 7:10 to play in the first half.
Junior guard Suni Jo Petty capped an 11-0 run by giving WTAMU its largest lead of the half at 34-20 with 3:29 on the clock with a pair of free throws, and the lead never dipped below double-digits the rest of the half.
MSU came out of halftime and cut the lead to 41-36 with 15:22 left, but WTAMU regained control with seven unanswered points, capped by a layup from junior forward Vasha Adams at the 12:34 mark to put the Lady Buffs in front, 48-36.
The WTAMU lead was under eight points from there on out, and extended to 14 at 60-46 with 3:14 left in the game as Stevenson rebounded and putback her own miss.
With the win, the Lady Buffs remain in a three-way tie atop the LSC South standings and the right to host the LSC Tournament with Eastern New Mexico and Abilene Christian. ENMU pulled away from Texas Woman's, 51-38, while ACU ran away from Texas A&M-Kingsville, 87-65.
WTAMU wraps up its four-game homestand next weekend, as the Lady Buffs host Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m., before hosting Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m., in the regular-season home finale.
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