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No. 17 WTAMU Snaps Six-Year San Angelo Skein Saturday With 70-61 Win Over ASU
Feb. 18, 2006
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- The 17th-ranked West Texas A&M University Lady Buff basketball team did something Saturday night it hadn't done since Jan. 8, 2000, by defeating Angelo State University at San Angelo, Texas. WTAMU's 70-61 conquest of ASU snapped the Lady Buffs' five-game losing skein to the Rambelles at San Angelo. The win also kept WTAMU in sole possession atop the Lone Star Conference South Division standings with an 11-1 division mark and a 22-3 overall ledger, as the Lady Buffs have now tied a season-long winning streak with seven victories in a row.
It was ASU's second-straight loss, as the Rambelles drop to 9-3 in the LSC South and 18-7 overall, falling to third place. ASU had been in a first-place tie with WTAMU prior to losing Wednesday at Eastern New Mexico University and then Saturday to WTAMU.
Tarleton State University, who was knocked out of a three-way tie with WTAMU and ASU by losing to the Rambelles last Saturday, stayed in second-place with a 76-72 win at Texas A&M University-Kingsville Saturday afternoon. TSU will take on WTAMU next Saturday, Feb. 25 in the regular-season finale at the First United Bank Center.
For ticket information for Saturday's big LSC South doubleheader, as the WTAMU men are currently in second-place and Tarleton State's men are first-place in the division, contact the WTAMU Athletics Ticket Office at 806-651-4424.
Junior forward Alicia Saunders logged her seventh double-double of the season and her career with a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds, to go with six blocked shots. Saunders scored 14 of her points in the second half, as WTAMU held off an ASU rally and the Lady Buffs maintained their 34-24 haltime lead.
Saunders now has 98 blocks on the season, and has moved up to No. 2 on the WTAMU single-season blocked shots list, needing one more to tie Brandi Green's 99 swats in 1998-99.
Senior forward Keisha Monroe netted 14 points, while freshman guard Emily Brister tallied 13 points.
The Lady Buffs scored 21 points off the Rambelles' 16 turnovers, while ASU only managed seven points off WTAMU's 24 miscues.
WTAMU shot 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the field in the second half, and finished the night hitting 44.2 percent (23-of-52) from the field, including 4-of-11 (36.4 percent) behind the 3-point arc. The Lady Buffs were 20-of-32 (62.5 percent) at the free throw line.
The Lady Buff defense limited the Rambelles to just 23-of-71 (32.4 percent), as WTAMU maintained in LSC leading field goal percentage defense. ASU hit 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range and were 11-of-20 (55.0 percent) at the charity stripe.
The Rambelles were led by a double-double by Meghann LeJeune with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Kandra Lackey tallied 14 points, Christina Johnson netted 13 points and Britinee Davis tossed in 11.
WTAMU had a 47-41 rebounding advantage, as three Lady Buffs had seven or more boards.
The game opened with two ties and three lead changes before sophomore guard Dixie Bell's three-point play at the 12:15 mark capped a 10-0 Lady Buff run that gave WTAMU an 18-8 lead, and never trailed again.
The margin was between five and 12 points for the remainder of the half, as WTAMU took a 34-24 lead into intermission.
Brister hit a jumper with 14:22 on the clock for a 15-point lead at 44-29, WTAMU's largest lead of the game.
ASU trimmed the gap to two points at 52-50 with 7:27 remaining on a 3-pointer by Davis, but WTAMU countered with a three-point play from Saunders 20 seconds later and the Lady Buffs held the Rambelles at bay from there on outstretching the margin to 65-52 with 4:11 to go on a Saunders jumper.
WTAMU heads to Wichita Falls, Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 22, to take on Midwestern State University before Saturday's showdown with Tarleton State at the First United Bank Center.
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