Feb. 17, 2007

Box Score

ABILENE, Texas - A dominating second half performance pushed the No. 8 West Texas A&M women's basketball to victory on Saturday night over Lone Star Conference South Division rival Abilene Christian, 80-64 at the Kimbrell Arena on the campus of McMurry University.

In the first half ACU looked to avenge its January 20 lost at the First United Bank Center, as the Wildcats took a 35-30 lead into the locker room. In the first stanza, WTAMU was led by sophomore Emily Brister, who had a team-high 14 points, while senior Natalie Wheeler followed up with six.

As a team, the Lady Buffs shot 12-of-27 from the field, 4-of-5 from the outside and 2-of-6 from the free throw stripe. WTAMU however, was out rebounded by ACU in the opening period, 29-20.

A 7-0 run to open the second half helped propel WTAMU to an early lead in the final stanza, 37-35. Later in the half, the Lady Buffs would pull away as they got their lead up to 15 with just over four minutes remaining in the contest. During WTAMU's second half runs, it combined to force ACU into 11 turnovers.

As a team, WTAMU shot 63 percent from the field, 3-for-4 from 3-point range and 9-of-12 from the charity stripe in the second half. The Lady Buff defense forced the Wildcats into an 0-for-9 performance from outside and 12-of-27 shooting from the field.

Brister finished the game with a team best 31 points, while Wheeler rounded out the double digit scoring for WTAMU with 10. Sophomore Courtney Lee had a team-high seven rebounds and chipped in with nine points. Leading the way for Abilene was Audrey Maxwell, who scored 20 points and pulled down a game-high 20 rebounds.

WTAMU moves its record to 23-3 overall, 12-0 in the LSC South and it has won a season best 10 games in a row. Meanwhile Abilene falls to 15-11 in its 2006-07 campaign and 6-6 in the conference. The Lady Buffs next action will be Wednesday at Tarleton State for a 6 p.m. tip-off.