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Feb. 20, 2008

Box Score

CANYON, Texas - Junior forward Jamie Dreiling made 8-of-10 field goals for a game-high 18 points as the No. 16 West Texas A&M women's basketball team stretched its home court winning streak to 43 consecutive games Wednesday night, defeating Texas A&M-Kingsville by the score of 81-64.

With the victory, WT improves its overall mark this season to 20-4 and their league best record in Lone Star Conference South Division play to 10-1. The win secures the sixth straight and 21st overall season that the Lady Buffs have collected at least 20 victories. Texas A&M-Kingsville, meanwhile, falls to 6-18 overall and 2-9 in LSC South action.

Additionally, the Lady Buffs top the South Central Region of the latest batch of NCAA Division II Regional Rankings with an 18-1 mark in region games.

The Javelinas came out of the gate with the hot shooting hand in the contest, making a pair of three pointers on their first two possessions to take an early 6-2 lead, but the Lady Buffs fought back with a 10-2 run to go ahead, 12-8 on a three-point basket from junior Emily Brister with 15:42 on the clock.

Five turnovers hampered the Lady Buffs' efforts as the two teams went to the second media timeout at the 11:43 mark tied at 14-14. After the break and a stern talk by head coach Krista Gerlich, WT retook the court and responded with an 11-0 run over the next 2:05 to go ahead, 25-14, and force a timeout from Javelinas head coach Scott Hyland.

The lead again stretched to 11 at 28-17 as junior guard Chelsea Blackshear drained a three-pointer with 8:03 remaining in the opening period. The Levelland, Texas, native finished the game with eight points and six assists to go along with three rebounds and a block.

Texas A&M-Kingsville held strong and took advantage of some sloppy WT play to go on a 14-7 run, which cut the home lead to only four at 35-31 with 3:27 remaining in the half.

The run fell short of tying the game and Lady Buffs would not allow the Javelinas to get any closer, taking a 42-35 lead into the intermission. At the half, WT was led in scoring by Dreiling and Courtney Lee, who each contributed 10 points in the game's first 20 minutes.

After halftime, WT remained in control, although the effort was not their most crisp of the season, allowing TAMU-Kingsville to shoot 48.1 percent from the floor for the game. Freshman Megan McLain, who scored all ten of her points in the game during the second half, gave the Lady Buffs their largest advantage of the night, 74-57, when she sank a three-pointer with 2:44 to play.

Joining Dreiling and McLain in double figure scoring was Lee, who finished with 16 points, and junior All-American Emily Brister, who tallied 14. Brister was also significant on the defensive end, notching a game-high five steals to bring her team-leading total to 75 on the season.

The Lady Buffs are back in action this Saturday as they entertain the TexAnns from Tarleton State in a 6 p.m. contest at the first United Bank Center.