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Hot Start Boosts Lady Buffs To 85-54 Kenneling Of Lady Bulldogs
March 1, 2005
The West Texas A&M University Lady Buff basketball team shot over 60 percent in the first 13 minutes of the game as they jumped out to a 37-18 lead and never looked back, kenneling the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Lady Bulldogs, 85-54, in a Lone Star Conference Tournament Quarterfinal Tuesday night at the WTAMU Event Center.
With the win WTAMU, the No. 2 seed from the LSC South, advances to the LSC Tournament Semifinals on Friday at 8 p.m. at Tahlequah, Okla., where the Lady Buffs will face the top seed from the North, host Northeastern State University. NSU defeated Texas A&M University-Commerce, 78-56, Tuesday night.
It was WTAMU's sixth-straight win overall and eighth-straight over SWOSU, improving to 21-7 on the year and 9-1 all-time vs. SWOSU.
The Lady Bulldogs had their six-game winning streak snapped and are now 16-12 overall.
The win also improved WTAMU to 24-9 in LSC Tournament action, a 72.7 winning percentage, which is the highest in LSC history.
WTAMU was making its 12th-straight appearance in the LSC Tournament, and advances to the semifinals for the third year in a row.
All four Lady Buff seniors ended their home career in dramatic fashion, as they all posted double-digits, led by 16 points apiece from Suni Jo Petty and Celeste Stevenson. Petty hit four 3-pointers-all in the first half, and dished out five assists to go with six rebounds, while Stevenson had five rebounds and shot 7-of-11 from the field. Vasha Adams tallied 14 points, along with six rebounds and two steals. Stephanie Williams notched 13 points and dished out seven assists, one off her career-high.
Junior forward Keisha Monroe recorded nine points, a team-high nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks, while junior guard Tiffany Lewis hit a pair of treys and to finish with six points along with dishing out five assists and sophomore forward Alicia Saunders swatted a career-high six shots.
SWOSU was lead by 14 points from Julie Dawson, while Kayla Watson added 10 points and Grace Anne Jones added nine points, but committed nine turnovers, part of the 20 miscues by the Lady Bulldogs.
WTAMU shot 54.2 percent (32-of-59) field goal shooting, and were 7-of-20 (35.0 percent) 3-point shooting for the game, after hitting 7-of-14 (50.0 percent) in the first half. The Lady Buffs were also 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) from the free throw line.
SWOSU was 17-of-64 (26.6 percent) from the field, including 4-of-22 (18.2 percent) from 3-point land. The Lady Bulldogs came into Tuesday's game ranked second in the LSC for 3-point field goals made (6.8 per game) and fifth in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (33.2 percent).
WTAMU had a dominating 27-0 advantage on fast break points and a 38-18 point in the paint edge as well. The Lady Buffs' reserves got significant time, outscoring their counterparts, 25-11.
The Lady Buffs, who led from start to finish, came out of the gates firing, hitting 15 of their first 23 shots (65.2 percent), including 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) from 3-point land, as Petty was 4-of-5, to take at 37-18 lead after a trey from Lewis at the 7:09 mark, prompting a SWOSU timeout.
Less than a minute later, junior guard Sassy Pyburn hit a layup to give the Lady Buffs their first 20 point lead at 39-18 with 6:18 left. The margin was 21 points at the half, 50-29, as WTAMU missed three 3-point attempts in the final 15 seconds.
WTAMU came out of halftime and took a 66-39 lead with 11:37 left in the game after a layup from Petty and coasted to victory, as freshman forward Morgan Carrio hit a jumper from the right wing at the 4:09 mark to give the Lady Buffs their largest lead of the game at a palindromic, 84-48.
Friday night will be the third time that the Lady Buffs have hooked up with the Lady Reds in the postseason and are winless in the previous two meetings. WTAMU lost to NSU in the 2003 LSC Tournament Championship game, 82-58, at Tahlequah, and 79-71 in the NCAA-II South Central Regional semifinals last year at Springfield, Mo.
NSU defeated WTAMU, 51-48, in the only meeting this season back on Jan. 6 at the WTAMU Event Center, as the all-time series is tied at 4-all.
Fans can tune into WTAMU Basketball action on the Buffalo Sports Network on KGNC 710 AM or streamed on the Internet at www.gobuffsgo.com.
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