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Lady Buffs Knocked Out Of LSC Tournament With 62-53 OT Loss At NSU
March 4, 2005
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- The West Texas A&M University Lady Buff basketball team's bid for a Lone Star Conference-record eighth conference title came up short as the Lady Buffs were defeated by host Northeastern State University, 62-53, Friday night in the LSC semifinals at NSU's Dobbins Field House.
It was the third-straight year that the Lady Buffs have hooked up with the Lady Reds in the postseason, and as NSU has now won all three meetings. WTAMU lost to NSU in the 2003 LSC Tournament Championship game at Tahlequah and the Lady Reds knocked off the Lady Buffs from last year's NCAA-II South Central Regional semifinal.
WTAMU is now 21-8 on the year after having its season-long six-game winning streak snapped as the Lady Buffs were playing in their first overtime of the season.
NSU, which came into the game second in the nation in scoring defense, evens its overtime record at 1-1, and won for the fifth game in a row, improving to 21-8 overall and advancing to Saturday night's LSC Championship game against No. 10 Angelo State University, who knocked off Abilene Christian University, 74-61, in Friday's earlier semifinal. The winner of Saturday's title tilt will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA-II South Central Regional Tournament
WTAMU must now await Sunday night when this year's South Central Regional Tournament field is announced at 9 p.m. Central Time.
Friday's game was a mirror image from last year's Regional semifinal loss when WTAMU rallied late to force overtime, only to see NSU emerge victorius. This time around, the Lady Buffs overcame a 13-point haltime deficit with an 18-4 streak over the final 11 and a half minutes of the game to send the game to the extra session.
After shooting a paltry 18.2 percent (4-of-22) from the field in the first half, WTAMU found itself on the short side of a 27-14 halftime score. The Lady Buffs shot 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from the field in the second half, including 4-of-6 (66.7 percent) from 3-point land. WTAMU finished the game with a 32.1 field goal percentage (17-of-53), including 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.
NSU was 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the field, but were 4-of-24 (16.7 percent) 3-point shooting.
The Lady Buffs were 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) from the free throw line, compared to the Lady Reds at 14-of-15 (93.3 percent), including a perfect 10-of-10 in overtime.
WTAMU had a 40-38 rebounding advantage, but NSU grabbed 11 offensive boards.
The Lady Buffs committed 20 turnovers, which the Lady Reds converted into 14 points, while WTAMU only scored four points off of 15 NSU miscues.
Senior forward Celeste Stevenson and junior guard Tiffany Lewis led WTAMU with 13 points apiece, while seniof forward Vasha Adams added nine and senior guard Suni Jo Petty tallied eight. Junior forward Keisha Monroe pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, but didn't score a point.
Lewis dished out five assists, while senior guard Stephanie Williams added four dimes, while Adams swiped six steals to go with three blocks, matching Monroe's three swats, while junior forward Alicia Saunders had two blocks.
NSU was led by Rikkie Hall's 19 points and eight rebounds, while Jenna Miller added 17 points and Alicia Keys tallied 14.
WTAMU didn't make its first field goal of the game until the 16:39 mark on a Lewis 3-pointer as the Lady Buffs trailed by double-digits for the final five minutes of the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second half, getting down as much as 14 points at 43-29 with 11:27 left in the game.
Petty hit a trey with 8:56 to play to pull WTAMU within 43-36 and hit another 3 with 1:55 to go to complete the comeback and knot the score at 47-all.
Neither team scored for the rest of regulation, as Saunders had a block on a jumper by NSU's Miller with 1:25 left. Adams missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 1:08 to play, but NSU's Hall missed a layup with 44 seconds left and Stevenson rebounded for WTAMU.
The Lady Buffs called timeout with 28 seconds left to set up for the final shot, but Petty lost possession, giving NSU the ball back.
The Lady Reds took a timeout with 10 seconds left, and inbounded the ball from under their own basket, but didn't get a shot off as Lewis knocked the ball away from NSU's Bobbi Jo Truelove as time ran out, forcing overtime.
Keys hit a 3-pointer just 10 seconds into the extra session, and WTAMU never recovered as the Lady Buffs were 2-of-7 from the field in overtime.
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