March 9, 2008

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BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - For the second time in the last three years and ninth time in program history, the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs have claimed the Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship as they defeated the North Division's No. 1 seed in Central Oklahoma, 85-73, on Sunday afternoon.

Four Lady Buffs finished with double-figure scoring as junior South Division Player of the Year Emily Brister led the way with 28 points, while junior Jamie Dreiling finished with 19 points, sophomore Holly Isaacs tallied a career-high 16 points and freshman Joni Unruh recorded 10 points. Brister was named the LSC Tournament MVP for the second time while Isaacs earned her first All-LSC Tournament team nod.

The win came in WT's third consecutive appearance in the tournament final as the Lady Buffs improved to a record 32-11 mark in 20 years of LSC Tournament appearances.

"All I can say is that these girls are amazing," said WT head coach Krista Gerlich. "We came out firing on all cylinders. We really went to war early and set the tone with the way we came out. We talk at halftime about playing not to lose and to keep attacking. I have never been more proud of them, this is what we have been working towards all year."

Isaacs opened the scoring in the game as she sank a three-pointer just 46 second into the game on an assist from Brister, but UCO came back with the help of four points from Cassidy Pillow to take a 6-5 lead.

A jumper from Brister at the 16:54 mark put the Lady Buffs back ahead, 7-6, and sparked a 20-10 run that left WT with a 25-16 lead at the second media timeout with 11:25 on the clock. During the run, Brister scored eight of her 17 first-half points while Dreiling tallied seven of her 12 points in the half and the Lady Buffs drew two charges from the Bronchos to regain possession.

Dreiling's points in the run swung the face-paced momentum in the Lady Buffs' direction as she grabbed a steal from Central Oklahoma's Cristina Yarbrough and drew a foul on the break-away lay-up attempt and sank two free throws then converted an old-fashioned three-point play just 44 seconds later.

Isaacs lengthened the Lady Buffs' advantage as she drained a three with 10:11 on the clock on an assist from Chelsea Blackshear to put WT ahead 30-18, then again Dreiling made a big play for WT as she drew a third offensive foul when UCO's Ashley Beckley pushed off in an attempt to get open. West Texas A&M capitalized on UCO's five turnovers in the half, scoring 11 points off of the give aways.

The Lady Buffs continued to sink the overwhelming majority of their shots in the half as Dreiling made a three-pointer at the 5:20 mark to give WT its biggest lead of the half at 42-25, a 17-point advantage. Blackshear capped off the impressive offensive output by draining a long distance basket with seven seconds remaining to send the Lady Buffs to the locker room with a 52-37 lead.

For the half, WT shot an unstoppable 62.1% on 18-of-29 made baskets from the floor and 69.2% on 9-of-13 made attempts from behind the arc.

West Texas A&M carried its fire into the opening minutes of the second half with Brister pushing the Lady Buffs' lead to 55-37 on a three-point basket just 30 seconds in followed by a driving lay-up from junior Courtney Lee at the 18:50 mark to make it 57-39.

With 15:25 on the clock, Dreiling drew yet another UCO offensive foul then stormed down the court to make a nice move in the paint and sink a lay-up while also drawing a foul. She made the resulting free throw to give WT a 19-point advantage, its biggest of the game, at 62-42 with 15:10 left in the game.

Central Oklahoma slowly gained momentum as the Bronchos chipped away at the Lady Buffs' lead; UCO came as close as just nine points behind at the 9:15 mark when Pillow made two free throws to make it 66-57, but after Unruh and UCO's Lizzie Brenner, the Co-North Division Player of the Year, were called for fouls at the same time with just over eight minutes to play, the Lady Buffs were able to rebuild their lead back up to around 13 points for the majority of the rest of the game.

The double foul was Brenner's fifth of the game ending her play with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and five rebounds.

West Texas A&M outshot Central Oklahoma as the Lady Buffs drained an impressive 62.5% (10-of-16) from behind the arc, 50% (25-of-50) from the floor and 86.2% (25-of-29) from the free throw line. Three-point shooting proved to be the deal breaker for the WT as the Bronchos only made 3-of-13 (23.1%) during the game.

The Lady Buffs now await their fate in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, with the selections to be made on Sunday night.