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#22 Lady Buffs Suffer 85-71 Defeat To #5 Emporia State
Nov. 20, 2004
EMPORIA, Kan. -- The 22nd-ranked West Texas A&M University suffered an 85-71 defeat at the hands of #5 Emporia State University Saturday night in the ESU Candlewood Suites Classic at White Auditorium in Emporia, Kan.
In Schneider Family Feud IV, Emporia State coached by Brandon Schneider, son of WTAMU head coach Bob Schneider, pulled away from a 45-41 halftime lead and never looked back, as the Lady Hornets won for the 111th time in 118 games on their home court.
Senior forward Celeste Stevenson registered 19 points, while junior guard Sassy Pyburn posted 16 points, as both players were named to the All-Tournament Team.
ESU was led by 19 points from Nicole Patry who was also on the All-Tournament Team, while Andi McAlexander added 16 points and Tournament MVP Casey Henningsen tallied 14 points.
The Lady Hornet defense forced 26 WTAMU turnovers, which led to 26 ESU points.
After shooting 50.0 percent (12-24) from the field in the first half, the Lady Buffs shot 30.3 percent (10-33) in the second, finishing the game 22-57 (38.6 percent), including 6-15 (40.0 percent) from 3-point land. WTAMU was 21-30 (70.0 percent) from the free throw line.
ESU was 46.6 percent (27-58) from the floor for the game, including 6-18 (33.3 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. The Lady Hornets were 25-31 (80.6 percent) from the charity stripe.
There were seven lead changes in the game and the score was tied four times.
WTAMU took the lead at 27-24 at the 8:30 mark on a 3-pointer from Pyburn, but then ESU reeled off the next nine points to take a 33-27 lead and never looked back.
The Lady Buffs whittled the lead to 52-50 with 14:51 left on a pair of Stevenson free throws, but the Lady Hornets buzzed ahead to take a double-digit lead for the first time at 65-54 with 8:37 left on an old-fashioned three-point play from Tiffanie Hearn.
After WTAMU cut the deficit to 76-68 with 54. 3 seconds left on two free throws from senior guard Stephanie Williams, ESU hit 9-10 free throws down the stretch to ice the victory.
It was the fourth time that the Schneider's have coached against each other, as the younger Schneider now holding a 3-1 advantage. ESU defeated WTAMU, 58-57, last year in the ESU Classic, but the Lady Buffs got revenge, knocking off the Lady Hornets, 60-55, in the NCAA-II South Central Regional.
The Lady Buffs make their home opener at the WTAMU Event Center Saturday afternoon, Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. taking on the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. The game is in conjunction with the men's Coca-Cola/First United Bank Thanksgiving Shootout consolation game at 4 p.m. and championship at 6 p.m. NCAA Basketball's Champion's Challenge will be going on as well. For more information, contact the WTAMU Athletics Ticket Office at 806-651-4424.
Fans can tune in to Lady Buff basketball on the Buffalo Sports Network on either KGNC 710 AM, or streamed on the Internet on www.gobuffsgo.com.
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