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Dec. 4, 2003

Box Score

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. -- The West Texas A&M University women's basketball team returned to the spot where their 2002-03 season ended on a sour note, but it was a sweet victory Thursday, as the Lady Buffs defeated Northeastern State University, 69-64, at Tahlequah, Okla.

WTAMU lost to NSU, 82-58, in last year's LSC Championship game, as the Lady Buffs were a dismal 0-19 from behind the 3-point arc.

Thursday was a different story as the Lady Buffs drained nine treys on the way to shooting 60 percent from 3-point land, and 45.5 percent from the field.

Senior guard Carlee Howard paced WTAMU with 14 points, including four from 3-point land, while junior guard Suni Jo Petty tallied 13 points, with four treys and junior forward Vasha Adams posted 12 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

Adams came up big down the stretch, getting some key rebounds and had a steal and a lay-up to seal the Lady Buffs' third-straight victory, as WTAMU improves to 4-1 on the young season and had a successful opening of Lone Star Conference action.

NSU, which suffered its first loss of the season after opening the year with five wins, was led by Kelli Griffith's game-high 15 points. Jenna Miller added 13 points, followed by Leslie Warner and Rikki Hall's 11 points apiece.

It was a tight game until the Lady Buffs surged for a 32-24 lead with 58 seconds left, after four-consecutive points by junior forward Tywanda Harris, and took a 32-26 lead into halftime.

WTAMU's lead stretched to 10 at 43-33 with 13:19 remaining in the game on a trey by Petty, before the Lady Reds clawed back to take a 48-47 lead with 8:51 left. The Lady Buffs regained the lead on a jumper from junior Celeste Stevenson at 49-48 with 8:34 to play.

Howard gave the Lady Buffs a 56-48 lead on a trey at the 6:36 mark, but NSU stormed back to take a 64-63 lead with a minute and a half remaining.

However, that would be the last time the Lady Reds scored, as the Lady Buffs clamped down on defense, limiting NSU to just two shots the rest of the way. Adams gave WTAMU the lead for the final time on a jumper with 1:08 to play and hit one-of-two free throws with 39 seconds left to make the score 66-64.

Petty gave the Lady Buffs a 67-64 lead on a free throw and Adams iced the victory with a steal and a lay-up with three seconds left to cap the scoring at 69-64.

WTAMU returns to the court on Saturday, when the Lady Buffs travel to Edmond, Okla. on Saturday to take on Central Oklahoma at 4 p.m. The Bronchos lost to Eastern New Mexico, 69-54, on Thursday.

-WT-