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Dec. 6, 2007

Box Score

EDMOND, Okla. - With the help of 21 points from Emily Brister and 12 points apiece from Courtney Lee and Jamie Dreiling, the No. 20 West Texas A&M women's basketball team improved to 4-2 on the season and stretched its winning streak to four with a 73-60 win over Lone Star Conference North opponent Central Oklahoma on Thursday.

WTAMU benefited from 18 points off the bench, as senior Jenessa McKray and sophomore Holly Isaacs each scored six points and freshmen Cherilyn McMenamy and Joni Unruh tallied three points apiece.

Central Oklahoma took an early 10-6 lead in the opening stanza, but back-to-back lay-ups from junior Dixie Bell and Brister sparked a 9-0 WTAMU run as the Lady Buffs claimed the lead at 15-10 with 9:53 to play.

Broncho Cassidy Pillow scored five points in a row off of a lay-up and a three-pointer to pull UCO within one point, but Bell sank a shot from behind the arc to add insurance for West Texas A&M. Two free throws from McKray sent the Lady Buffs into halftime with a 30-26 advantage.

The Bronchos held Brister to just four points in the first half, which forced the rest of the Lady Buffs to take over the scoring push.

"They weren't doing anything special against Emily, but the other girls stepped up their game," said head coach Krista Gerlich. "We got it together in the second half."

After halftime, West Texas A&M took a 10-point lead with 12:47 on the clock when Isaacs drained her second three-pointer of the evening to put the Lady Buffs ahead, 50-40. With just 5:04 to play, McMenamy took off on the fast break and made a lay-up - with an assist from Bell - then hustled back on defense to take a charge and regain possession for the Lady Buffs.

On the defensive side, Brister, Lee and Dreiling were the top rebounders for WT with eight, seven and six, respectively. As a team, the Lady Buffs forced 21 Broncho turnovers and scored 18 points off of the giveaways in addition to converting 21 points on second-chance opportunities, as compared to UCO's seven second-chance points.

The Lady Buffs went on a small five-point run at the end of the game and held the Bronchos scoreless in the last 2:04 of play to finish with a 13-point lead.

In her first game on the basketball court, McMenamy, a Canyon, Texas, native, also pulled down four rebounds; she missed the first five games on the basketball court due to the fact that she also is a member of the WT volleyball team that reached the national semifinal match.

West Texas A&M racked up shooting percentages of 51.9 from the floor, 43.8 from behind the arc and 70.6 from the free throw line, as compared to Central Oklahoma's shooting percentages of 42.3 from field goal range, 27.8 from long distance and 57.9 from the charity stripe.

The Lady Buffs travel to Tahlequah, Okla., for their next game, a 2 p.m. match-up against Northeastern State on Saturday.