Feb. 28, 2005

West Texas A&M University women's basketball player Celeste Stevenson was named Lone Star Conference South Division Player of the Week, announced today (Feb. 27) by the conference office, for her performance in last week's games, as she became WTAMU's All-Time Leading Scorer.

When Stevenson, a 5-10 senior forward from Abilene, Texas, scored her ninth point of Thursday's game against Texas A&M University-Kingsville, a layup with 5:03 left in the first half, it was Stevenson's 1,907th point of her career, passing Vanessa Wells' 1,906 points from 1993-97. Stevenson finished the game with 19 points, as well as pulling down 12 rebounds to record her eighth double-double of the season and 14th of her career. She also had three blocks, helping WTAMU to a school-record 14 swats in the game, as WTAMU won going away, 63-39.

On Saturday, Stevenson tied a game-high with 21 points as WTAMU lit up Texas Woman's University, 97-63, as WTAMU reached the 20-win plateau for the 18th season under head coach Bob Schneider. It was the Lady Buffs' 17th-straight over the Pioneers of TWU at Canyon, and the 10th in a row overall against TWU.

Stevenson currently has 1,939 points in her career. She already is the WTAMU record holder for both Career Free Throws Made and Career Free Throws Attempted records. Stevenson is presently 644-875 (.736), ranking sixth on WTAMU's Career Free Throw Percentage List.

Stevenson has become just the second player in Lady Buff history to eclipse the 800-rebound plateau, as she now has 844 career rebounds, closing in on Brandi Green (1997-2001) at No. 1 with 874 rebounds. Stevenson passed Teresa Tinner (1986-1990) with 777 rebounds for the No. 2 spot on the list. Stevenson also ranks fifth on WTAMU's Career Rebounding Average List with a 7.34 rpg career average. Green is No. 4 with a 7.41 rpg avg.

Stevenson has also moved up in the Career Field Goals Made and Attempted Lists, as she is 647-of-1,413 (.456). She is currently No. 5 for FG Made and No. 2 for FG Attempted. Vanessa Wells (1984-86) is No. 1 in both lists with 823-of-1,659.

The two wins over the weekend extended WTAMU's season-long winning streak to five games, as the Lady Buffs improve to 20-7 overall and 11-3 in the LSC South, earning the No. 2 seed from the South for the LSC Tournament. WTAMU will host No. 3 seed from the North, Southwestern Oklahoma State University in an LSC Tournament quarterfinal match-up on Tuesday, March 1, at 7 p.m. at the WTAMU Event Center.

Call the WTAMU Athletics Ticket Office at (806) 651-4424 for more information, or visit the official WTAMU Athletics web site at www.gobuffsgo.com.

-WT-