Box ScoreSeason StatsKINGSVILLE, Texas – The No. 11 West Texas A&M women's basketball team extended its winning streak to 11 games with a 72-55 victory Saturday afternoon at Texas A&M-Kingsville. With the win, the Lady Buffs improved to 12-2 on the year and 3-1 in Lone Star Conference play, while TAMUK fell to 0-15 and 0-5 in league play.
In a ragged game that saw a combined 40 turnovers, the Lady Buffs countered the miscues with good shooting as the team shot 58.3 percent for the game on 28 of 48. They were 7 of 12 from beyond the arc and 9 of 12 from the line. WT held a 28-27 lead in rebounding, but managed a season-low five offensive rebounds. The Lady held TAMUK to just 15 defensive rebounds, however.
WT had three players in double figures led by 12 points from sophomore
Sasha Watson as she was 5 of 6 from the field with two free throws, five assists and six steals. Senior
Chontiquah White also had 12 points with seven rebounds, while junior
Madison McLain added 10 points with two triples.
TAMUK was led by two players with 14 points as Micah Weaver had 14 points as did Ashley Viera. The Javelinas went 22 of 55 from the field for 40 percent and were 1 of 7 from beyond the arc, while going 10 of 13 from the line.
A triple from senior
Danielle Logan in the corner broke a scoreless tie with 17 minutes left in the first as each team struggled during the early going, going a combined 1 for 10 from the field. White scored on the inside for a 5-0 lead heading into the first media timeout. WT started 2 for 5 from the field, while TAMUK was 0 of 7.
After two free throws from White, Ruby Robertson scored on the inside for the Javelinas for their first points of the game with 14:30 left in the half. Both teams continued to struggle shooting through the first eight minutes as TAMUK was 4 of 12 and WT was just 3 of 10 with seven turnovers and was clinging to a 9-8 lead with 11:25 left in the half.
Robertson gave the Javelinas their first lead at 10-9, but junior
Michaela Neuhaus buried a triple at the other end for a 12-10 lead for the Lady Buffs. Neuhaus missed the last six games with a broken hand. A steal and layup off the press from sophomore
Sasha Watson swelled the lead to 14-10 with 10 minutes left.
A triple from senior
Haylee Oliver swelled the lead to 17-12 and Neuhaus' second triple gave WT a 20-12 lead with 8:03 left forcing TAMUK into its second timeout of the half. A nice bucket underneath by Oliver gave WT a 22-12 lead with seven minutes left as the Lady Buff run was extended to 11-2 since the 11-minute mark.
A triple from Viera ended the WT run cutting the deficit to 24-15 with 4:55 left in the half. A quick six points from the Javelinas cut the WT lead to 26-21 with 3:09 remaining. Turnovers and missed rebounds on the defensive end plagued the Lady Buffs in the first half as they committed 11 turnovers and multiple opportunities for defensive rebounds as they would play great defense for a majority of the shot clock forcing TAMUK into a bad shot, but missed on getting the crucial board.
A steal and layup from sophomore
Maddison Wild pushed the lead back to nine at 30-21. Watson scored on a drive inside and then stole the ball in the backcourt and scored for a 34-21 lead with 53 seconds left.
WT took a 34-24 lead into halftime. In a half with 25 combined turnovers, the Lady Buffs shot an even 50 percent on 11 of 22 from the field. They were 4 of 7 from beyond the arc and 8 of 8 from the line. Watson led the way with eight points. WT had 13 turnovers in the half, but led on points off turnovers 10-9.
TAMUK shot just 35.5 percent on 11 of 31. The Javelinas were 1 of 5 from beyond the arc and 1 of 2 from the line with 12 turnovers. WT held an 18-13 lead in rebounding. Viera led the way with 10 points on 4 of 10 with a triple and a free throw.
WT opened the second half on a 12-2 run for a 46-28 lead with 16:30 left for the largest lead of the game. Logan buried her second triple of the game for a 49-30 lead with 15:45 remaining. Both teams opened the second half shooting well as WT made 7 of its first 10 and TAMUK was 3 of 5. WT opened scoring 15 of the first 23 points of the half.
Four quick points from TAMUK cut the WT lead from 17 to 13 at 53-40 with 11:39 left. A triple from junior
Madison McLain pushed the lead to 60-44 with 8:30 remaining. It was the sixth triple of the game for the Lady Buffs.
A hoop-and-harm foul for Robertson cut the WT lead to 62-51 with 6:08 left which was the closest the Javelinas had been since early in the second half. White drew the double team and dished to senior
Jordan Vessels for the bucket building the lead back to 13 at 64-51 at the other end. Oliver found McLain open under the basket for a 66-51 lead.
McLain hit her second triple in transition for a 70-51 lead with 2:45 remaining and a timeout by the Javelinas as WT cleared the bench for the closing minutes.
The Lady Buffs continue on the road on Wednesday as they travel to Tarleton State for a 5:30 p.m. matchup, before returning home to host Texas A&M-Commerce a week from today at 2 p.m. in the First United Bank Center and then on Sunday versus Texas Woman's at 5:30 p.m.
