Box Score

Season Stats

GOLDEN, Colo.  –  A quick start and hot shooting by the No. 9 West Texas A&M women's basketball team sparked the Lady Buffs to a 65-42 victory at Colorado School of Mines Friday evening in the season-opener for both teams.  WT head women's basketball coach Kristen Mattio won her first game at the helm of the program.
 
"Tonight's win was a solid team effort," Mattio said after the game.  "We saw a lot of good things from our team and I believe we are taking steps in the right direction.  We will continue to clean things up on both sides of the ball, but collectively we played with passion and energy that was great."
 
The Lady Buffs were led by a game-high 16 points from Lone Tree, Colo., native, senior Michaela Neuhaus as she led two Lady Buffs in double figures.  Junior transfer Alie Decker chipped in 13 points, while Neuhaus was 5 of 6 from the field with four triples in five attempts, while recording six assists and five steals.  As a team, the Lady Buffs shot 26 of 50 from the field for 52 percent and were 9 of 19 from beyond the arc, while going 4 of 4 from the line.  WT pulled down 32 rebounds, including 27 on the defensive end.
 
WT stymied the Orediggers holding the team to 25.9 percent shooting for the game on 14 of 54. Colorado Mines shot 5 of 16 from range and 9 of 13 from the line.  CSM tallied 30 rebounds and pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.  Emily Bailey led the team with 14 points as the lone Oredigger in double figures.
 
The Lady Buffs dominated inside to the tune of 24-8 and scored 22 points off 20 turnovers, while outscoring the Orediggers 21-11 in bench points.
 
The Lady Buffs jumped out to a 7-0 lead courtesy of 3 of 4 shooting highlighted by a triple from Decker through the first four minutes of the first quarter.  Anna Kollmorgen buried a triple to pull the Orediggers within 7-5 with 4:27 left in the quarter. 
 
With the new rules of five fouls per quarter, the fouls mounted up for both teams through the first six-plus minutes as they combined for eight fouls – four on each side.   Senior Madison McLain ended a 5-0 run by CSM with a jumper for a 9-5 lead with just over three minutes left in the quarter.  Senior Zantaya Davis hit her first shot of the season for an 11-5 lead with 2:12 left.  McLain then buried a triple for a 14-5 lead and a 7-0 run as WT opened 6 of 11 from the field and 2 of 4 from range.  CSM opened just 2 of 12 from the field and 1 of 3 from beyond the arc. 
 
Neuhaus, playing in front of friends and family, buried a triple for a 17-7 lead with 20 seconds left in the quarter.  Two free throws by Neuhaus ended the quarter for a 19-7 WT lead as the team opened 7 of 13 from the field and 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.  Colorado Mines was 3 of 14 from the field and 1 of 4 from beyond the arc for the first quarter.
 
The second quarter started with another trey by the Lady Buffs from Neuhaus once again as she scored the last eight points for a 22-7 lead with 8:33 left in the half.  Sophomore Amarillo native, Madison Parker, scored her first points in a Lady Buff uniform for a 26-10 lead with six minutes left in the half for the largest lead of the game. 
 
Colorado Mines' Courtney Martin scored a jumper at the 4:58 mark pulling the Orediggers within 26-12 as it was just the fifth made field goal for CSM for the game.  WT responded with its fifth triple of the half and third from Neuhaus for a 29-14 lead with 4:13 left.  Junior Maddison Wild buried a triple for a 32-14 lead with 3:23 left for the sixth triple of the half for the Lady Buffs and the largest lead of the half at 18 points.  McLain scored a layup for a 34-14 lead with 2:29 remaining extending the run to 8-0. 
 
The Lady Buffs took a 38-17 lead into the locker room in a very solid first half shooting 54.2 percent on 14 of 25 and 6 of 12 from beyond the arc.  WT was 4 of 4 from the line. Neuhaus led the team with a game-high 13 points on 4 of 4 from the field and 3 of 3 from range with two free throws.  Of the ten players who played in the half, eight scored.   McLain added seven points, while Wild and Parker each had four rebounds to lead the team.
 
WT's defense held Colorado Mines to 6 of 25 from the field, 1 of 6 from beyond the arc and the Orediggers were 4 of 5 from the line.  Kollmorgen led the team with five points, but was held in check after her early points.  WT held a 10-5 lead in points off turnovers as WT committed 10 miscues and CSM turned it over 11 times.  The Lady Buffs led 17-13 in rebounding and 2-0 in second chance points and a 13-3 margin in bench scoring.  WT held a 10-4 lead in points in the paint, while recording two blocks, nine steals and 10 assists.
 
The Lady Buffs swelled the lead to 24 points at 49-25 with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter on a layup from Davis.  CSM cut the margin to 21 with two free throws from Bailey late in the quarter for a 52-31 deficit.  WT opened the final stanza with an 8-0 run for a 61-31 lead on a jumper from Wild with 6:01 left.  From there, CSM finished the game on an 11-4 run for the 65-42 final margin.
 
WT will face No. 19 Colorado Mesa Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT) to conclude the 2^nd Annual Tony Corbetta Oredigger Classic.  Colorado Mesa downed Arkansas-Fort Smith 75-69 in the first game of the classic.