CANYON, Texas – The #5 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs started slow but responded with a pair of big runs to start the second and third quarters as five WT players scored in double-digits in a 90-57 rout of Texas A&M-International on Saturday afternoon during the 2015 Pak-A-Sak Thanksgiving Classic at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. The Lady Buffs remain unbeaten as they move to 5-0 on the season while the Dustdevils fall to 1-5 overall.
 
The teams traded misses early before a Lilley Vander Zee offensive board and bucket followed by an Allie Decker steal at midcourt that led to Sasha Watson hitting one-of-two from the line for the early 3-0 lead, Hannah Beede tied the game with a three from the wing before Maddison Wild answered with a baseline jumper. TAMIU responded with a layup before Wild hit one from the line followed by a Decker defensive rebound as Vander Zee added one from the line, the teams traded turnovers before International knocked down a baseline jumper followed by a WT turnover that led to an International free throw to give TAMIU the 8-7 lead. The teams traded turnovers again as Decker stopped the WT drought with a three from the wing before the Dustdevils answered with a Keiona Mathews three point play with just over five minutes left, WT turned the ball over again as TAMIU went to the line for the first media timeout with the 11-10 lead and 4:47 left.
 
Perry knocked down two from the line after the break followed by a WT miss before Madison Parker grabbed a big defensive rebound before a stoppage in play for an injury with 3:36 left, WT kept possession of the ball as Zantaya Davis went to the line and hit one-of-two before International answered with a baseline layup to run their lead to 14-11. International grabbed a defensive rebound that led to a fast break layup followed by a WT turnover but a TAMIU miss gave WT the ball back as Madison McLain hit one from the line, the Dustdevils hit one from the line followed by a pair from Vander Zee to cut the lead to 17-14 followed by a Decker defensive rebound that led to a Hannah Alexander pull-up jumper before Prieto hit a shot right before the buzzer to give TAMIU the 19-16 lead after one period.
 
International missed on their first possession of the second as Decker found Vander Zee for the easy layup followed by a Dustdevils air-ball and Alexander layup to give WT the 20-19 lead, a WT steal and score was followed by an International turnover as Alexander grabbed and offensive board that led to Watson finding Vander Zee under the bucket for the bucket and free throw as WT extended their run to 9-0. TAMIU turned the ball over again as Alexander knocked down a jumper in the lane followed by a Vander Zee steal and Watson fast break layup, Decker stole the ball for International's fifth turnover of the quarter and hit the three to give WT the 16-0 run and the 32-19 lead with 6:49 left heading into a TAMIU timeout.
 
Rosebrooke Hunt stopped the WT run with a layup before the teams traded misses before Mathews found the bottom of the net on an acrobatic move to cut the lead to 32-23, Decker answered with a jumper from just inside the three point line followed by fouls on both ends of the court before Prieto knocked down a three from the top of the key but Alexander answered with a three point play. Prieto finished the a floater off of the glass followed by a WT turnover but TAMIU gave the ball right back with a foul as Parker hit two from the charity stripe followed by an International turnover and Decker transition three to give WT the 42-28 lead, International hit two at the line followed by a WT miss before Davis registered a steal for the Lady Buffs before anther WT turnover as Prieto hit a three from the top of the key to end the half with WT leading 42-33.
 
The Lady Buffs went 14-of-25 (56%) from the floor in the first half including 3-of-9 (33.3%) from deep and 11-of-17 (64.7%) from the charity stripe to go along with 17 rebounds (six offensive, 11 defensive), 10 fouls, 10 assists, 10 turnovers, one block and seven steals in the first half. Decker went 4-of-5 from the floor including 3-of-4 from deep to lead the Lady Buffs with 11 points at the half while Vander Zee went a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free throw line to register 10 points.
 
Texas A&M-International shot 48% (12-of-25) from the floor in the first half while shooting 30% (3-of-10) from long range and 66.7% (6-of-9) from the free throw line to go along with 12 total rebounds (four offensive, eight defensive), 11 fouls, six assists, 12 turnovers, no blocks and four steals. The Dustdevils were led by Prieto with 12 points at the half as the senior went 5-of-9 from the floor and 2-of-4 from long range while Mathews had nine points and three rebounds.
 
WT misses on their first possession of the second half before an offensive board and putback by Mathews to make it 42-35 before Neuhaus knocked down a three on the inbound play but Beede answered with a long ball of her own from the corner, Decker found Watson under the basket for a three point play followed by a TAMIU miss that led to a Vander Zee layup before Watson stole the inbound pass and scored to give WT the 52-38 lead. Wild grabbed a defensive board and scored on the other end of the court as WT went on a 9-0 run to start the quarter before Prieto registered her 14^th point of the game with a layup to end the run, International scored again to cut the lead to 54-42 before a Wild offensive rebound and Neuhaus three from the wing before the teams traded misses and an International turnover sent the teams into a media timeout with WT leading 57-42 with 4:16 left in the third.
 
The teams traded fouls after the timeout before a Davis defensive rebound led to a Neuhaus three from the top of the key to extend the lead to 60-42 before an International layup but WT answered again with a Parker layup with 2:12 left. The Dustdevils hit two from the line followed by a WT miss but Parker grabbed a defensive rebound but the Lady Buffs couldn't add to their lead as they sailed a pass out of bounds. International gave the ball right back with a turnover followed by a Dustdevils foul helped the Lady Buffs finish off the third quarter with a Watson pull-up jumper on the baseline to give WT the 64-46 lead.
 
Vander Zee continued her great game as the Texas transfer grabbed an offensive board with a putback to start the fourth quarter followed by misses on both ends of the court before Prieto connected on a floater in the lane, Parker found Vander Zee for another layup as the teams headed into a TAMIU timeout with the Lady Buffs leading 68-48 with 7:58 left. Watson grabbed a defensive rebound after the break that led to a McLain three from the corner before International responded with a layup on the other end, Parker finished off a three point play to run the WT lead to 73-50 followed by a TAMIU miss and Alexander jumper to give WT their fifth player in double-digits. The teams traded misses before an International turnover as Vander Zee finished off a three point play but Prieto answered with a long ball from the top of the key, Watson drove the land and finished with a layup followed by a TAMIU miss and a McLain transition three from the corner to send the teams into the final media timeout of the game with WT leading 84-53 with 4:11 left.
 
The Lady Buffs used the lead as an opportunity to get some playing time for their bench after the break as Davis completed a three point play followed by defensive rebounds by Ellyn Avery and Andee Decker, WT gave the ball back with a shot clock violation as TAMIU answered with a Mathews three from the wing followed by a WT turnover as International hit one-of-two from the line to cut the lead to 88-57. Davis grabbed an offensive board and finished with the putback followed by a Decker steal that ended the game, 90-57.
 
The Lady Buffs went 33-of-61 (54.1%) from the floor including 8-of-21 (38.1%) from deep and 16-of-24 (66.7%) from the charity stripe to go along with 41 rebounds (15 offensive, 26 defensive), 16 fouls, 23 assists, 15 turnovers, four blocks and 11 steals on the afternoon. Vander Zee went 7-of-10 from the floor including 5-of-6 from the free throw line to tie a game high with 19 points to go along with seven rebounds while Watson (12), Decker (11), Neuhaus (11) and Alexander also scored in double-digits for the Lady Buffs.
 
The Dustdevile went 21-of-53 (39.6%) from the floor in the game including 6-of-23 (26.1%) from deep and 9-of-14 (64.3%) from the free throw line to go along with 26 rebounds (nine offensive, 17 defensive), 20 fouls, eight assists, 19 turnovers, three blocks and six steals. Prieto went 8-of-18 from the floor including 3-of-7 from long range to score 19 points in the game while Mathews just missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Lady Buffs return to action on Wednesday night as they head to Goodwell, Oklahoma for a matchup with Oklahoma Panhandle State with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m. against the Aggies at Oscar Williams Fieldhouse.