Box Score

Season Stats

BAYAMON, P.R.  – Despite shooting a season-low 35.8 percent, the No. 2 West Texas A&M women's basketball team defeated University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras 67-35 Wednesday evening as the Lady Buffs improved to 10-0 on the year and completed the trip to Puerto Rico 2-0. 
 
Junior Lilley Vander Zee had 12 points and senior Zantaya Davis had 12 points off the bench to lead the team.  The Lady Buffs shot 24 of 67 from the field, while going a season-low 2 of 22 from beyond the arc and 17 of 22 from the line.  The Lady Buffs pulled down 52 rebounds, including 21 on the offensive end in the win. 
 
Thalia Torres had a team-high 12 points off the bench for UPRRP on 6 of 12 from the field.  UPRRP shot 15 of 47 from the field (.319) and 3 of 21 from beyond the arc.  It was 2 of 6 from the line and had 28 rebounds. 
 
The Lady Buffs forced 28 miscues leading to a 32-10 lead in points off turnovers and a 36-12 lead in points in the paint.  WT held a 16-0 lead in second chance points. 
 
In the first half, the Lady Buffs came out scoring the first six points of the game, but had their lowest shooting performance of the season in the first half going just 9 of 34 from the field for 26.5 percent.   They were 0 of 10 from beyond the arc, but made up for it at the line going 11 of 14.  The Lady Buffs out rebounded UPRRP 32-13 in the first half and 16-3 on the offensive end, but couldn't convert many of the second chances.
 
 WT led 10-7 midway through the first quarter and ended the quarter on a 7-0 run for 17-7 lead and extended the run to 15-0 with the first eight points of the second quarter capped on a layup from junior Alie Decker with an assist to Wild. 
 
From there, UPRRP battled back with an 8-0 run of its own capped with a triple from Trixia Rosario for a 25-15 lead with 2:04 left.  Two tosses from Wild and a layup from junior Lilley Vander Zee swelled the lead to 29-15, but Rio-Piedras scored the final bucket of the half for a 29-17 score.
 
The Lady Buffs were led by six points from Vander Zee and Wild at the half as Wild had eight rebounds to lead the team.  WT held UPRRP to just 7 of 25 from the field (28 percent) and 2 of 12 from beyond the arc, while going 1 of 2 from the line. 
 
Turnovers again proved to be a problem for the Lady Buffs as they committed 11 in the half, but forced 14 with nine steals.
 
The shooting improved some early in the second half (4 of 10), but sophomore Hannah Alexander had a nice put back for a score and a 39-22 lead as WT opened the half scoring 10 of the first 15 points.
 
From there, the Lady Buffs extended run to 9-0 with a pair of free throws from senior Madison McLain and senior Zantaya Davis scored in the paint for a 46-22 lead with 2:09 left in the third.  A triple by UPRRP ended a 15-0 run, but Alexander hit a shot at the buzzer for a 50-25 lead through three quarters.
 
A triple from Decker gave WT a 56-25 lead with 8:08 left in the game as it was the first triple in the game (1-17).  The bench got a lot of action down the stretch in the game as freshman Taylor LaCour had two buckets, while junior Ellyn Avery had one.
 
The Lady Buffs will have a day off in Puerto Rico to sightsee, before returning home to Canyon for the Christmas Break.  WT will open Lone Star Conference play Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. in the First United Bank Center against rival Cameron.