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CANYON, Texas – The #2 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M forced 23 turnovers including 13 in the first half as they opened Lone Star Conference play on a high-note on Thursday afternoon with a 69-58 win over the visiting Aggies of Cameron in front of almost 700 fans at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas. The Lady Buffs remain unbeaten as they improve to 11-0 (1-0 LCS) while the Aggies fall to 6-4 (0-1 LSC) on the season.
 
The Aggies missed from deep on their first possession as a Maddison Wild defensive board turned into a Lilley Vander Zee layup for the first points of the game before Cristina Soriano answered with a long ball for CU's first lead, the teams traded misses before WT gave the ball back with a shot clock violation led to a Savanna James layup at 5-2 heading into the first media timeout of the game with 4:48 on the clock.
 
Madison McLain gave WT the ball after the break with a steal that led to a Wild baseline jumper to end WT's scoring drought followed misses on both ends before Zantaya Davis grabbed a defensive board and Alie Decker turned it into points with a three from the corner at 7-5, the teams trade turnovers before a McLain hit a three from the wing with just over two minutes left. Cameron turned the ball over again as Hannah Alexander went coast-to-coast for the layup to force a CU timeout as WT extended their run to 10-0 with 1:46 left and WT leading 12-5. The teams traded misses after the break before a Brittany Hill steal-and-score ended the WT run followed by another steal from the junior as she hit two from the line at 12-9, WT responded as Davis hit one-of-two from the line to end the first quarter with WT leading 13-9.
 
Charron Montgomery finished in the lane to start the second quarter before Sasha Watson answered with a layup of her own followed by a Cameron turnover and Alexander offensive board and bucket to run the lead to 17-11, the Aggies gave the ball back with another turnover as Madison Parker hit a floater in the lane followed by a CU illegal screen but WT couldn't convert as Dayla Threatt hit a deep ball from the top of the key at 19-14. The teams traded turnovers before Wild connected on a three point play heading into a media timeout with 4:50 on the clock and the Lady Buffs leading 22-14.
 
Cameron gave the ball right back with a travel in the lane that led to a Wild layup before another Aggie turnover but WT couldn't convert as Montgomery hit a floater in the lane to cut the lead to 24-16, Michaela Neuhaus responded as the senior knocked down a jumper followed by misses on both ends before a Wild defensive board that led to a Parker spin move and score with 2:21 on the clock. The teams traded misses again before another Montgomery bucket before Wild answered with one of her own at 30-18 followed by a Natalie Halbleib layup to force a timeout with WT leading 30-20 with 47.2 on the clock. WT missed from long range after the timeout before Parker rejected a Cameron layup attempt but an offensive team rebound led to two Aggie free throws, the Lady Buffs brought the ball down the court for the last shot as Wild was fouled with 1.4 on the clock as the junior hit both freebies to head into the locker room with the Lady Buffs leading 32-22.
 
The Lady Buffs went 13-of-29 (44.8%) from the floor in the first half including 2-of-9 (22.2%) from long range and 4-of-5 (80%) from the charity stripe to go along with 18 total rebounds (nine offensive, 11 defensive), nine fouls, nine assists, nine turnovers, four blocks and four steals. Wild went 4-of-7 from the floor and 3-3 from the free throw line to lead all players with 11 points at the break to go along with five rebounds.
 
Cameron went 8-of-26 (30.8%) from the floor including 2-of-8 (25%) from deep and 4-of-4 (100%) from the free throw line to go along with 17 rebounds (seven offensive, 10 defensive), six fouls, one assists, 13 turnovers, no blocks and four steal in the first half. Montgomery went 3-of-7 from the field to lead the Aggies with six points at the break followed by Halbleib with four to go along with three rebounds.
 
Threatt started off the scoring in the second half with a three from the corner followed by  a WT miss and Aggies turnover before another Lady Buff miss inside as Halbleib hit a three from the top of the key at 32-28 followed by a WT miss as Montgomery went coast-to-coast to force a Lady Buff timeout with 7:59 on the clock and WT leading 32-30 to stretch the Cameron lead to 8-0. The teams traded misses before Wild hit a jumper to end the run but CU answered with an offensive board and Brandi Leal layup at 34-32, McLain responded with a three from the wing followed by misses on both ends heading into a media timeout with 4:51 left in the third.
 
Cameron scored on their inbound play after the break to cut the lead to three before Alexander hit a jumper in the lane on the other end followed by an Aggie turnover that led to two free throws by Alexander with just over four minutes left in the third, the teams traded misses before James hit two from the charity stripe for CU followed by a WT turnover and a Montgomery fast break layup to cut the lead to 41-38. WT gave the ball back again with an offensive foul but Cameron couldn't convert a layup attempt as Parker hit two free throws, the teams traded misses again before Montgomery hit two at the line but WT answered with a pair by Decker. The Aggies looked to take the last shot as they grabbed an offensive rebound along with a WT foul as Threatt hit one followed by a Markita Zeigler offensive board and bucket to cut the WT lead to 45-43 heading into the fourth.
 
Threatt started the fourth quarter with a three from the corner to give Cameron their first lead since the first quarter (5-4, 3:41) before McLain knocked down a pair of freebies to give WT the 47-46 lead, Montgomery hit two free throws to retake the lead before McLain answered again with a three from the wing at 50-48. Cameron gave the ball back with a travel but WT gave it back with a turnover but CU couldn't convert as Watson grabbed a defensive board that led to a Decker three from the corner, Leal answered with a three of her own from the corner followed by an Aggie offensive rebound on a missed free throw but Cameron committed a shot clock violation to give the ball back to the Lady Buffs. Decker knocked down another long ball to run the lead to 55-51 followed by misses on both ends before a Montgomery layup cut the lead to 55-53, McLain answered again as she hit a three from the wing followed by a Aggie turnover and foul to head into the last media timeout of the game with WT leading 58-53 with 4:54 left.
 
Watson hit one-of-two from the line after the break followed by a Cameron travel that led to Decker finding Wild under the basket for an easy bucket at 61-53 followed by another Aggie turnover to force a CU timeout with 3:59 left and WT leading 61-53. Neuhaus grabbed a big offensive board after the break that led to another Wild layup followed by another Aggie turnover but WT couldn't add to their lead, Threatt hit two from the line followed by another Wild bucket with 1:31 left before a Cameron offensive foul sent the teams into a timeout with WT leading 65-55 with 1:24 left. CU gave the ball back with another turnover as they started to send the Lady Buffs to the line with Watson hitting two followed by an Aggie miss and foul as Watson hit one-of-two at 68-55 for WT's largest lead of the game before Leal nailed a three from the corner to cut the lead to 68-58 with 44.1 left heading into a timeout. Decker hit one-of-two from the line followed by a Cameron miss and Wild's 12^th rebound of the game as WT claimed their 16^th straight Lone Star Conference win dating back to last season with the 69-58 win.
 
The Lady Buffs went 23-of-54 (42.6%) from the floor including 6-of-18 (33.3%) from long range and 17-of-23 (73.9%) from the charity stripe to go along with 36 total rebounds (13 offensive, 23 defensive), 18 fouls, 18 assists, 15 turnovers, six blocks and five steals. Wild registered a career high 19 points as the junior went 8-of-14 from the floor to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds for the double-double while McLain (14) and Decker (11) scored in double-digits for the Lady Buffs.
 
Cameron went 19-of-59 (32.2%) from the field in the game including 7-of-21 (33.3%) from deep and 13-of-15 (86.7%) from the free throw line to go along with 40 rebounds (19 offensive, 21 defensive), 18 fouls, six assists, 23 turnovers, no blocks and eight steals. Montgomery went 6-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe to lead the Aggies with 16 points followed by Threatt with 12 while Zeigler led CU with eight rebounds.
 
The Lady Buffs will begin 2016 inside of the friendly confines of the First United Bank Center as they take on the Mustangs of University of the Southwest on Saturday afternoon with tipoff set for 2 p.m. in Canyon. The Mustangs will enter the weekend with an overall record of 4-7 following a 79-74 victory over Sul Ross State back on December 16^th in Hobbs.