Box ScoreSeason StatsEDMOND, Okla. – The No. 4 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs were pushed to the limit as it battled back from down by as many as seven for a 76-70 win at Oklahoma Christian Saturday afternoon. With the win, WT improved to 7-0 on the year, while OCU fell to 2-7.
"We knew it was going to be chaotic," WT head women's basketball coach
Kristen Mattio said. "They were going to be scrambling and we were going to scramble. In the first half we struggled with the press and committed too many turnovers, but in the second half we settled down and got into the half-court offense. Credit them, they flustered us a lot in the first half and then in the second we started to play and executed a lot better."
Junior
Sasha Watson had 18 points all in the second half, while senior
Michaela Neuhaus also had 18 points to lead the Lady Buffs. McKenzie Stanford had a game-high 19 points for the Lady Eagles. Watson went 3 of 5 from the field and a season-high 12 of 15 from the line – all in the second half. Neuhaus went 5 of 9 from the field with two triples and went 6 of 6 from the line. Edmond native junior
Alie Decker scored nine points in her, and her freshman sister Andee's homecoming. Both of their parents played at Oklahoma Christian.
As a team, the Lady Buffs shot 45.8 percent from the field on 22 of 48. They were 6 of 14 from beyond the arc and a season-high 26 of 34 from the line, including 21 of 27 in the second half. WT had 36 rebounds for the game, including 27 on the defensive end, committing an uncharacteristic 27 turnovers for the game, but just nine in the second half after opening the game with 18 in the first half.
The Lady Eagles shot 34.8 percent for the game on 24 of 69. They were 8 of f27 from beyond the arc and 14 of 17 from the line. OC had 41 rebounds with 18 offensive rebounding leading to a 21-10 lead in second chance points. OC committed 24 turnovers as WT held a 30-16 lead in points off turnovers.
In a back-and-forth game that saw nine ties and 15 lead changes, WT trailed 26-25 at intermission and outscored the Lady Eagles 51-44 in the second half. OC held a seven point advantage for its largest lead of the game with nine minutes left in the second quarter.
Two free throws by Neuhaus gave WT a 36-31 lead with 6:13 left in the third quarter for the largest lead of the game to that point for the Lady Buffs. The Lady Eagles quickly erased the deficit with a 6-0 run capped with two charity tosses from Emma Gade.
Neuhaus buried a triple off a kick out from sophomore
Hannah Alexander for a 39-37 WT lead with 4:32 left in the third quarter. Later, senior
Madison McLain buried a triple for the eighth tie of the game on another assist from Alexander for a 46-46 tie with 1:29 left in the third. WT ended the quarter with an 8-0 run for a 51-46 lead as Watson and Parker each had buckets down the stretch.
In the final stanza, Stanford hit a bucket and scored two free throws and a jumper from Jasmine Hinton gave the Lady Eagles a 52-51 lead, followed by a triple from Sydney Hill for a 55-51 lead opening the quarter with a 9-0 run.
Junior Madison Wild hit a big trey at the top of the arc and two free throws from Watson cut the deficit to 58-57 with 6:15 left. Watson tied the game with a free throw at 58-58 with 5:42 left and then hit a bucket for a 60-58 lead with 5:13 remaining. It turned out to be the game winning bucket as the Lady Buffs never trailed again.
Two more free throws from Watson gave WT a 62-58 lead and a bucket from junior
Lilley Vander Zee gave WT a 64-58 lead with four minutes left. Neuhaus hit two free throws for a seven-point lead at 70-63 with 1:44 left.
From there, OC cut the deficit to three with a steal and layup from Addy Clift at 70-67 with 45 seconds left. Watson calmly hit two free throws, followed by two free throws from Decker along with two more from Watson for a 79-67 lead with 10 seconds left. Clift hit a triple at the buzzer for the final score of 76-70.
The Lady Buffs return home to host UT-Permian Basin Saturday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. in the First United Bank Center.
