Box ScoreSeason StatsCOMMERCE, Texas – A career-high 26 points from sophomore
Sasha Watson and 24 points from senior
Chontiquah White sparked the No. 4 West Texas A&M women's basketball team to an 88-73 victory at Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Lady Buffs won their 13-straight game and improved to 22-2 on the year and 13-1 in Lone Star Conference play and earned at least a share of the 2014-15 Lone Star Conference regular season crown. TAMUC fell to 13-11 overall and 7-7 in conference play.
Watson went 9 of 12 from the field with one triple and 7 of 8 from the line with four steals and 26 points leading three Lady Buffs in double figures. White was 5 of 12 from the field with a triple, but went a career-best 13 of 13 from the free throw line along with seven rebounds for 24 points. The seven rebounds pulled her into a tie for second all-time in career rebounding with Celeste Stevens (2001-05) with 862. She is just 12 rebounds from tying Brandi Green (1997-01) for the school-record of 874. White has 1,585 career points as she is closing in on sixth all-time (Teresa Tinner, 1,596, 1986-90). Robertson added 12 points on 5 o f9 from the field.
As a team, the Lady Buffs shot 49.1 percent right at their national-leading average on 28 of 57 from the floor. WT was 5 of 17 from beyond the arc and really shined at the free throw line going 27 of 33. WT won the battle of the boards 34-33 and held a 31-11 lead in points off turnovers as WT committed 15 miscues and forced 22 by the Lions.
TAMUC was led by 16 points from Gabby Scott on going 6 of 7. Zenobia Winbush had 15 points off the bench. TAMUC shot 46.4 percent from the field on 26 of 56. The Lions were 7 of 19 from beyond the arc and 14 of 24 from the line.
In a first half where neither team could go on much of a run and gain much momentum, the Lady Buffs used an 8-0 run started with three free throws from Watson, building a 32-26 lead with 5:09 left in the half.
Watson continued her solid first half with a bucket for her 17
th point, followed by a triple from White for a 41-33 lead with 1:17 left. Watson scored her 19
th point for a 43-33 lead for the largest lead of the half and a 7-0 run with 51 seconds remaining after TAMUC cut the deficit to 36-33 2:34 on the clock. Junior
Madison McLain added a triple right before half for a 46-33 lead extending the run to 10-0 to end the half.
The Amarillo, native, was all over the court in the first half as Watson went 6 of 8 from the field and 7 of 8 from the line for 19 points along with three steals. WT shot 15 of 29 from the field for 51.7 percent. The Lady Buffs were 3 of 9 from beyond the arc and really helped their cause going 13 of 17 from the line as WT committed just six fouls in the first half to 13 for TAMUC.
The Lions were led by seven points from Winbush. She was 3 of 6 from the field with a triple. TAMUC went 12 of 26 from the field for 46.2 percent. The Lions were 4 of 9 from beyond the arc and 5 of 8 from the line.
WT had just five turnovers in the half and led 18-6 in points off turnovers as TAMUC turned it over 14 times. The half saw seven ties and 11 lead changes. TAMUC led in rebounding 17-13, but WT held a 6-3 lead in second chance points.
Watson buried a triple with 19 minutes for a 51-34 lead as WT opened the second half scoring five of the first six points. Princess Davis scored with 17:57 left for TAMUC's first field goal since the 2:34 mark in the first half and a 51-36 score. WT extended the run to 17-3 since the 2:34 mark, too, with a jumper from senior
Ariel Robertson for a 53-36 lead.
Back-to-back buckets from White and Robertson swelled the lead to 59-38 followed by triples for both teams and a 62-41 lead with 15:07 left.
WT went on a shooting drought for over two minutes as Symone Brown scored a layup with 13:39 left pulling TAMUC within 62-45. Both teams opened the second half 5 of 11 from the field with 12:53 remaining. Sophomore
Maddison Wild ended the drought of over three minutes with a layup for a 66-45 lead with 12:32 left.
Watson scored her 24
th point on a jumper with 11:48 left giving her a new career-high surpassing her previous career-high of 23 points at Midwestern State back on Jan. 7 for a 68-47 lead. Watson added two more for a 70-50 lead with 10:34 left.
Artaejah Gay scored her 14
th point for a mini 4-0 run for a 74-59 score with 7:13 left. WT hadn't scored a field goal since the 9:37 mark. One of two free throws by the Lady Buffs ended the run for a 75-59 score with just over six minutes remaining.
Robertson ended the drought of over three minutes with a layup for a 77-59 score with 5:56 left. Junior Zantaya Davis hit a jumper for a 79-59 score with five minutes left. Davis made one of two free throws and Gabby Scott buried a triple at the other end for an 80-62 score with 4:31 remaining.
Princess Davis cut the WT deficit to 80-64 with 3:37 left on the "hoop and harm" heading into the final timeout. Two more free throw for junior
Madison McLain swelled the lead to 82-64 with over three minutes left. Scott made two free throws for an 82-66 score at the other end.
A bucket from White, her 20
th of the game, gave WT an 84-66 lead with 2:23 left. WT went on for the 88-73 victory.
WT has about 20 hours before playing at Texas Woman's in its final road game of the regular season. The Lady Buffs and Pioneers are scheduled to tip at 2 p.m. Sunday in Denton, Texas. WT then returns home to host Eastern New Mexico a week from today at 2 p.m. in the regular season finale and Senior Day.
