Box Score

Season Stats

Tournament Central

CANYON, Texas – A 22-3 run midway through the second half sparked the top-seeded and fifth-ranked West Texas A&M Lady Buffs to a 70-57 victory over No. 5-seed Arkansas-Fort Smith in the NCAA South Central Region semifinal Saturday evening. 
 
"It was a good game," head coach Mark Kellogg said.  "Fort Smith did a good job of taking us out of what we wanted to do at times as we turned it over way too much.  We forced them into some turnovers, which probably saved us and we did a great job on the offensive rebounds."
 
The Lady Buffs will advance to their second-straight region final as they will battle UC-Colorado Springs Monday at 7 p.m. in the First United Bank Center as the winner will advance to the Elite Eight Mar. 24-27 in Sioux Falls, S.D. 
 
The victory improved WT to 29-2 on the year as it won its 20^th-straight game tying for fifth longest in school history.  UAFS ended its season 21-9 in its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  The 20 consecutive wins are second-most currently in NCAA Division II.  WT improved to 29-20 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
 
UAFS entered the tournament ranked fourth nationally in field goal defense, holding teams to a .337 average.  The Lady Buffs shot 41.8 percent for the game on 23 of 55.  WT was 8 of 20 from beyond the arc for a .400 clip and was 16 of 25 from the line.  The Lady Buffs dominated the glass, out rebounding UAFS 48-28 as the Lady Lions entered averaging 46.7 rebounds per game and were fifth nationally in defensive rebounds averaging 31 per contest.  UAFS had just 20 against the Lady Buffs.
 
Sophomore Sasha Watson had a game-high 20 points as she was 8 of 12 from the field and 4 of 5 from the line with four rebounds.  Junior Danielle Logan chipped in 13 points with four triples, while junior Zantaya Davis spelled WT senior Chontiquah White, who had some foul trouble, and posted her first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds off the bench.  Senior Haylee Oliver had seven assists on the night.
 
"Danielle (Logan) got us going in the first half when we didn't have a lot going," Kellogg added.  "Sasha (Watson) was attacking all night long and we needed those points.  I thought our bench was great in the second half as Jordan Vessels rebounded great and the pull up jumper was big for us and Haylee Oliver controlled it well and Zantaya (Davis) had a double-double as it wasn't necessarily Chon's (White) night and we needed 'Z' (Davis) to step up and she did.  I am proud of the bench, we needed everybody and I am proud of the team tonight."
 
The Lady Lions had just one player in double figures led by 13 points from Jasmine Brainard.  She went 5 of 12 from the field and 5 of 7 from the line as she entered leading the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game.  Angi Ramey entered averaging 12.2 rebounds per game, which ranked 14^th nationally, was held to just four rebounds.  UAFS shot 36.4 percent for the game on 20 of 55.  The Lady Lions were 5 of 17 from beyond the arc and 12 of 16 from the line. 
 
The game was tight through much of the first half as neither team could gain much of an advantage in front of a posted crowd of 1,194.  UAFS led for a majority of the first 10 minutes of the game.  A free throw by Davis gave WT a 20-19 lead with 7:13 left in the half marking the first lead since a 6-4 advantage just three minutes into the contest.
 
From there, WT built an eight-point lead in the final minutes of the first half, closing the half on 10-4 run over the final 4:36 for a 35-27 lead at intermission.
 
In a hard-fought game throughout, the Lady Buffs led 44-39 with 13:06 left following a triple from Candice Followwell as UAFS used an 11-2 run to get back in the contest.  From there, WT had two free throws from senior Oliver and a huge triple from junior Michaela Neuhaus for a 49-39 lead.  Neuhaus then buried jumper as the Lady Buffs were off and running on the run.
 
When it was all said and done, from the 13:06 mark to the 4:01 mark, WT rattled off the 22-3 run to put the game away capped with a triple from junior Madison McLain.  UAFS cut the deficit to the final margin of 13.