Box ScoreSeason StatsSIOUX FALLS, S.D. – An 11-0 run to start the game put the No. 5 West Texas A&M in a hole they weren't able to climb out of in a 62-50 loss to No. 9 Emporia State in the NCAA Elite Eight Tuesday afternoon. With the loss, WT season came to an end at 30-3, while ESU improved to 29-4.
"Congrats to Emporia, they were better tonight," head coach
Mark Kellogg said. "We weren't at our best as their length bothered us at the basket. When we had the open looks, we just didn't make them as we normally do. We knew we had to make those as we weren't going to get many chances so when we got chances we had to make they pay. We turned them over a lot, which was good but we couldn't finish over their length. After the first 10 minutes we settled in and thought we were ok."
Kellogg now is 62-6 in his two years at WT winning 30 or more games in each of his two seasons. He earned LSC Coach of the Year honors last year and is a back-to-back WBCA Region 6 Coach of the Year and again this year is a finalist for national coach of the year.
West Texas A&M senior
Chontiquah White, who was playing in a school-record 129
th game of her career, led the Lady Buffs with 10 points and had six rebounds. She finished her career with 1,727 career points which is fifth all-time in school history and leads the record book in career rebounding with 929. She also finished third in career free throws made (618) and third in career free throws attempted (803).
Senior
Jordan Vessels ended her career with three assists in the contest as she tied for fourth all-time in games played with 126 with Dixie Bell (2004-09). Senior
Ariel Robertson had a team-high seven rebounds in her final game as a Lady Buff, while senior
Haylee Oliver had six points off the bench in her final game.
White was the lone Lady Buff in double figures as junior
Danielle Logan and sophomore
Sasha Watson each had eight points. As a team, the Lady Buffs shot just 30.6 percent for the game against the taller Hornets on 19 of 62. They were 3 of 14 from beyond the arc and 9 of 14 from the line. The height of ESU really changed the shots for the Lady Buffs.
ESU was led by three players in double figures as Kathryn Flott had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Merissa Quick had a game-high 17 points and Kelly Moten chipped in 16. The Lady Hornets shot 19 of 43 from the field and 3 of 14 from the line. The main difference in the game was second half free throw shooting at ESU was 19 of 23 in the second half from the line after opening just 3 of 6 in the first half. WT was just 5 of 5 from the line in the second half and 4 of 9 in the first.
Emporia State held a 46-28 lead in rebounding, but WT led 15-14 in offensive rebounds and forced ESU into 25 turnovers leading 20-14 in points off miscues which kept the Lady Buffs within striking distance. WT had won 21-straight games entering the contest was the fifth longest winning streak in school history and second longest current streak entering the Elite Eight.
Emporia State jumped out to an 11-0 lead as the Lady Buffs opened the game 0 of their first 8 from the field. A triple from junior
Madison McLain got WT on the board with 15 minutes left in the first half in a battle of the top offensive shooting team in the country (WT) and the top defensive team (ESU).
Another triple from McLain pulled WT within 18-7 with 9:10 left. She then stole a pass and earned the "and one" for an 18-9 score. A bucket in transition ended a 0 for 6 drought for ESU for a 29-15 lead with 3:10 left. Senior
Haylee Oliver scored in the paint and Watson dished it transition to sophomore
Maddison Wild for an easy bucket and a timeout by ESU, pulling WT within 29-19 with 2:24 left in the half.
A turnover on ESU out of the timeout gave the ball back to WT as ESU was 2 of its last 12 after starting 6 of 9. Wild scored inside once again pulling WT to within 10 for the first time since early in the game. Another turnover, the third in the last 2:49 for ESU, pulled the Lady Buffs within 29-22 with less than a minute left in the half for a 7-0 run. Watson scored two free throws with 1.3 seconds left as WT ended the half on an 8-0 run over the final 2:42 for a 29-23 deficit.
The Lady Buffs trailed at half for just the fifth time all season and the 23 points were a season-low for the first half. WT shot 9 of 24 from the field for 37.5 percent. McLain and Oliver led the way with six points each. The Lady Buffs were 1 of 3 from beyond the arc and 4 of 9 from the line.
"Coach always talks about going into half feeling good," White said. "I think went into the locker room with the momentum, but didn't come back out with it. "It's been really special and grateful for the opportunity at WT for my career. It was great to come back here with basically a new team this year with me as the lone starter. We had struggles, but this team bought in and clicked when we needed to, to get here."
ESU cooled off to 12 of 28 from the field for 42.9 percent the Lady Hornets were 2 of 10 from beyond the arc and 3 of 6 from the line. ESU was led by seven points from Kelly Moten, while Kathryn Flott had eight rebounds.
A steal and layup by Watson pulled WT back within five at 32-27 with 18:26 left. Watson drew the "and one" for a 34-30 score with 17:44 left.
ESU swelled the lea back to eight as turnovers began to mount with offensive fouls and miscues for both teams. Following the 16
th miscue by ESU, Logan buried two free throws for a 38-32 deficit. Robertson hit a big jumper as the shot clock was winding down for a 38-34 deficit with 12 and change left as it would be as close as the Lady Buffs would get.
"When we cut it to four and they went down and scored right behind it and we never recovered," Kellogg added. "I am proud of this team and I told them all year I didn't necessarily think we would be back as we lost six seniors from last year who played in the national championship. This team battled this year and it has been a fun ride over the last two years."
Two free throws from Moten pushed the ESU lead back to double-digits at 45-34 with 10:36 left a she had a game-high 14 points to that point. WT missed its last four shots and had a 4:44 scoreless drought. Following four offensive rebounds by ESU, Flott scored inside for a 47-34 lead and a timeout by WT.
Since the run to cut it to four, WT missed its last five shots and made 1 of its last 11 as ESU went on a 9-0 run.
A triple by junior
Danielle Logan cut the deficit to 10 at 51-41 with six minutes left. White scored inside for a 51-43 score with 5:23 left. ESU settled for the 62-50 victory and moves on to face California (Pa.) in the Final Four as the Vulcans downed Nova Southeastern (Fla.) in overtime in the first game Tuesday.
