Box Score

Season Stats

WT Press Conference

ALLEN, Texas  – A pair of double-doubles from seniors Ariel Robertson and Chontiquah White, along with clutch free throw shooting down the stretch helped lead the top-seeded West Texas A&M Lady Buffs to a thrilling 82-74 victory over upset-minded Texas Woman's Friday evening in the Lone Star Conference semifinals.  Win the win, the Lady Buffs reach their third consecutive LSC final 19^th overall. 
 
"TWU is a very good team," head coach Mark Kellogg said.  "They battled us from start to finish and we needed it.  I give them a lot of credit and I am glad we were in a game like that.  We didn't play as well as we could have, but at this point in the season it doesn't matter how well you played, it matters how you find a way to win and we were able to do that."
 
WT now will face No. 2-seed Midwestern State at 3 p.m. in the championship game.  WT won last year's championship game against Tarleton State and dropped an 85-83 overtime decision in the 2013 championship game to Midwestern State.
 
Neil Horn will broadcast the game on 98.7 Jack FM and links to live stats and audio streaming will be on www.gobuffsgo.com by clicking on the women's basketball schedule page.  WT and Midwestern State split the two meetings this season with each winning at home.
 
WT (26-2) won its 17^th-straight game as Robertson tallied a career-high 23 points on 9 of 15 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line with 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and fourth of her career.  White was just 3 of 13 from the field, but went a career-best 16 of 18 from the line.  Sophomore Sasha Watson had 19 points on 7 of 14 from the field, 5 of 5 from the line along with six assists and three steals.
 
"They came out and punched us first," Robertson said.  "We had to find a way to fight back and get the win.  My teammates found a way to get me the ball for some shots and us the win."
 
The Lady Buffs shot 44.1 percent for the game on 26 of 59.  WT was 3 of 9 from beyond the arc and 27 of 31 from the line, including 19 of 22 in the second half.  WT held a 37-31 lead in rebounding and committed a season-low nine turnovers in the game and just two in the second half.
 
"We were trying to get Ariel involved early and let Sasha do what she does with her typical drives," Kellogg added.  "Chon goes 3 for 13 for the game, but got to the line a lot in the second half, but we ride the flow of the game."
 
TWU ended its season with a 16-13 record and was up to the task for the upset throughout.  The Pioneers were led by a double-double from Emily Spector with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Kenesha Saygo led the team with 16 points and 8 of 11 from the line.  Deja Pointer added 13 points off the bench and Erin Maxwell added 10.
 
The Pioneers shot 43.9 percent for the game on 25 of 57.  They were 8 of 16 from beyond the arc and 16 of 23 from the line.  WT dominated inside, especially in the second half, outscoring TWU 40-24 in the paint.  The Lady Buffs had 12 offensive rebounds and scored 16 second chance points to allowing just seven.
 
In a fast-paced opening, TWU started 4 of 6 from the field with two triples and an early 10-7 lead.  WT regained the lead with a triple from junior Madison McLain off an assist from White for a 12-10 lead with 14:07 left.   Two free throws from White swelled the lead to 14-10.
 
TWU held a 23-20 lead through the third media timeout in the first half as WT was 8 of 17 from the field to that point and TWU was 8 of 15.  The Pioneers had three triples and WT had two.  From there, TWU made just 1 of its last six and 2 of its last eight as WT cut the deficit to 25-24 with 4:51 left.  TWU hadn't scored a field goal since the 8:21 mark.  White scored inside off an assist from senior Haylee Oliver for a 26-25 WT lead with 4:22 left.
 
Two free throws from White gave WT a 30-27 lead with 2:38 left in the half.  After a bucket from TWU, White pushed the lead back to two at 31-29 with 1:58 left.  With the shot clock winding down, Oliver hit an off-balance jumper and senior Ariel Robertson was fouled on a "hoop and harm" for a 36-31 lead with 37 seconds left.  Erin Maxwell s cored inside cutting the deficit to 36-33 at the half.
 
For the half, WT shot 13 of 29 from the field for 44.8 percent.  The Lady Buffs were 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and 8 of 9 from the line.  WT led 17-13 in rebounding.  Robertson had a game-high 13 points on 6 of 9 from the field with a free throw.  White had 10 points and six rebounds.
 
TWU shot 12 of 26 from the field with three triples and 6 of 8 from the line.  Maxwell had eight points to lead the way for the Pioneers and three blocks.  The three-point margin at half was the third-smallest lead at intermission for the Lady Buffs this season, snapping a streak of four-straight games leading by double-digits at intermission.
 
Both teams struggled out of the gate in the second half as they combined to go 3 of 13 through the first media timeout.  White made two free throws for a 43-37 lead with 14:25 left for the largest lead of the game for either team.
 
TWU came right back with a 6-0 run as the Pioneers regained the lead on back-to-back triples for a 47-45 score with 11:45 left.  Junior Zantaya Davis ended the run with a bucket in the paint for a 47-47 score.  A triple from Emily Spector gave TWU a 54-49 lead with 9:13 left as the Pioneers heated up making six of their last seven.
 
Out of a timeout, two quick buckets and the harm for sophomore Sasha Watson tied the game at 54 with 8:20 remaining.  A layup from Watson gave WT the lead back with under eight minutes left at 56-54 and a 7-0 run by the Lady Buffs.
 
A big triple from junior Madison McLain and a timeout from TWU gave WT a 62-56 lead with 4:41 left in the second half and another 6-0 run over last 2:11 and 13-2 over the last 4:04.  Robertson scored inside off an assist from Watson with 2:58 left and a 66-62 lead.  Out of the final media timeout, Robertson tied her career high with a free throw for a 67-62 lead and her 21^st point. 
 
Robertson was fouled with 1:41 left and buried two free throws for a game-high 69-62 lead.  Following a timeout by TWU, Maxwell scored inside off the inbounds play for a 69-64 WT lead with 93 seconds left.  Following a WT timeout, White scored on the inbounds play for a 71-64 lead with 1:10 left.
 
Both teams made one of two free throws as WT led 72-65 with one minute.  Saygo made two free throws and White was fouled in the backcourt with 47 seconds left.  She made both to move into fifth all-time in scoring with 1,638 career points surpassing Brandi Green (1997-01). 
 
Saygo again cut the deficit to five with two free throws.  White was fouled once again making two more for a 76-69 lead with 30.5 seconds left.  Saygo scored a layup for a 76-71 score with 22.7 seconds remaining and a timeout by TWU.
 
Out of the timeout, White was fouled again making both free throws for 21 points and her 13^th game of 20 points or more this season and 27^th of her career for a 78-71 lead.  After an offensive foul, White was fouled again for an 80-71 lead with 10 seconds left.  A triple from Spector and a quick foul put Watson on the line with 5.3 seconds left.  She made both for an 82-74 lead which is how the game ended.
 
"They (TWU) have done a great job against us," Kellogg said.  "This is the fifth time we've played them since I've been at WT and we have struggled in each match up with them.  They really came out and got us tonight and put us on our heels.  We couldn't get the second unit going and we had to ride the starters a lot tonight."