Box Score

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WT Press Conference

MSU Press Conference

ALLEN, Texas – Top-seeded West Texas A&M won its Lone Star Conference record 13^th LSC Tournament Championship with a hard, fought 73-70 victory Saturday afternoon over rival Midwestern State earning the automatic berth in the programs' 21^st NCAA Tournament. 
 
"Well it lived up to its billing," head coach Mark Kellogg said.  "I have a lot of respect for Midwestern State, I really thought it would be just like this with two teams battling back and forth.  I am really proud of our team, we responded the right way and got back and battled in the second half when we were down.  I loved our bench play tonight and when Chon (White) fouled out, Zantaya Davis and Maddison Wild stepped in and had some big plays for us."
 
Like the game in Canyon almost a month ago, this game came down to the final seconds as sophomore Sasha Watson missed the first free throw and made the second for a 71-68 lead with 18 seconds left.  A jump ball was called with five seconds left giving the ball back to Midwestern State for one last chance.   MSU had a furious, second half rally in Canyon after scoring just 13 points in the first half in that contest as WT prevailed 59-55 to even the season series.
 
Off an offensive rebound from a missed triple from Lisa Hampton, Dianna Jones put the ball in for a 71-70 score.  Junior Madison McLain was fouled immediately with 1.7 seconds left.  McLain buried the two free throws with less than five seconds remaining giving WT a 73-70 lead.  MSU threw the inbounds pass out of play as the Lady Buffs ran out the final 1.7 seconds for the victory.
 
The top-seeded Lady Buffs (27-2) won their 17^th-straight game which is sixth-most in school history as senior Chontiquah White posted her 11^th double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds earning back-to-back LSC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.  Watson and senior Ariel Robertson also were named to the all-tournament team, along with MSU's Hampton and Andrea Carter. 
 
WT now returns home and will await the announcement of where it will play in the NCAA South Central Regional.  The NCAA Tournament Selection Show is scheduled for 9 p.m. Sunday evening on NCAA.com.  There will be a watch party in the Buffalo Club Room of the First United Bank Center for fans to watch the show with the team.
 
Senior Haylee Oliver had 13 points off the bench for the Lady Buffs on 5 of 8 from the field with one triple and two free throws.  Watson had 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting and made 4 of 6 free throws.  Robertson was 4 of 9 from the field with a free throw for nine points. 
 
"It's a surreal feeling," Oliver said.  "I took four months off of basketball and being done you miss it. Coach Kellogg called in August and asked if I wanted to come to Canyon for a while.  The way the team has accepted me this year has been awesome and I am blessed to be playing with this team."
 
The Lady Buffs shot an even 50 percent for the game, helped out by shooting 56.5 percent in the second half.  WT was 22 of 44 for the game and was 3 of 8 from beyond the arc along with 26 of 32 from the line.  The Lady Buffs dominated the glass, outrebounding MSU 36-24 despite 23 WT turnovers.
 
"Free throw shooting was huge tonight and probably won the game for us," Kellogg added.  "When the season began we weren't a very good free throw shooting team and this team has come a long way this season and free throw shooting has gotten a lot better.  We have become more comfortable with it and we talk about seeing ourselves there and making them."
 
MSU (23-6) had five players in double figures led by 17 points from Carter and 10 rebounds for a double-double.  Carter was 5 of 8 from the field and 7 of 9 from the line with 10 of the team's 24 rebounds.  Hampton ha d13 points on 4 of 12 from the field and 3 of 8 from beyond the arc.  She had just two points in the first two tournament games for the Mustangs.
 
The Mustangs shot 40.7 percent for the game on 24 of 59.  They were 3 of 12 from beyond the arc – all three makes from Hampton and were 19 of 23 from the line.  MSU started the game making its first 13 free throws, but went 6 of 10 down the stretch.
 
In front of a raucous crowd and March Madness atmosphere, the first half was made of up runs by bot h teams as WT jumped out to an early 9-2 lead highlighted by three free throws from White and four points inside from Robertson with 16:16 left in the first half.  WT opened making 3 of its first five, while MSU was 1 of 5.  The Lady Buffs made four of their first five free throws.
 
Carter scored inside tying the game at 10 with a 6-0 run over the last 1:59 with 13:25 left in the first.  WT senior Haylee Oliver ended the run with a turnaround jumper at the other end.  Following a foul on MSU, Oliver scored inside again pushing the lea back to four at 14-10.  Oliver scored her third consecutive bucket for a 6-0 run and a 16-10 lead with 11 minutes.
 
Carter ended the WT run with two free throws for a 16-12 score with 9:32 remaining in the half.  Watson hit one of two free throws for a 19-12 lead with 8:15 left in the half.  WT struggled from there making 1 of its last 6 and 0 of its last four, but still had the seven point cushion at 19-12 with 7:30 remaining.  MSU wasn't much better at 0 of its last five and 2 of its last eight.
 
Destiny Means scored inside ending a scoring drought of 2:35 and Carter scored a quick bucket inside for a 21-16 WT lead with 6:06 left.  The third consecutive WT turnover, and the first triple of the game from Lisa Hampton, cut the deficit to 21-19 with 5:27 in the half for a 7-0 run.  Two free throws from Lisa Hampton tied the game at 21 with 4:47 left as WT hadn't made a field goal since the 11:21 mark.
 
McLain scored in transition giving WT the lead back and ending the drought for a 23-21 score with less than four minutes left.  White buried a triple from Oliver for a 26-21 lead and a 5-0 run.
 
Two free throws from White pushed the lead back to five at 28-23, but a steal and triple from Hampton cut the WT lead to 28-26 with 1:13 left as she scored the last ten points for the Mustangs.
 
A big rebound and bucket from Robertson swelled the lead to 30-26 with 16 seconds left.  Taylor Dowd scored at the buzzer for a 30-28 WT lead heading into intermission.
 
For the half, WT shot 42.9 percent on 9 of 21.  The Lady Buffs were 1 of 3 from beyond the arc and 11 of 13 from the line.  WT led 20-11 in rebounding as White had nine points on 1 of 5 shooting, but was 6 of 7 from the line.
 
MSU was led by 10 points from Hampton on 3 of 5 from the floor with two triples and two free throws.  The Mustangs shot 9 of 27 from the field and 2 of 6 from range, while going 8 of 8 from the line. 
 
A bucket in the paint from Dianna Jones with 17:54 left gave MSU its first lead of the game at 34-32.  Hampton then buried her third triple for a 9-0 run for the Mustangs as WT turned it over three times in the last 2:22.  White ended the run with one of two free throws. 
 
Junior Danielle Logan ended an 11-3 run by the Mustangs with a bucket, but a steal and turnaround jumper from Shambreka Jones pushed the MSU lead back to five at 41-36 with 14 minutes left.  White made two free throws for a 41-40 score with 13:37 left. 
 
White then scored the "and one" for a 44-43 lead with 11:55 left for the Lady Buffs' first lead since early in the second half.  Following the fifth consecutive turnover by MSU, senior Jordan Vessels scored inside for a 46-43 lead with 9:44 left and a 6-0 run by the Lady Buffs.
 
Two free throws from Shatoia Gober ended the run and pulled MSU within 46-45.  A big triple from junior Danielle Logan gave WT a 49-45 lead with 7:30 left and just the second made triple in seven attempts for WT to that point.
 
A steal and foul gave Oliver two free throws and a 51-45 WT lead with seven minutes left.  Junior Zantaya Davis stole the ball and Watson scored in transition for a 53-45 lead with 6:48 left and a timeout by MSU and a 12-2 WT run.
 
Carter scored the "and one" for a 53-48 lead with 5:52 left as it was MSU's first bucket since the 13-minute mark.  Davis scored at the other end for WT for a 55-48 lead.  Jones missed the free throw on a foul for the first missed charity toss for the Mustangs in the game.  White made two free throws matching the biggest lead of nine points with five minutes left at 57-48. 
 
Two free throws from Carter and a layup from Jones brought MSU with 57-51 with four minutes left.  Oliver hit a triple with 4:08 left for a 60-51 lead.  Gober scored at the other end for a 60-53 score.  Gober was fouled and made one of two free throws out of the final media timeout for a 60-54 score.
 
White was called for her fifth foul on a charge with 2:39 left as WT held a 62-56 lead.  Carter then was fouled at the other end knocking Davis out of the contest as Carter made one of two free throws.  A turnover and foul put MSU back at the line with 2:09 left down five. 
 
"It was more so about the players on the court stepping up after I fouled out," White said.  "We demanded we needed stops as we had some lapses early and the players around me stepped up when I went out and we got the job done."
 
Sophomore Sasha Watson made two free throws for a 64-59 lead with two minutes left.   Following a bucket from MSU, Watson drove the length of the court and scored for a 66-61 lead.  Shambreka Jones scored off the offensive rebound with 1:29 left cutting the deficit to 66-63.  Robertson pushed the lead back to five, but a hoop-and-harm foul pulled MSU within 68-66 with 59.4 seconds left.
 
With 49 seconds left, Oliver scored for a 70-66 lead with 30 seconds left off a nice pass from Robertson.   MSU had the ball out of a timeout with 30 seconds left.  Shatoia Gober scored off an offensive rebound with 19 seconds left and immediately fouled Watson.