Highway 287 Challenge

CANYON, Texas  – The No. 2 West Texas A&M women's basketball begins a big week with three games  as it hosts rival Midwestern State in the Highway 287 Challenge Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the First United Bank Center.  WT is 12-0 on the year and 1-0 in Lone Star Conference play, while Midwestern State is 1-10 and 0-1 in league play.
 
Following Wednesday's game, the Lady Buffs hit the road for three pivotal games at Texas Woman's Saturday, at Cameron on Sunday and a trip to Angelo State looming a week from this Wednesday.  Those three road games could have a big impact in the conference race as the Lady Buffs have won back-to-back Lone Star Conference regular season and tournament titles with a 15-1 record each of the past two seasons in league play.  Since Feb. 9, 2013, the Lady Buffs have gone 37-2 in regular season LSC games and 53-3 overall against LSC competition. 
 
WT is 12-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play following a pair of wins this past weekend.  The Lady Buffs downed visiting Cameron 69-58 in the conference opener for both teams on New Year's Eve and then won 101-46 over University of the Southwest Saturday.  The 12-0 start is the third-best start in school history by the Lady Buffs with the second-best being a 16-0 start to the 1995-96 season. 
 
Against Cameron, junior Maddison Wild tallied her second double-double of the season and third consecutive game of double-digit rebounds with a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds in the win.  She was 8 of 14 from the field with three free throws long with five assists leading three Lady Buffs in double figures.  Every time the Lady Buffs would go on a run and look to put the game out of reach, Cameron would answer and keep the game close.  Charron Montgomery paced the Aggies with 16 points.  WT held the deep-threat Aggies to 7 of 21 from beyond the arc and 19 of 59 from the field for just a .322 clip.
 
The Lady Buffs jumped out to a 25-7 lead following the first quarter and a season-high 60-17 lead at intermission in the 101-46 romp of University of the Southwest on Saturday.  All 13 players who played scored for the Lady Buffs in the game and WT had four players in double figures led by 17 points off the bench from senior Madison McLain as she was 6 of 10 from the field with three triples and two free throws.  The Lady Buffs shot 53.9 percent for the game and held USW to just 32.1 percent, while eclipsing the 100-point mark for the first time this season.  The Lady Buff forced 25 turnovers and committed just 11, while leading to a 33-7 lead in points off turnovers and a 62-16 lead in points in the paint.
 
Midwestern State leads the Highway 287 Challenge this season 7.5 to 3.5.  WT has won the first two challenges in 2013-14 and 2014-15.  WT has two wins for volleyball this year a women's soccer win and a women's soccer tie.  MSU won in football, men's soccer (twice), women's soccer and women's cross country and a women's soccer tie.
 
The teams battle Wednesday, in both men's and women's basketball, and again on Feb. 10, in Wichita Falls.  Following that, barring postseason play for any sports, the softball team plays four games at Midwestern State Mar. 4-5 and the golf teams compete in the conference championship April 18-19.  There are a minimum of 12 points left to win for this year's edition.
 
For the season, the Lady Buffs have just one player averaging double figures in junior Sasha Watson at 10.3 points per game.  She is 42 of 78 from the field to lead the team at a .538 clip.  Watson is 35 of 57 from the line (.614) and leads the team with 54 assists and 26 steals.  Senior Michaela Neuhaus is second in scoring at 9.2 points per game.  Neuhaus is 36 of 77 from the field (.468), 16 of 44 from beyond the arc (.364) and a team-best 22 of 24 from the line (.917).  She is second on the team with 43 assists and 23 steals.  McLain leads the team from deep at 22 of 53 (.415).  She is third in scoring at 8.8 points and is 37 of 91 from the field (.407).  Wild leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 per game and is fourth in scoring at 8.0 points, while junior Lilley Vander Zee also is fourth in points at 8.0 and second in rebounding at 4.5.
 
As a team, the Lady Buffs are shooting .455 from the field on 315 of 693.  They are 67 of 199 from beyond the arc (.337) and 175 of 256 from the line (.684).  WT is averaging 42.1 rebounds per game and scoring 72.7 points per game.  Conversely, the defense is holding teams to .341 from the field (227-666), 68 of 245 from beyond the arc (.278) and 87 of 133 from the line for a .654 clip as WT is making more 42 more free throws than the opponents have attempted (133).  The opposition is averaging 30.8 rebounds per game and scoring 50.8 points per game. 
 
The Lady Buffs have not allowed a team to score over 60 points on them since a 76-70 win at Oklahoma Christian on Dec. 5.  It marks the only team a team has scored more than 60 points on WT this season.  Moreover, no team has shot over 40 percent in a game this season against WT.  Colorado Mesa shot a season-best against WT of 38 percent in the second game of the season.  WT has shot under 40 percent just twice this season and over 50 percent four times.
 
Nationally speaking, the Lady Buffs rank 25^th nationally in assists (209), 16^th in assists per game (17.4), 22^nd in blocks (56), 20^th in blocked shots per game (4.7), 21^st in field goal percentage (45.5) and 21^st in field goal percentage defense (34.1).  WT is 28^th in personal fouls at just 15.5 per game, seventh in rebounding margin (11.3), third in scoring defense (50.8), sixth in scoring margin (21.9), 18^th in steals (139) and 20^th in steals per game (11.6).  WT is 46^th in turnover margin (3.83) and 29^th in turnovers forced at 21.17. 
 
Individually, Neuhaus ranks 23^rd and leads the LSC in assist/turnover ratio at a 2.39 clip.  Watson is 56^th in assists to lead the league with 54 and is 64^th in assists per game at 4.5 which also leads the league.  She leads the league in steals with 26 ranking her 93^rd and in steals per game at 2.17 ranking her 111^th. 
 
The Lady Buffs are one of just seven undefeated teams in NCAA Division II.  American International (Northeast-10), Missouri Western State (MIAA), Ashland (GLIAC), WT (Lone Star), Lubbock Christian (Heartland), Limestone (Conference Carolinas) and Bellarmine (GLVC) are the remaining undefeated teams.  American International and Missouri Western State each are 13-0, while Ashland and WT are 12-0. 
 
Midwestern State enters having dropped eight-straight games.  MSU has lost all eight games by ten points or more and nine of its 10 losses overall have been by more ten or more points.  Texas Woman's, who WT travels to on Saturday, beat the Mustangs 71-45 in Denton on Jan. 2.  MSU's lone win came in a 57-55 victory over Texas Wesleyan on Nov. 18 in Wichita Falls.
 
The Mustangs are led by Jacquar Westbrooks at 8.4 points per game.  She is 31 of 72 from the field (.431) to lead the team and is 7 of 18 from beyond the arc, while going 15 of 17 from the line (.882).  Westbrooks is second on the team in steals with 12 and has nine assists on the year.  Whitney Taylor is second in scoring at 7.1 points per game.  She also has seven triples and 19 buckets for the season.  Kendriana Washington leads the team averaging 6.5 rebounds per game and is third in scoring at 6.3 per game.  Washington leads the team with 14 steals, while Kristin Rydell leads the team with nine triples.
 
As a team, the Mustangs are shooting .327 from the field on 204 of 624.  They are 43 of 177 (.243) from beyond the arc and 108 of 169 from the line (.639).  MSU is averaging 36.5 rebounds per game and scoring 50.8 points per game which is exactly what WT is allowing per contest.  The opposition is shooting .450 against MSU on 282 of 626 and .402 from beyond the arc on 66 of 164.  The opponents are 139 of 204 from the line for a .681 clip, while averaging 38.5 rebounds per game and 69.9 points per game.
 
WT leads the all-time series with Midwestern State at 41-14 and won the previous meeting 59-55 in Canyon on Feb. 11, 2015.  The teams split the season series last year as the teams have split the previous 12 meetings and the previous eight meetings.  WT won all three meetings in 2013-14 snapping a three-game skid to that point.  Prior to the last 12 games, WT won 13-straight. MSU's last win in Canyon came on Feb. 6, 2013, with a 58-55 victory.