Boxscore (HTML)

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CANYON, Texas – The top ranked Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M held a 25-9 lead after one quarter then outlasted the rival Mustangs of Midwestern State, 85-68 in front of almost 700 fans at the First United Bank Center in Canyon, Texas on Wednesday night. The Lady Buffs stay unbeaten as they move to 13-0 (2-0 LSC) while MSU falls to 1-11 (0-2 LSC) in the Highway 287 Challenge Cup matchup.
 
The Lady Buffs start the season 13-0 for the first time since the 1987-88 campaign when they went 33-1 and fell in the DII National Championship Game to Hampton Institute (65-48), the win also marks WT's 21^st straight victory over a Lone Star Conference opponent dating back to a loss in Wichita Falls (1/7/15, 64-77). The Lady Buffs have won their last 22 games inside of the First United Bank Center.
 
The teams traded misses to start the game before the Mustangs started the scoring with a Krishawn Crockett layup followed by a WT turnover but MSU couldn't convert as they missed a jumper that led to a Michaela Neuhuas board and foul or the three-point play, MSU responded with a board and bucket by Jacquar Westbrooks before Alie Decker answered with a three from the wing at 6-4, Decker stole away an errant Mustangs pass that led to a Neuhaus fast break layup followed by a Maddison Wild defensive board and Sasha Watson layup to run the lead to 10-4. Watson grabbed a long rebound and took it coast-to-coast for two freebies before another MSU miss but the Mustangs got the ball back with a block before a Megan McLain steal and two more Watson free throws to extend the WT run to 11-0, MSU missed again as McLain knocked down a three from the wing followed by a Jennifer Sissel jumper to end the run and send the team into a media timeout with WT leading 17-6 with 4:27 left in the first.
 
The Lady Buffs missed after the break followed by a MSU foul and a pair of Watson freebies before a Zantaya Davis rejection but the teams would trade turnovers before a Mustang shot-clock violation, WT missed under their own basket as MSU turned that into points with a layup followed by another Lady Buff miss from deep that led to Kendriana Washington hitting one-of-two from the line at 19-9. Hannah Alexander grabbed an offensive board that led to a Davis board and foul for the three-point play with just under a minute left in the quarter, McLain stole away an inbound pass as the senior hit one-of-two freebies followed by a Madison Parker defensive board and Neuhaus layup at the buzzer to give WT the 25-9 lead.
 
The Mustangs hit two free throws to start the second quarter followed by an MSU steal and Kristin Rydell long ball to cut the lead to 25-14, Davis stopped the small MSU run with a free throw followed by a Washington board and bucket before another Watson freebie at 27-16. The Mustangs cut into the lead again with a Washington three-point play followed by a WT turnover but MSU couldn't hit from deep as the Lady Buffs got the ball back. WT gave it right back with an illegal screen call but MSU missed a jumper that led to a Davis layup to stop the MSU run at 29-19 to head into a timeout with 6:55 left. Watson hit two from the line after the break before a Washington layup and a WT turnover before Davis stole the ball away but WT missed two at the line to keep it 31-21, Sissel hit two from the line followed by an Alexander baseline floater before Rydell answered with a three from the top of the key at 33-26.
 
Neuhaus found wild under the bucket for an easy layup followed by a Decker steal-and-score before Rachelle Lauer hit one-of-two from the line at 37-27, Nuehaus responded with a transition three from the top of the key followed by two more Sissel freebies before another Neuhuaus assist to Wild under the bucket at 42-29. Parker grabbed an offensive board that led to a bucket by the freshman followed by a Wild defensive rebound but WT gave the ball right back with a lane violation with just under a minute left, Wild rejected a Mustangs shot to give WT the last shot of the half but McLain couldn't connect from the corner as WT took the 44-29 into the half.
 
The Lady Buffs went 14-of-29 (48.3%) from the field in the first half including 3-of-7 (42.9%) from long range and 13-of-18 (72.2%) from the charity stripe to go along with 21 rebounds (eight offensive, 13 defensive), 10 fouls, nine assists, nine turnovers, three blocks and six steals. Watson went just 1-of-5 from the floor but 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the first half to lead the Lady Buffs with 11 points followed by Neuhaus with 10 while dishing out three assists.
 
MSU went 9-of-27 (33.3%) from the floor including 2-of-9 (22.2%) from deep and 9-of-11 (81.8%) from the free throw line to go along with 13 rebounds (five offensive, eight defensive), 13 fouls, six assists, nine turnovers, two blocks and six steals. Washington went 4-of-8 from the floor including 2-of-3 from the charity stripe to lead the Mustangs with 10 points at the break followed by Rydell with eight and Sissel with six.
 
The teams traded misses start the second followed by before a Lady Buff offensive foul that led to a Sissel offensive board and score before a pair of Liley Vander Zee free throws at 46-31, the Texas transfer rejected a Mustang layup but WT gave it right back with an offensive foul with 7:47 left. The Mustangs gave it right back with a charge but WT missed under the basket as Sissel hit a baseline jumper followed by a WT turnover at 46-33, MSU couldn't cut into the lead as they missed two from the line but the Lady Buffs turned the ball over again as Washington hit two freebies at 46-35 with six minutes left. WT gave the ball back again as Crockett knocked down a jumper from the wing to head into a WT timeout with the Lady Buffs leading 46-37 with 5:40 left in the third.
 
The Lady Buffs missed a layup right after the break but Watson stole the ball right back as Parker connected on a jumper in the lane before a Washington bucket cut the lead to 48-39 heading into a media timeout with 3:58 left. Davis registered a board and bucket after the break before Westbrooks answered with a layup on an inbound play before Alexander added to the WT lead with a bucket, MSU gave the ball back as Watson found Alexander for a layup followed by a Davis defensive board and a Neuhaus free throw at 55-41 to head into an MSU timeout with 1:47 left. Watson found Davis on a fast break layup after the break followed by another MSU turnover before an Alexander offensive board and bucket to go along with the foul for a three-point play at 60-41, MSU gave the ball away again as Parker hit one-of-two from the line to head into the fourth quarter with WT leading 61-41.
 
The Mustangs started the fourth quarter with their 17^th turnover that led to a Parker baseline jumper followed by misses on both ends before a jump ball gave the possession back to the Lady Buffs but they missed two free throws with 8:10 left, Crockett hit a long ball from the wing  before Decker answered with one of her own followed by a Taylor three from the corner to force a timeout with 7:14 left and WT leading 66-47. Vander Zee hit a freebie followed by an MSU free throw before a Vander Zee board and bucket at 69-48, the Mustangs answered with a McKenna Villegas layup and an offensive board that led to a Taylor three from the wing to cut the lead to 69-53 with just under six minutes left. Watson responded with a layup but a WT technical foul led to two free throws and possession by MSU as Katie Brown hit two to head into the final media timeout of the game at 71-57.
 
MSU hit a free throw followed by a WT miss inside before a Parker defensive rebound that led to a Wild layup followed by two free throws by Brown at 73-60, Watson hit one-of-two from the line followed by misses on both ends before MSU hit a free throw followed by an offensive board and jumper to cut the lead to 74-63. Parker went one-of-two at the line before Kathryn Odom hit a three from the wing before Watson answered with a layup and foul for the three-point play at 78-66, MSU answered again with a bucket before a Neuhaus three from the wing switched the momentum back to the Lady Buffs followed by a WT rebound and Wild layup with just under a minute left followed by two WT free throws for the 83-68 victory.
 
The Lady Buffs went 28-of-58 (48.3%) from the floor including 5-of-11 (45.5%) from long range and 24-of-35 (68.6%) from the charity stripe to go along with 42 total rebounds (18 offensive, 24 defensive), 23 fouls, 18 assists, 16 turnovers, 10 blocks and 13 steals. Watson went just 3-of-10 from the floor but an impressive 11-of-13 from the free throw line to lead all players with 17 points followed by Neuhaus (16) and Davis (10) in double-digits while Wild grabbed a team high nine rebounds.
 
Midwestern State went 21-of-56 (37.5%) from the field in the game including 6-of-16 (37.5%) from deep and 20-of-28 (71.4%) from the free throw line to go along with 31 rebounds (15 offensive, 16 defensive), 28 fouls, 15 assists, 18 turnovers, two blocks and 10 steals in the game. Washington went 5-of-10 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe to lead the Mustangs with 14 points followed by Sissel with 12 and Taylor with 10.
 
The top ranked Lady Buffs hit the road for the first time since before the Christmas break as they face a tough Lone Star Conference weekend with contests on back-to-back days, WT till travel to Denton, Texas to take on the Texas Woman's Pioneers (13-2, 3-0 LSC) on Saturday afternoon at Kitty Magee Arena in Denton (2 p.m.) before heading to Lawton, Oklahoma for a Sunday matchup (4 p.m.) with the Cameron Aggies (8-6, 1-1 LSC). The Pioneers will be idle until Saturday's matchup with WT while the Aggies travel to Portales, New Mexico tomorrow night to take on Eastern New Mexico before Sunday's action at Aggie Gym.