Game Notes PDF Format

CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M women's basketball team opens the 2017 portion of the schedule at rivals Midwestern State and Cameron.  WT will play at Midwestern State Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Wichita Falls, and then will play at Cameron on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Lawton, Okla.
 
SETTING THE SCENE – The West Texas A&M Lady Buffs return to Lone Star Conference play at Midwestern State and at Cameron this week.  WT plays at Midwestern State on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Cameron.
 
HOW TO CATCH THE GAMES – The games will be broadcast on 98.7 JACK FM throughout the Texas Panhandle with Lucas Kinsey and Kent Johnson having the call.  Links to live audio/video and live stats can be found at www.gobuffsgo.com on the women's basketball schedule page. 
 
RECAPPING LAST WEEK – The Lady Buffs came out firing on all cylinders against University of the Southwest (N.M.) as they outscore the short-handed Mustangs 25-5 in the first quarter and 52-11 for the first half.  The 52-11 halftime score was the largest margin of the season for the Lady Buffs at 41 points.  WT won the game 97-33 as the 33 points allowed tied for the eighth-fewest in a game by the Lady Buffs in program history.  WT held USW to just 3 of 15 from the field in the first half and 12 of 40 for the game, while outrebounding the Mustangs 39-18, including 14-4 on the offensive end.  WT had four players in double figures with a game-high 20 points from freshman Lexy Hightower as she was a career-best 8 of 13 from the field and 4 of 7 from beyond the arc with four assists and three steals.  All 11 players who played scored for the Lady Buffs.  The 64-point win marked the largest winning margin of the season and tied for 10th all-time in program history.
 
HIGHWAY 287 CHALLENGE SERIES – West Texas A&M and Midwestern State play for the annual Highway 287 Challenge and this year the series is tied 5-5 heading into basketball season.  WT won both volleyball games, football and one women's soccer game, while Midwestern State won men's soccer, women's cross country and two women's soccer games.  Football and women's cross country each count as two points, while the rest are one point. 
 
BUFFALO BLITZ RETURNING JAN. 10 – The Buffalo Blitz Radio Show will return to Feldman's Wrong Way Diner on Tuesday, Jan. 10.  The show will be broadcast on the home of West Texas A&M Athletics, KPRF 98.7 JACK FM, and streamed on Facebook Live.  It will run from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. each Tuesday throughout the remainder of the basketball season.  Feldman's will have dinner and drink specials for fans and WT students in attendance each week.  Come and listen to head women's basketball coach Kristen Mattio speak about the Lady Buffs and select women's basketball players will be in attendance each week.
 
HIGHTOWER SEES FIRST START – Lady Buff freshman guard Lexy Hightower made her first career start against University of the Southwest last Friday.  She didn't disappoint as she tallied a career-best 20 points on a career-high 8 of 13 from the field with four triples in 33 minutes of action.  It was her second game leading the team in scoring.  She also had four assists and three steals with no turnovers.
 
VANDER ZEE RETURNS TO START – Senior post Lilley Vander Zee made her first start since the opening weekend of the season and, like Hightower, she didn't disappoint missing a double-double by one rebound with 13 points and nine boards.  Vander Zee went 5 of 9 from the field and 3 of 5 from the line in 17 minutes of action against USW. 
 
SEEING TIME – In the lopsided win over University of the Southwest, all of the WT players were able to play and some saw significant playing time.  Sophomore Taylor LaCour went 2 of 3 from the field and 4 of 4 from the line for eight points, while senior Bailey Thiel played a career-best 23 minutes going 2 of 5 from the field and 2 of 2 from the line for six points and posted four assists with two steals. 
 
OVER 50 PERCENT – The Lady Buffs returned to shoot over 50 percent against University of the Southwest last Friday going 37 of 63 from the field (.587).  It was the first game in the past four of shooting over 50 percent and the sixth overall this season (6-0).  WT is 2-3 when shooting 40-49 percent and 1-1 when shooting under 40 percent this season. 
 
GETTIN' TO THE LINE – WT is 212 of 279 from the charity stripe this season for a 76 percent clip.  The Lady Buffs' 212 made free throws is just five less than the opposition has attempted (217).  Conversely, the opposition is 143 of 217 from the line for a 65.9 clip.
 
FROM DEEP – The Lady Buffs are 70 of 191 in triples made this season for a .366 clip and have gone 21 of 52 from beyond the arc in the last three games (.404), while going 7 of 26 in the previous three games (.269).  WT has eight games with six or more made triples on the year and three games with nine made trifectas. 
 
BLOCK PARTY – The Lady Buffs have recorded at least one block in each of the 13 games this season with a season-high eight rejections coming against St. Edward's (11/18).  The Lady Buffs have 46 blocks on the season as a team and a 3.5 average per game.
 
IN THE POLLS – The Lady Buffs are not ranked or receiving votes in the latest WBCA Coaches Poll for the first time since the 2012-13 season.  WT fell out of the D2SIDA Top 25 as it was receiving votes in the last poll and fell out of the D2SIDA South Central Region rankings for the first time in the three-year history of the poll.  WT is receiving votes in the South Central D2SIDA Region Poll this week.
 
ABOUT THE LADY BUFFS – The Lady Buffs have gone 3-3 in their past six games after opening the season 6-1.  This will be just WT's third and fourth true road games this season (1-1).  WT returns to conference play to begin 2017 after going 7-2 in non-league action and is 2-2 in league play.  For the year, WT is shooting .488 from the field on 326 of 668.  The Lady Buffs are 70 of 191 from beyond the arc (.366) and 212 of 279 from the line (.760).  WT is averaging 36.8 rebounds per game, 15.4 assists per contest, 17.7 turnovers per game, 3.5 blocks per game and 8.2 steals per contest.  The Lady Buffs are averaging 71.8 points per game and allowing just 56.0 for a +15.8 scoring margin.   The Lady Buff "D" is holding teams to a .366 average from the field on 259 of 707, while the opposition is 67 of 207 from beyond the arc (.324) and 143 of 217 (.659) from the line.  The Lady Buffs are holding teams to just 28.8 rebounds per game, 10.9 assists, 17.8 turnovers, 2.1 blocks and 7.5 steals per contest.  Individually, senior Sasha Watson leads the team averaging 15.2 points per game.  She is 62 of 117 from the field (.530), 10 of 24 from beyond the arc (.417) and a team-high 64 of 84 from the line (.762).  Watson is averaging 4.2 assists per game and 2.1 steals per contest.  Senior Alie Decker is averaging 11.6 points per game on 47 of 112 from the field.  She leads the team from beyond the arc at 25 of 67 (.373) and is second behind Watson in assists and steals.  Senior Maddison Wild is third in scoring at 10.5 points per game and leads the team averaging 6.4 rebound per game.  Wild is 52 of 87 from the field for a team-best .598 average and is 25 of 30 from the line for an .833 clip.  Wild is second on the team in blocks with ten. 
  
NATIONAL LADY BUFFS – The Lady Buffs rank high in a number of areas both nationally and in the LSC.  WT is 34th nationally and first in the league in assists with 200 and 62nd in assists per game at 15.4 which also leads the league.  The Lady Buffs are second in the LSC in blocked shots (46) ranking 51st nationally and second in blocked shots per game in the conference at 3.5.  WT is fourth nationally in field goal percentage and first in the league at a .488 clip, while ranking 13th in free throws made (212) and 25th in free throw percentage (76.0).  The Lady Buffs lead the LSC and are 30th nationally in rebounding margin at 8.0, while ranking 30th nationally in scoring defense holding teams to just 56.0 points per game and are 32nd nationally in scoring margin at 15.8.  WT is second behind Midwestern State in 3-point field goal percentage in the LSC at a .366 clip ranking 30th nationally.  Individually senior Sasha Watson in first in the LSC in assists and 48th nationally with 55 and is first in the league in assists per game at 4.2.  Senior Lilley Vander Zee is second in the LSC in blocks with 14, while Watson leads the LSC in free throw attempts (84) and free throws made (64) ranking in the top 16 nationally in both.  She also is first in the LSC in steals with 27 ranking 79th nationally.  Senior Alie Decker leads the LSC in minutes played at 409:00 and is third in minutes played per game at 31.46.  She also is second in the LSC in made triples with 25 behind Cameron's Ava Battese with 27. 
 
STRONG AGAINST THE LSC – The Lady Buffs are 51-7 since Feb. 9, 2013, in Lone Star Conference regular season play and have an overall mark of 62-9 overall including both LSC and NCAA playoffs during that span.  WT is 29-2 at home (28-2 regular season), 23-5 on the road (regular season) and 10-2 in neutral sites (LSC playoffs).  WT is 352-70 all-time in LSC regular season play.
 
WINNING TRADITION – Last season marked the fourth-straight year of 20 or more wins for the Lady Buffs.  WT has won 30 or more games in 2013-14 and 2014-15 and have 30 wins in six seasons since 1980-81.  The Lady Buffs have not had a losing season since 1980-81 and have won 20 or more games in 27 seasons during that span with a string of nine-straight from 1983-1992.  Since the 2012-13 season, WT is 118-27 (.814) with three NCAA postseason appearances, a national runner-up finish (2014), two Elite Eight trips (2014, 2015), and a NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance (2016).  In the LSC the Lady Buffs have been just as successful with three Lone Star Conference regular season titles (2014-2016), two Lone Star Conference tournament championships (2014, 2015) and four-straight trips to the LSC championship game.
 
LADY BUFFS SIGN THREE – WT announced the signing of three for the 2017-18 season during the early signing period in November as Daria Cosgrove (Plano, Texas), Abby Spurgin (Fredricksburg, Texas) and Zada Swoopes (Whitewright, Texas) all inked with the Lady Buffs.
 
ABOUT MIDWESTERN STATE – The Mustangs enter with a 3-7 record overall and a 0-4 mark in Lone Star Conference play.  MSU is led by Whitney Taylor who leads the team averaging 13.1 points per game.  She is 42 of 110 from the field (.382) and a team-best 24 of 64 from beyond the arc (.375), while going 23 of 29 from the line for a .793 clip.  Kristin Rydell is second in scoring at 10.3 points per game as she is 36 of 90 from the field (.400) and 18 of 46 from beyond the arc (.391).  Rydell leads the team with 13 steals on the year.  Micheline Mercelita leads the team averaging 4.5 rebounds per game, while Leanna James leads the team with 38 assists.   As a squad, the Mustangs are shooting at a .384 clip from the field on 221 of 575.  They are 66 of 179 from beyond the arc (.369) and 122 of 178 from the line for a .685 clip.  MSU is averaging 37.3 rebounds per game, while averaging 14.6 assists, 20.0 turnovers, 2.8 blocks and 8.1 steals per game.  MSU is averaging 63 points per game and allowing 67.3.  Head coach Noel Johnson is in her ninth year at the helm of the Mustangs and is 121-113 in Wichita Falls.  She is 6-14 against WT.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH MIDWESTERN STATE – The Lady Buffs lead the all-time series 45-14 and have won the last five, while going 8-2 in the last ten and 14-6 in the last 20.  WT is 18-8 in Wichita Falls and won last year there 74-48.  WT went 3-0 against Midwestern State last season including a win in the first round of the LSC Championship.
 
ABOUT CAMERON – The Aggies will host UT Permian Basin before the Lady Buffs and are playing just their fourth and fifth home games of the season this week (1-2).  Cameron is coming off a hard-fought 79-76 loss to No. 4/7 Angelo State over the weekend as the Aggies gave the Rambelles everything they could.  Cameron opened with a 16-5 run and a 22-13 lead through the first quarter, but ASU led 19-13 in the second quarter for a 35-32 Cameron lead at intermission.  Angelo State led 52-51 through three quarters and outscored Cameron 27-25 in the fourth for the win.  ASU was 23 of 31 from the line, while Cameron was just 11 of 14 as the charity stripe proved to be the difference in the game.  For the season, Cameron is led by Savanna James who is averaging a team-best 15.0 points per game.  James is 54 of 92 from the field (.587) and 22 of 28 from the line (.786) to lead the team.  She leads the team averaging 7.8 rebounds per game.  Charron Montgomery is second in scoring at 13.1 points per game on 35 of 98 from the field.  Ava Battese leads the team with 23 made triples, while Natalie Halbleib is second with 21.  Jamie Bonnarens leads the team with 43 made field goals and is averaging 11.4 points per game which is third on the team.  As a team, Cameron is shooting .393 from the field, .325 from beyond the arc and .672 from the line.  CU is pulling down 43.2 rebounds per game and scoring 80.7 points per game, while allowing 77.7 points per contest.  Former Cameron assistant coach Emma Andrews takes over the head coaching duties this season after former head coach Tom Webb took the head job at Southwestern Minnesota State. 
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH CAMERON – The Lady Buffs lead the all-time series 41-3 and have won 11-straight in the series dating back to a 60-56 loss in Canyon on Jan. 14, 2012.  WT is 18-2 all-time in Lawton with the last loss there coming on Nov. 20, 2001 in a 78-75 overtime game.  WT has won nine-straight in Lawton since then.
 
LOOKING AHEAD – Following this week's games, the Lady Buffs return home to host Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville, Jan. 12 and Jan. 14, respectively, at the First United Bank Center.  WT lost three heartbreaking games to Angelo State last season, including in the conference tournament championship game, while WT swept the season series against TAMUK.