WICHITA FALLS, Texas – The West Texas A&M women's basketball team opened 2017 with a balanced scoring game as five Lady Buffs were in double figures in a 79-53 victory at Midwestern State Thursday evening.  WT improved to 10-4 on the year and 3-2 in Lone Star Conference play, while MSU fell to 3-8 and 0-5 in league play.  WT extended its winning streak to six-straight against MSU and a 46-14 lead all-time in the series. 

It was a tale of two halves for the Lady Buffs as they started slow, but came on in the second half to shoot 53.6 percent for the game on 30 of 56 and were 8 of 17 from beyond the arc, while going 11 of 16 from the line.  WT pounded the glass leading 42-25 and led 38-16 in the paint, while leading 17-9 in points off turnovers. 

Senior Alie Decker led all scorers with 17 points on 6 of 5 from the field and a season-high five triples, while senior Lilley Vander Zee tallied 14 points as did freshman Lexy Hightower.  Junior Sydney Walton added 12 points on 6 of 8 from the field and senior Sasha Watson chipped in 11 points with seven assists.  Senior Maddison Wild had 11 rebounds, including ten in the first half.

MSU shot just 35.1 percent for the game on 20 of 57.  The Mustangs were 7 of 21 from beyond the arc and 6 of 11 from the line.  Kristin Rydell led the way with 15 points and Whitney Taylor added 10 points. 

The Lady Buffs and Mustangs played to an even 14-14 game through the first quarter as both teams went 6 of 14 from the field in the opening stanza and 2 of 5 from beyond the arc.  In the second quarter, the Lady Buffs used a 9-0 run for a 24-17 lead with four minutes left in the half and closed the half on a 12-5 run for a 29-22 lead at intermission. 

For the half, WT shot 12 of 29 from the field for a 41.4 percent as the team entered ranked fourth nationally in field goal shooting at a .488 clip.  The Lady Buffs were 4 of 10 from beyond the arc and went just 1 of 1 from the line on an "and one" from senior Lilley Vander Zee in the second quarter giving WT the 24-17 lead.  The Lady Buffs tallied 23 rebounds in the half, but committed eight turnovers.  WT dominated the paint 14-4 and held a 7-5 lead in points off turnovers.

Decker and Hightower each had eight points with two triples each to lead all scorers.  Senior Maddison Wild had a game-high eight rebounds in the first half with seven on the defensive end.  MSU snot 33.3 percent for the half on 9 of 27 and the Mustangs also were 4 of 10 from deep, but went 0 of 2 from the line.  Whitney Taylor had five points to lead MSU in the half with a triple. 

Two nice buckets from Vander Zee put WT up double-digits early in the second half at 36-24 with just over eight minutes left in the quarter as both teams began to heat up.  Hightower scored inside for a 40-26 lead with 6:38 left in the quarter and a timeout by the Mustangs and an 11-4 run to start the second half.  Wild pulled down two rebounds for ten in the game marking her third game this season in double figures and ninth of her career.

WT extended the lead to 49-31 with 3:42 left in the quarter extending the run to 20-9 in the third quarter as the Lady Buffs opened the half making eight of their first ten shots and 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.  For the quarter WT shot 64.7 percent on 11 of 17 from the field with three triples and a 55-39 lead.

The Lady Buffs opened the final quarter going 3 of 5 from the field and pushed the lead to 22 points with 7:13 left and led 66-44 with 4:54 remaining.

WT continues on the road Saturday at 2 p.m. at Cameron where Lucas Kinsey and Kent Johnson will have the call on 98.7 JACK FM throughout the Texas Panhandle.  Check back with www.gobuffsgo.com for links to live stats, audio/video streaming links and more.