LAWTON, Okla. – A first career double-double from West Texas A&M senior Lilley Vander Zee helped spark the Lady Buffs to a hard-fought 77-64 win at Cameron Saturday afternoon.  With the win, WT improved to 11-4 on the year and 4-2 in Lone Star Conference play, while Cameron fell to 4-8 and 2-4 in league play.

The second half was a tale of two quarters as WT used a 17-2 run to end the third quarter (18-4 for the period) blowing open a 39-38 lead at halftime, but Cameron went on an 11-0 run to begin the second quarter pulling within five, but WT answered with an 8-0 run of its own to pull away for the win.  WT improved to 42-3 all-time against Cameron and extended the winning streak over the Aggies to 12 games. 

Vander Zee tallied her first career double-double of her career with a game-high 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.  She was 7 of 8 from the field and a perfect 4 of 4 from the line.  Junior Sydney Walton added 17 points on 6 of 12 from the field with two triples and three charity tosses.  Senior Sasha Watson added 15 points with five assists and freshman Lexy Hightower added 11 points in her third career start. 

WT shot 48.3 percent from the field on 28 of 58.  The Lady Buffs were 4 of 13 from beyond the arc (.308) and 17 of 29 from the line for a .586 clip.  The Lady Buffs pulled down a season-high 51 rebounds and a season-best 15 on the offensive end leading the rebounding by 20, 51-31. 

Cameron shot 33.8 percent for the game (23-68) and really struggled in the second half going just 8 of 34 (.235) after shooting 15 of 34 in the first half (.441).  The Aggies were 7 of 23 from beyond the arc and 11 of 17 from the line.  Five Cameron players were in double figures led by 13 from Savanna James as she led the team with six rebounds.

In a back-and-forth first few minutes, both teams traded buckets as WT found easy sledding down low for an early 12-8 lead with 5:33 left in the first quarter.  A nice pass from senior Sasha Watson to senior Lilley Vander Zee underneath gave WT its largest lead to that point at 14-8 with just over four minutes left in the quarter.  Vander Zee had six early points on 3 of 3 from the field while Watson had four assists early.  WT started 7 of 11 from the field and Cameron was 5 of 9. 

Back-to-back-to-to back triples from Cameron gave the Aggies their first lead of the game at 17-14 with 2:28 left in the quarter.  Ava Battese pushed the Cameron lead to 22-16 – its largest of the game – with 27 seconds left in the first.  Freshman Lexy Hightower answered the bucket with a triple of her own for a 22-19 deficit at the end of one quarter. 

Out of the quarter break, junior Sydney Walton buried a triple to tie the game at 22, but the sharp-shooting Aggies, who lead the LSC in triples, responded at the other end as the quarter began just as the first did with the teams trading buckets.

Two free throws from Vander Zee and a jumper in transition from Hightower gave WT a 34-30 lead with 5:46 left in the half and a timeout by Cameron as WT was in the midst of a 7-0 run.   Vander Zee became the first Lady Buff in the game in double figures with 10.

Watson extended the run to 11-2 with a bucket in the paint and a turnover by the Aggies gave WT the ball with a 38-32 lead and 2:33 left in the half.  Walton pushed the lead to 39-34, but Jamie Bonnarens answered at the other end for a 39-36 WT lead with 1:26 left.  With 23 seconds left Bonnarens earned the and one, but missed the free throw as WT led 39-38 at intermission. 

For the half, WT shot 48.4 percent on the floor on 15 of 31 from the field and 3 of 8 from beyond the arc.  The Lady Buffs were 3 of 8 from beyond the arc and 6 of 10 from the line.  WT held a 23-14 lead in rebounding and committed just six turnovers in the half.  Vander Zee went 4 of 4 from the field and 2 of 2 from the line for a team-high 10 points. 

Cameron went 15 of 34 from the field and 6 of 14 from beyond the arc, while going 2 of 3 from the line.  Bonnarens had a game-high 11 points on 5 of 9 from the field with a triple.  CU turned it over just three times in the half. 

Hightower scored off a miscue from the Aggies as WT pushed the lead to 44-40 early in the third.  WT went on to outscore CU 18-4 in the quarter for a 57-42 lead as WT went 6 of 14 from the field and 5 of 10 from the line, while Cameron was just 2 of 14 from the field and uncharacteristically 0 of 5 from beyond the arc.  WT forced CU into eight miscues in the quarter.  The four points allowed in the third quarter was a season-low for the Lady Buffs in the frame and tied a season quarter-low overall.

The fourth quarter, however, was the complete opposite as CU started with a 5-0 run and forced WT into three-straight turnovers.  CU's Brittany Hill buried a triple for an 8-0 run cutting the WT lead to 57-50 with 8:02 left and a timeout by the Lady Buffs.

Out of the timeout a foul and turnover gave the ball back to Cameron and Hill buried two tosses for a 57-52 WT lead and a 10-0 run by the Aggies.  A free throw from Savanna James cut the WT lead to 57-53 with just over five minutes left.  Watson scored two quick buckets in transition for the first field goals of the quarter for WT and a 61-53 lead with five minutes left. 

A pair of buckets from Vander Zee and a transition hoop from Watson pushed the lead back to ten at 69-59 with 2:41 left and a timeout by Cameron.   WT closed the game with free throws for the win.

WT returns home to prepare for a huge conference weekend as nationally ranked Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville visit next week in the First United Bank Center.  WT and Angelo State battle Thursday at 5:30 p.m., followed by the game against the Javelinas a week from today at 2 p.m.  Those are the only two home games for the Lady Buffs in the month of January.