Game Notes (PDF Format)

CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M women's basketball team looks to keep its six-game winning streak alive and a chance at a fourth-straight Lone Star Conference regular season title as it travels to Texas A&M-Kingsville and No. 22/24 Angelo State for the final regular season road trip of the season.  The Lady Buffs sit at 19-6 overall and 12-4 in Lone Star Conference play in a tie for second in the league standings with four games to play.  WT and Angelo State (18-4, 12-4 LSC) sit two games behind league-leading Eastern New Mexico.
 
HOW TO CATCH THE GAMES – 98.7 JACK FM is the home for Lady Buff Basketball throughout the Texas Panhandle with Lucas Kinsey and Kent Johnson having the call.  Links to live audio/video and live stats are on the women's basketball schedule page at www.gobuffsgo.com.
 
LSC ADVANCED TICKETS ON SALE – Lady Buff fans, purchase your 2017 Lone Star Conference Basketball Championship tickets with $15 off the regular price until Feb. 28 at the WT Athletic Ticket Office.  Advanced all-session passes are $45 until Feb. 28 and single session are $15.  Student tickets are $10. 
 
DOWN THE STRETCH IN THE LSC – With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Lady Buffs sit in a second-place tie with Angelo State each at 12-4 in Lone Star Conference play.  Eastern New Mexico has a two-game lead on the Lady Buffs and Rambelles with four games to play at 14-2.  Texas A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State, WT's opponents next week, both are 11-5 in league play and are tied for fourth.  Texas Woman's is sixth at 8-8, while Cameron is seventh at 7-9 and Texas A&M-Kingsville holds a two-game lead over Midwestern State for the eighth and final playoff spot at 6-10.
 
RECAPPING LAST WEEK – WT continued its strong play with its fifth and sixth consecutive wins closing a home stand 3-0 with dominating performances over Cameron (86-69) and Midwestern State (85-54).  In arguably two of the more dominating performances during conference play this season, the Lady Buffs blew open close games at halftime with strong third quarters, outscoring Cameron and Midwestern State 40-16 combined in the third stanza.  The Lady Buffs shot a blistering .610 from the field in the two games on 64 of 105 and were 18 of 40 from beyond the arc, while going 25 of 33 from the line (.758).  Despite averaging just 27 rebounds per game, WT held the opponents to just 26 boards per game, while forcing ten more turnovers with seven blocks and 19 steals.  Senior Alie Decker led the way averaging 17.5 points all on triples, as she was a deadly 11 of 17 from beyond the arc (.647) for the week leading six Lady Buffs in double figures.  Senior Sasha Watson added 15 assists on the week in the two games, while junior Madison Parker continued her impressive play off the bench averaging 12.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in the two wins.
 
BUFFALO BLITZ ON TUESDAYS – The Buffalo Blitz Radio Show returned to Feldman's Wrong Way Diner in January and will continue each Tuesday evening throughout the rest of the regular season.  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. Feldman's will have dinner specials for WT students with a valid WTAMU ID.  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.
 
THIS WEEK'S LSC SLATE – Along with the Lady Buffs traveling to Texas A&M-Kingsville and Angelo State, Western New Mexico and Eastern New Mexico are at Cameron and Midwestern State, while UT Permian Basin travels to Angelo State and Texas A&M-Kingsville.  Texas A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State play at Texas Woman's this week.    
 
NCAA REGION RANKINGS RELEASED – The first NCAA South Central Region rankings are scheduled to be released Wednesday by the NCAA in the afternoon.  WT has qualified for the last three NCAA Tournaments with a national runner-up finish in 2014, an Elite Eight berth in 2015 and a Sweet Sixteen finish in 2016.  Check back with www.gobuffsgo.com for the latest news on the region rankings Wednesday afternoon.
 
SASHA MOVING UP – Senior Sasha Watson moved over 1,000 career points with a season-high 27 points at Texas Woman's on Dec. 8.  She now has 1,213 career points ranking her 14th all-time in school history.  She need 34 points to move into 13th all-time, surpassing Courtney Lee (2005-09) with 1,246 points.  Watson ranks seventh all-time in free throws made (335) and eighth in free throws attempted (497).  She is fourth all-time in assists with 439.
 
STEALING SASHA – Sasha Watson has recorded a steal in each of the last ten games and has 207 for her career ranking her 10th all-time in school history in steals.  She needs just three thefts to move into ninth surpassing Casey Land (2010-14) with 209 and four to surpass Joni Unruh (2007-10) with 210 steals.  Watson leads the team this season with 52 steals as she leads the LSC in steals, ranking 70th nationally and is third in the LSC in steals per game at 2.08 ranking 107th nationally.
 
OVER 50 PERCENT – The Lady Buffs are second nationally in field goal shooting at a .498 clip behind Ashland (Ohio) at a 51.8 clip.  This season, the Lady Buffs have shot over 50 percent 13 times and are 13-0 in those games. WT is 646 of 1298 from the field this season.
 
INSIDE THE WINNING STREAK – During the current six-game winning streak, WT has gone 16 of 300 from the field for a .557 clip, while going 35 of 91 from beyond the arc (.385) and 85 of 116 from the line for a .733 average.  The Lady Buffs have averaged 30.5 rebounds per game, while recording 17 assists per game to just 13 miscues per contest, along with averaging 8.2 steals and 3.7 blocks per game.  Conversely, the teams is holding the opposition to a .382 clip from the field on 122 of 319 and 29 of 91 (.319) from beyond the arc.  The opposition is shooting .753 from the line on 64 of 85 as WT has made the same number of free throws its opposition has attempted during the winning streak.  WT is allowing just 26.8 rebounds per game, while forcing 15.3 turnovers per game and holding teams to a 56.2 scoring clip.  During the run, senior Maddison Wild has been outstanding, leading the team in scoring at 15.0 points per game on 36 of 55 (.655).  She has three triples and is 15 of 19 from the line (.789) to lead the team.  Freshman Lexy Hightower is averaging 11.0 points in five games, while junior Madison Parker has come off the bench to average 10.8 points and a team-high 5.3 rebounds per game during the run.  She is 20 of 39 from the field (.513) and 22 of 30 from the line (.733) to lead the team.  She has 11 assists, five blocks and four steals.  Senior Sasha Watson is averaging 10.5 points per game, while averaging 6.0 assists per game and 2.67 steals per game.  Watson is 25 of 41 from the field (.610) and 11 of 20 from the line (.550) with two triples.  Senior Alie Decker leads the team with 17 triples in 35 attempts during the winning streak (.486) on 18 buckets.
 
CUTTING DOWN THE MISCUES – During the current six game winning streak for WT, the Lady Buffs really have cut down on the turnovers as the team has just 78 miscues (13.0 pg) in the six games, including a season-low seven at Eastern New Mexico (Jan. 26).  Also, during the stretch, the Lady Buffs have allowed just 63 points off the turnovers and scored 106 points off 92 miscues by the opposition.
 
FROM DEEP – The Lady Buffs are 142 of 382 in triples made this season for a .372 clip.  WT ranks first in the LSC and 17th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage, while ranking fourth in the league in triples made.   Senior Alie Decker leads the team with 58 triples in 140 attempts for a .414 clip, ranking her first in the league in 3-point field goal percentage and 22nd nationally.  Decker is second in the conference in triples made this season ranking her 60th nationally.
 
BLOCK PARTY – The Lady Buffs have recorded at least one block in every game this season with a season-high eight rejections coming against St. Edward's (11/18).  WT has recorded two or more blocks in each of the last ten games and has had 20 games with two or more rejections.  WT has 93 blocks on the season which ranks third in the LSC (51st nationally) and the 3.7 blocks per game is fifth-best in the league (66th).  WT senior Lilley Vander Zee leads the team with 31 blocks on the year ranking her third in the LSC and 92nd nationally.  Her 1.29 blocks per game average also is third in the league.  Angelo State's Jasmine Prophet leads the LSC in blocks (37) and blocks per game (1.76).
 
CLEANING THE GLASS – WT is outrebounding the opposition this season by a 7.8 margin, which is 19th nationally and leads the LSC.  WT is fourth in the LSC in rebounding with 90.  Defensively, WT is holding teams to just 28.4 rebounds per game, which leads the LSC as the opposition has 711 rebounds for the year.  Senior Maddison Wild leads the team in rebounding at 6.1 per game with 153 rebounds.
 
KEEPING A LID ON THE BUCKET – The Lady Buffs rank first in the LSC in scoring margin at 14.7, which is 19th nationally and lead the LSC in points allowed per game at 57.4, which is 25th nationally for scoring defense. 
 
IN THE POLLS – The Lady Buffs are not ranked or receiving votes in the latest WBCA Coaches Poll for the seventh-straight week and the first time since the 2012-13 season.  WT fell out of the D2SIDA Top 25 as it was receiving votes in the Jan. 3 poll and fell out of the D2SIDA South Central Region rankings for the first time in the three-year history of the poll.  WT sits fourth in the latest D2SID South Central Region Top 10. 
 
WITH THE ASSIST – This season WT ranks 23rd nationally in assists with 393 to lead the LSC.  WT leads the league in assists per game at a 15.7 clip, which is 31st nationally.  Senior Sasha Watson leads the LSC in assists with 120 and ranks 34th nationally.  She also has the league's top assist per game average at a 4.8 clip, which is 38th nationally.
  
STRONG AGAINST THE LSC – The Lady Buffs are 61-9 since Feb. 9, 2013, in Lone Star Conference regular season play and have an overall mark of 72-11 overall including both LSC and NCAA playoffs during that span.  WT is 34-2 at home (31-2 regular season), 28-7 on the road (regular season) and 10-2 in neutral sites (LSC playoffs).  WT is 362-72 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 129-29 (.816) 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 TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE – The Javelinas have played much better basketball as of late and have three players (Emmeri Archer, Jaiton Walls and Angelica Wilson) who didn't play the first time WT and TAMUK met in January in Canyon.  All have seen significant action since.  TAMUK is 11-11 overall and 6-10 in Lone Star Conference play and won at Texas A&M-Commerce, 67-65 on Saturday for a big win.  Leading the way for the Javelinas this season is Kaylin Roher who leads the team averaging 11.0 points per game.  Roher is 83 of 222 from the field (.374) and 52 of 132 from beyond the arc (.394), ranking third in the LSC, while going 25 of 30 from the line (.833).  She is second in assists with 52 and leads the team with 38 steals.  Meesha Wade is second in scoring at 9.5 points per game on 75 of 201 for a .373 average.  She has 12 triples on the year and is 46 of 69 from the line ranking second in free throws made on the team.  Wade leads the team with 65 assists and is third in blocks with 14.  Kaylee Kana leads the team in rebounding at 7.7 per game, which is good for third in the LSC, while averaging 6.8 points per game.  As a team, the Javelinas are shooting .365 from the field on 482 of 1319, while going 121 of 356 from beyond the arc (.340), which is good for second in the LSC behind WT, and 272 of 429 from the line (.634).  TAMUK is averaging 41.0 rebounds per game, while averaging 11.8 assists, 18.0 turnovers, 3.7 blocks and 7.9 steals per game.  The Javelinas are scoring 61.6 points per contest and allowing 61.5, which is second in the LSC behind WT for scoring defense and ranks the Javelinas 91st nationally.  Teams are shooting .368 against TAMUK this season on 471 of 1280, which the .368 average is second-lowest in the LSC and 54th nationally.  From beyond the arc, TAMUK is holding teams to a .289 clip on 137 of 474 (second in the LSC), while the opposition is 275 of 409 from the line for a .672 average.  The Javelinas are allowing 39.5 rebounds per game. 
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE – WT leads the all-time series 57-8 and won the last meeting in Canyon 73-50 on Jan. 14.  The Lady Buffs have won 15-straight in the series dating back to a 70-66 loss at home on Feb. 21, 2009.  WT is 24-5 all-time in Kingsville and have won the last 12 there dating back to a 78-58 loss on Mar. 1, 2003. 
 
FIVE THINGS FROM THE FIRST MEETING WITH TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE 
 

• WT tallied its lowest first quarter score of five points of the season and trailed TAMUK 14-5 after one frame, but bounced back outscoring the Javelinas 20-6 in the second quarter, leading 25-20 at halftime
• A big third quarter of a 31-13 outburst by the Lady Buffs as the team shot 11 of 15 from the field, along with 9 of 13 from the line in the frame blew the game open as TAMUK was just 4 of 16 from the field in the frame
• Both teams scored 17 points in the fourth quarter as WT senior Sasha Watson led all-scorers with 23 points on 9 of 17 from the field with six rebounds and six assists
• Meesha Wade was the lone Javelina in double figures as she had12 points with two triples on 5 of 12 from the field
• WT held TAMUK to just 19 of 61 from the field, 6 of 20 from beyond the arc and 6 of 10 from the line, while the Lady Buffs were 27 of 52 from the field, 4 of 12 from beyond the arc and 15 of 20 from the line.

 
ABOUT ANGELO STATE – The Rambelles return home after two tough losses on the road last week by a combined five points with an 83-80 loss at Texas A&M-Commerce and a 79-77 loss at Tarleton State.  Angelo State is 18-4 on the year and 12-4 in Lone Star Conference play.  The Rambelles have had another outstanding season under the direction of second year head coach Kevin Baker who is a former assistant women's basketball coach for the Lady Buffs.  Leading the way for the Rambelles this season is Taylor Dorsey who is averaging 17.8 points per game to lead the team.  She is third in the LSC in scoring and 48th nationally.  Dorsey is 154 of 323 for a .477 average ranking fourth in the LSC.  She is 23 of 81 from beyond the arc and 61 of 103 from the line.  Dorsey is averaging 4.5 rebounds per game and is third in the LSC in assists with 93 (4.2 apg also third).  Dorsey is second in the LSC to WT's Sasha Watson with 47 and has a 2.14 steals average to lead the league.  Jasmine Prophet is second in scoring at 14.8.  Prophet leads the LSC in field goal percentage at a .574 clip on 124 of 214 ranking tenth nationally.  Prophet is 77 of 95 from the line for a .811 average and leads the team in rebounding at 7.3 per game ranking seventh in the league. Madi Greenwood leads the team with 24 triples on the year.  As a team, the Rambelles are 630 of 1399 for a .450 clip which is second to WT in the league and 17th nationally.  ASU is 115 of 362 from beyond the arc (.318) and 396 of 66 from the line for a 70 percent average.  ASU leads the league in scoring at 80.5 points per game which is eighth nationally, while ranking second to WT in scoring margin at 13.9 for 25th nationally.  ASU leads the LSC and is 25th nationally in fewest turnovers with 307, while ranking third in the league in free throw attempts (566, 15th nat.) and free throws made (396, 20th nat.).  ASU also has forced 18.3 turnovers per game which is second in the league, while turning it over just 14 times per game ranking 39th nationally and second in the LSC.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH ANGELO STATE – WT leads the all-time series 48-16 and snapped a three-game skid with a 68-61 win in Canyon on Jan. 12.  The Lady Buffs lead the series 18-10 in San Angelo, but lost there last season 69-64.  In the three meetings last season between the two teams, the Rambelles won all three, but two of the three combined for five overtimes, including a 112-111 victory by ASU in three overtimes in Canyon and a 68-65 Rambelle win in the conference title game in two overtimes.  ASU is 3-2 in the past five meetings, while WT is 7-3 in the past ten matchups and 14-6 in the last 20.
 
FIVE THINGS FROM THE FIRST MEETING WITH ANGELO STATE 
 

• WT snapped a three-game skid against the Rambelles with a 68-61 win over Angelo State on Jan. 12 at the First United Bank Center.
• In the closest margin of victory of the season for WT, the Lady Buffs had five players in double figures led by 16 points from freshman Lexy Hightower on 5 of 13 from the field with three triples and three free throws.
• ASU duo of Taylor Dorsey and Jasmine Prophet had 14 and 12 points, respectively.
• The Lady Buffs knocked ASU from the ranks of the unbeaten with the win in the first meeting this season, as the Rambelles did the same thing the previous season in the first meeting in San Angelo
• WT held a 9-8 lead through one and a 30-23 lead at halftime as the teams tied in the second half, each scoring 16 points in the third and 22 in the fourth quarter.