CANYON, Texas – The Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M scored the first 10 points of the game and never looked back as they raced past the visiting Lions of Texas A&M-Commerce, 79-51 in front of almost 850 fans at the First United Bank Center in Canyon on Thursday night. The Lady Buffs improve to 21-7 (14-5) overall while the Lions fall to 19-8 (13-6 LSC) on the season.
 
Sasha Watson started off the scoring with a fast break layup followed by a Commerce miss and a Maddison Wild three ball from the wing at 5-0, the teams traded possessions before an illegal screen call on the Lions that led to a Wild bucket from Watson and another TAMUC miss as Alie Decker hit a three from the wing at 10-0. The teams traded misses before Krystal Pickron hit a three from the wing to stop the WT run, Decker hit two at the charity stripe followed by a freebie from Brittany Adams heading into a media timeout with 4:48 left in the first and WT leading 12-4.
 
Madison Parker hit one-of-two from the stripe followed by a Commerce bucket before Decker found Wild under the basket for an easy layup at 15-6, Sydney Walton hit a three from the wing followed by a Commerce turnover that led to a Decker long ball from the wing to force a TAMUC timeout with 2:04 left and WT leading 20-6. The Lions turned the ball over again as Parker hit two more freebies before Khala Riley knocked down a floater in the paint heading into the second period with WT leading 22-8.
 
The teams traded misses to start the second before Vander Zee rejected a TAMUC shot in the paint as Parker knocked down a jumper from the baseline at 24-8, Pickron responded with a three from the wing followed by another Parker bucket before Courtney Fields hit a deep three followed by a Lion steal-and-score to cut the lead to 26-16 heading into a Lady Buff timeout.
 
Wild added to the WT lead with a board-and-score after the break followed by another Pinkron long ball at 28-19, Walton responded with a give-and-go layup followed by a TAMUC offensive foul as Parker connected on a jumper in the paint. Artaejah Gay hit one-of-two from the line followed by a WT miss and a Wild steal that led to a Walton bucket at 34-20, Pinkron hit two freebies followed by a Fields steal-and-score before Vander Zee answered with a layup at 36-24 before TAMUC hit a bucket right before the half heading into the locker room with WT leading 36-28.
 
The Lady Buffs were led at the break by Parker and Wild with nine points each followed by Decker with eight to go along with five rebounds. WT went 14-of-29 (48.3%) from the floor in the first half including 3-of-8 (37.5%) from deep and 5-of-6 (83.3%) from the charity stripe with 19 rebounds (three offensive, 16 defensive), 11 assists, eight turnovers, seven blocks and five steals.
 
Texas A&M-Commerce went 10-of-32 (31.3%) from the field in the first half including 4-of-10 (40%) from long range and 4-of-6 (66.7%) from the free throw line with 20 rebounds (eight offensive, 12 defensive), seven assists, eight turnovers, no blocks and two steals.
 
The teams traded possessions to start the second half before a Watson steal-and-score and misses on both ends before Victoria George hit two free throws at 38-30, Decker responded with an inbound three from the corner followed by misses on both ends before a Wild rebound led to a Watson fast break layup at 43-30. Decker stole away an errant Lion pass as Walton finished with an easy layup to extend the WT run to 7-0 before Pinkron hit a three from the wing, Wild grabbed another board as the senior finished under the bucket on the other end of the floor heading into a media timeout with 4:48 left in the third and WT leading 47-33.
 
The Lions hit a free throw after the break before another Decker long ball and a Commerce turnover as Watson hit a pull-up three from the top of the key at 53-34, another TAMUC turnover led to a fast break layup by the Palo Duro product before a Lion bucket in the paint. Commerce hit one-of-two at the line followed by misses on both ends and a WT offensive foul but a Lion miss led to a Watson bucket at 57-37, Decker hit a pull-up deep ball from the wing followed by TAMUC hitting a free throw heading into the fourth with WT leading 60-38.
 
Decker found Parker for a long ball to start the fourth followed by a Reagan Haynes steal and a Wild three ball from the top of the key at 66-38, the teams traded misses before Brianna Wise knocked down a long ball from the wing followed by Parker hitting one-of-two at the line with a Bailey Thiel offensive board and TAMUC foul as Parker hit two at 69-41. The Lions hit two freebies followed by a WT turnover and two more Commerce free throws heading into the last media timeout of the game with 4:56 left and WT leading 69-45.
 
The teams traded misses after the break before a Commerce jumper heading into a Lions timeout with WT leading 69-47 with 3:06 left, CeCe Wooten knocked down two at the line after the break followed by a Commerce free throw and Amanda Bell rebound but the Lady Buffs gave the ball right back with a charge, Taylor LaCour hit two free throws followed by a Commerce miss and foul as Wooten hit two freebies at 75-48. Another Lion foul led to Haynes hitting one-of-two heading into a WT timeout with 1:16 left, TAMUC hit a free throw followed by a Haynes long ball from the wing and a Lions bucket as the Lady Buffs took the 79-51 win.
 
WT was led by Decker who went 5-of-10 from the floor including 5-of-9 from deep with a game high 17 points followed by Parker (15), Wild (14) and Watson (13) in double-figures while Wild ended the game with 10 rebounds for a double-double. The Lady Buffs went 27-of-54 (50%) from the field including 10-of-18 (55.6%) from deep and 15-of-19 (78.9%) from the free throw line with 43 rebounds (nine offensive, 34 defensive), 10 steals, 18 turnovers, eight blocks and 10 steals.
 
The Lions went 15-of-59 (25.4%) from the field including 6-of-16 (37.5%) from deep and 15-of-24 (62.5%) from the free throw line with 34 rebounds (14 offensive, 20 defensive), 12 assists, 17 turnovers, one block and two steals. Commerce was led offensively by Pickron who went 5-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-6 from deep with 16 points.
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Buffs conclude their regular season schedule on Saturday afternoon as they host the TexAnns of Tarleton State on a Senior Day matchup with tipoff set for 2 p.m. at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. The American Sports Network will be on hand to broadcast the event, the LSC doubleheader will be shown locally on KCPN-LP My Amarillo TV. The TexAnns will enter Saturday with an overall record of 13-12 (12-7 LSC) following a 67-58 win over UT Permian Basin on Thursday night in Odessa.