CANYON, Texas – The West Texas A&M women's basketball team continues its three-game home stand this week as Cameron and Midwestern State visit in a pair of key Lone Star Conference matchups at the First United Bank Center.  The Lady Buffs and Cameron face off Thursday at 5:30 p.m., while WT and Midwestern State battle Saturday at 2 p.m.

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.

INSIDE THE LSC – The Lady Buffs currently sit at 17-6 overall and 10-4 in Lone Star Conference play with six league games left.  Of the six left, four are at home with the two this week, followed by games at Texas A&M-Kingsville and at Angelo State and home games the final week against Texas A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State.  WT is 4-2 against the final six opponents the rest of the season.  For the Lady Buffs to win their fourth-straight Lone Star Conference regular season title, the Lady Buffs will need to win out and get some help as Eastern New Mexico leads the league with a 13-2 record.  Angelo State sits second at 12-2, two games ahead of the Lady Buffs who are tied for third with Texas A&M-Commerce.

RECAPPING LAST WEEK – WT continued its four-game winning streak with a pair of wins last week. WT concluded a five-game road trip with a 69-55 win at UT Permian Basin on Jan. 31, and came home for an 80-55 victory over Texas Woman's to avenge an early season loss to the Pioneers.  Against UTPB, the Lady Buffs dominated from the start, outscoring the Falcons 19-3 in the first quarter and 37-14 at half.  UTPB went 1 of 13 from the field in the first quarter (.077) and 5 of 23 (.220) for the half.  WT blitz the nets going 16 of 27 (.592) from the field in the first half.  The second half WT continued the offensive pressure and, after going to the line just four times in the first half, WT finished the game 16 of 22 from the line in the second half.  UTPB was just 12 of 16 for the game.  WT senior Sasha Watson paced the Lady Buffs with a team-high 19 points on a perfect 7 of 7 from the field with five free throws in eight attempts, along with five assists and four steals.  Senior Maddison Wild added 14 points and junior Cece Wooten chipped in ten points.  On Saturday, the Lady Buffs pounded Texas Woman's from the start as WT shot 58.8 percent for the game on 30 of 51, while holding the Pioneers to 19 of 47 for 40.4 percent.  WT was 6 of 14 from beyond the arc, while TWU was 1 of 7.  Wild had a career-high 23 points on 9 of 14 from the field, 2 of 4 from beyond the arc and three free throws leading three Lady Buffs in double-digits.  WT held TWU to 19 points marking the fifth time this season the Lady Buffs have held a team to below 20 points in the first half (5-0).

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 hosting Cameron and Midwestern State this week, Texas A&M-Kingsville visits Tarleton State and Texas A&M-Commerce, while Midwestern State plays at UT Permian Basin on Thursday before heading North to Canyon.  Angelo State travels to Texas A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State, while Eastern New Mexico, who beat Western New Mexico 76-71 Tuesday, hosts Texas Woman's on Thursday.   

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 1,191 career points ranking her 14th all-time in school history.  She need 56 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 (331) and eighth in free throws attempted (491).  She is fourth all-time in assists with 424.

STEALING SASHA – Sasha Watson has recorded four steals in each of the last three games and has 204 for her career ranking her 10th all-time in school history in steals.  She needs just six thefts to move into ninth surpassing Casey Land (2010-14) with 209 and seven to surpass Joni Unruh (2007-10) with 210 steals.  Watson leads the team this season with 49 steals as she leads the LSC in steals, ranking 65th nationally and also leads the league in steals per game at a 2.13 clip for 101st nationally.

OVER 50 PERCENT – The Lady Buffs are second nationally in field goal shooting at a .488 clip behind Ashland (Ohio) at a 51.7 clip.  This season, the Lady Buffs have shot over 50 percent 11 times and are 11-0 in those games. WT is 582 of 1193 from the field this season.

CUTTING DOWN THE MISCUES – During the current four game winning streak for WT, the Lady Buffs really have cut down on the turnovers as the team has just 50 miscues (12.5 pg) in the four games, including a season-low seven at Eastern New Mexico (Jan. 26).  During the stretch, the Lady Buffs have allowed just 38 points off the turnovers and scored 58 points off 54 miscues by the opposition.

LOOKING AT THE WINNING STREAK – During the current four game winning streak, the Lady Buffs are 103 of 195 from the field (.528), while going 17 of 51 (.333) from beyond the arc and 60 of 83 from the line (.723).  WT is averaging 32.2 rebounds per game scoring 70.8 points.  Conversely, the opposition is shooting 76 of 216 from the field (.352), while going 19 of 64 from beyond the arc (.297) and 43 of 58 from the line (.741).  The Lady Buff "D" is holding the opponents to just 27.3 rebounds per game and 53.5 points per game.  Senior Maddison Wild is on a tear right now as she has averaged a team-high 16.3 points per game in the last four contests on 25 of 40 (.625).  She has three triples and is 12 of 14 from the line, while averaging 5.0 rebounds per game with four blocks and two steals.  Freshman Lexy Hightower is second in scoring at 10.8 points per game as she is 14 of 30 from the field and 5 of 14 from beyond the arc.  Hightower is 10 of 13 from the line, while Watson is a team-best 17 of 25 from the field for a .680 clip with 21 assists and 13 steals, while averaging 10.3 points per game.  Junior Madison Parker has come up huge off the bench in the last four games as she is averaging 10.3 points per game on 13 of 28 with two triples and 13 of 18 from the line, while leading the team averaging 5.8 rebounds per game.

FROM DEEP – The Lady Buffs are 124 of 342 in triples made this season for a .363 clip.  WT ranks first in the LSC and 27th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage, while ranking fourth in the league in triples made. Senior Alie Decker leads the team with 47 triples in 123 attempts for a .382 clip, ranking her third in the league in 3-point field goal percentage.  Decker is fifth in triples made in the league this season.

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 86 blocks on the season which ranks third in the LSC (50th nationally) and the 3.7 blocks per game is fourth-best in the league (67th).  WT senior Lilley Vander Zee leads the team with 30 blocks on the year ranking her third in the LSC and 79th nationally.  Her 1.36 blocks per game average also is third in the league. 

CLEANING THE GLASS – WT is outrebounding the opposition this season by an 8.4 margin, which is 14th nationally and leads the LSC.  WT is third in the LSC in rebounding with 852 and seventh in rebounds per game (37.00).  Defensively, WT is holding teams to just 28.7 rebounds per game which leads the LSC as the opposition has 659 rebounds for the year.  Senior Maddison Wild leads the team in rebounding at 6.3 per game with 145 rebounds, ranking sixth in the LSC.

IN THE POLLS – The Lady Buffs are not ranked or receiving votes in the latest WBCA Coaches Poll for the sixth-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.  The first NCAA Regional rankings are scheduled to be released next Wednesday. 

WITH THE ASSIST – This season WT ranks 30th nationally in assists with 351 to lead the LSC.  WT is second in the league in assists per game at a 15.3 clip which is 50th nationally.  Senior Sasha Watson leads the LSC in assists with 105 and ranks 41st nationally.  She also has the league's top assist per game average at a 4.6 clip which is 52nd nationally.

KEEPING TEAMS OFF THE SCOREBOARD – WT is 21st nationally and first in the LSC holding teams to just 57.0 points per game for the season.  The Lady Buffs are fourth in the LSC in scoring offense at 79.9 points per game and are second in the league in scoring margin at a 13.9 clip, which ranks 23rd nationally.   

STRONG AGAINST THE LSC – The Lady Buffs are 59-9 since Feb. 9, 2013, in Lone Star Conference regular season play and have an overall mark of 70-11 overall including both LSC and NCAA playoffs during that span.  WT is 32-2 at home (31-2 regular season), 28-7 on the road (regular season) and 10-2 in neutral sites (LSC playoffs).  WT is 360-72 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 127-29 (.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 CAMERON – The Aggies enter with an 8-12 record overall and a 6-8 mark in Lone Star Conference play.  Cameron has dropped its last two games and is in the midst of a four-game road trip.  Cameron lost 90-72 at Angelo State and 69-54 at Texas A&M-Kingsville last week.  Savanna James leads the team averaging 15.2 points per game which is good for fifth in the LSC.  She is 120 of 209 from the field (.574) which ranks her 12th nationally and first in the conference.  James is 13 of 32 from range and 51 of 65 from the line for a .785 clip which is good for sixth in the league.  James also leads the team in rebounding at 7.7 per game for fourth in the LSC.  Jamie Bonnarens is second in scoring at 13.3 points per game.  She is 102 of 245 from the field (.416), with 13 triples and is 49 of 66 from the line (.742).  Natalie Halbleib leads the team in triples made with 39 on 39 of 129 and is 79 of 219 from the field for an 11.1 scoring average.  Halbleib is second on the team in rebounding at 7.5 per game which ranks her fifth in the LSC.  Halbleib leads the team with 42 steals ranking her second behind Watson in the LSC. As a team, the Aggies are shooting .395 on the year on 571 of 1446.  Cameron is 150 of 478 (.314) from beyond the arc as the 150 triples ranks third in the league and the 7.5 makes per game is second in the conference.  Cameron is 277 of 390 from the line (.710) and is averaging 41.8 rebounds per game, but allowing 44.5 rebounds.  The Aggies are averaging 14.1 assists, 15.8 turnovers, while forcing 20.1 miscues per game which leads the league and is 33rd nationally.  The Aggies are averaging 10.6 steals per game which is first in the LSC and averaging 78.4 points per game which ranks second in the LSC.  Cameron is allowing 76.9 points per game and teams are shooting .491 from the field against the Aggies.  Cameron is holding teams to just a .286 clip from beyond the arc. 

INSIDE THE SERIES WITH CAMERON – WT leads the all-time series 41-3 and won the last meeting in Lawton, Okla., 77-64 on Jan. 7, extending the current winning streak to 12 games.  The Lady Buffs are 21-1 in Canyon all-time against Cameron with the lone Aggie win coming Jan. 14, 2012, in a 60-56 setback.  WT has won five-straight at home since.  WT is 19-2 in Lawton and 1-0 in neutral site games, while winning 19 of the last 20.

FIVE THINGS FROM THE FIRST MEETING WITH CAMERON 

·         WT played a season-low seven players in the game, but four were in double figures led by 17 points each from senior Lilley Vander Zee and junior Sydney Walton who came off the bench.

·         Vander Zee tallied a double-double in the game with the 17 points and 12 rebounds on 7 of 8 from the field and 3 of 3 from the line

·         Cameron had five players in double figures led by 13 points from Savanna James

·         WT dominated the glass by the biggest margin of the season at 51-31, including a season-high 15 offensive rebounds

·         The Lady Buffs outscored Cameron 18-4 in the third quarter and 38-26 for the second half after WT led just 39-38 at intermission and the four points in the third quarter is a season-low by the opposition this season in the quarter

ABOUT MIDWESTERN STATE – The Mustangs are 6-14 overall and 3-11 in Lone Star Conference play entering the week. Midwestern State will play at UT Permian Basin before heading to Canyon for Saturday's matchup.  The Mustangs went 1-1 last week with a road win at Texas A&M-Kingsville (46-45) and a loss at Angelo State (65-45).  Whitney Taylor is the lone player in double figures for the Mustangs this season as she is averaging 13.3 points per game on 83 of 224 from the field (.371).  Taylor leas the team with 48 triples on 135 attempts (.356).  She ranks third in the LSC in triples attempted, fourth in triples made, third in 3-point field goals per game at a 2.40 clip and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage.  Taylor is 52 of 66 from the line (.788) and is averaging 4.4 rebounds per game.  She is second in assists with 37 and fourth in steals on the team with 16.  Kristin Rydell is second in scoring at 9.3 points per game.  She is 64 of 189 from the field (.339) and 33 of 103 from beyond the arc (.320).  Avery Queen leads the team in blocks with 17, while Micheline Mercelita leads the team in rebounding at 5.4 per game.  As a team, the Mustangs are shooting .391 from the field on 445 of 1139.  Midwestern State is 113 of 357 from beyond the arc (.317) and 247 of 357 from the line for a .692 clip.  MSU is averaging 36.8 rebounds per game, while allowing 37.8 per contest.  The Mustangs are scoring 62.5 points per game and allowing 68.2.  MSU is averaging 14.5 assists, 19.5 turnovers, 7.0 steals and 2.4 blocks per game.  Teams are shooting .408 against the Mustangs this season and .328 from beyond the arc. 

INSIDE THE SERIES WITH MIDWESTERN STATE – WT leads the all-time series 46-14 and has won six-straight, including the 79-53 win in Wichita Falls on Jan. 5.  WT is 24-4 in Canyon against Midwestern State and 19-8 in Wichita Falls, while owning a 3-2 mark in neutral site matchups.  The Lady Buffs have won the last three in Canyon dating back to a 58-55 loss on Feb. 6, 2013. The Lady Buffs are 9-1 in the last ten meetings with MSU and have won 14 of the last 20.

FIVE THINGS FROM THE FIRST MEETING WITH MIDWESTERN STATE 

·         The Lady Buffs had five players in double figures led by a game-high 17 points from senior Alie Decker and 11 rebounds from senior Maddison Wild

·         WT shot 53.6 percent for the game on 30 of 56 and went 8 of 17 from beyond the arc, while shooting 11 of 16 from the line, while dominating the paint, 38-16 and 17-9 in points off turnovers

·         The Lady Buffs dominated the glass 42-25 and held MSU to 20 of 57 from the field (.351), 7 of 21 from beyond the arc and 6 of 11 from the line

·         MSU was led by 15 points from Kristin Rydell who had three triples and six field goals in the game

·         After a slow start in the first quarter (14-14), WT led 29-22 at half and then exploded for a 50-31 score in the second half as the 50 points are a season-high for the second half for the Lady Buffs

HIGHWAY 287 CHALLENGE SERIES – WT and Midwestern State are all-tied at six in this year's edition of the Highway 287 Series.  The basketball teams split two meeting in Wichita Falls on Jan. 5.  WT has wins this season in volleyball (2), women's soccer, football (two points) and women's basketball, while MSU won in men's soccer, women's soccer (2), women's cross country which was worth two points and men's basketball.  This is the fourth year of the Highway 287 Challenge as WT won the first two years and Midwestern State won last year.