PUEBLO, Colo. – In a game that had just about everything, the No. 4-seed West Texas A&M Lady Buffs upset top-seeded Colorado State-Pueblo 70-67 in overtime to advance to the South Central Regional final Monday evening for a berth in the Elite Eight. 

"This was the battle we thought we were going to get when you go against the home town team," WT head coach Kristen Mattio said.  "What a great college environment we got to play tonight, the crowd was amazing.  I thought we started really well and shot the ball in the first half giving us a little lead.  I don't know how long it was in the third quarter we stayed at 40 for a long time.  The biggest thing is we kept defending and gave us a chance to win at the end.  I thought our kids kept their composure down the stretch.  Give a lot of credit to CSU-Pueblo as they had a great season, are well coached and their inside presence was tough for us tonight as we fouled out two post players.  We had some players step up and make some big shots for us."

The Lady Buffs (25-8) led for all but 19 seconds in the game, but it had the feel of a championship game with a raucous crowd and the No. 9-ranked ThunderWolves had lost just one game on its home floor this season as CSUP finished the season 17-2 at Massari Arena.

WT had just two Lady Buffs in double figures, led by 17 points from senior Sasha Watson, as she was five of 11 from the field, while going seven of 10 from the line.  Senior Maddison Wild added 12 points on four of seven from the field with two triples and two free throws. 

The Lady Buffs shot just off their average for the season going 25 of 52 from the field for 48.1 percent, which included a two for ten third quarter and a four of ten fourth quarter, after starting the game 16 of 16 for the first half from the field.  WT went five of 12 from beyond the arc and 15 of 21 from the line.  For the first time all season, the teams tied in rebounding each with 39, while CSUP dominated the offensive glass, 18-7. 

WT stymied the ThunderWolves offensively in front of over 900 fans, mostly CSUP supporters, but WT had a nice group of fans behind the Lady Buff bench.  CSUP shot just 18 of 66 from the field for 27.3 percent.  CSUP stayed in the game by draining nine triples and going 22 of 27 from the line.  WT committed 21 turnovers, but led 11-8 in points off turnovers. 

The ThunderWolves (28-4), led by 22 points off the bench from Jaszymn Johnson who buried five triples in the contest and was seven of 18 from the field.  Molly Rohrer added 16 points, while Katie Cunningham narrowly missed a double-double with 12 rebounds and nine points.  Tuileisu Anderson added 12 points with two triples.

The Lady Buffs improved to 34-22 all-time in the NCAA Championship and reached the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth-straight season with two Elite Eight appearances during the stretch.  In the current four-year streak of reaching the NCAA playoffs, WT is 12-3. 

A pair of triples from Wild gave WT a 10-6 lead through the first three minutes quieting the large contingent of CSUP fans.  Senior Lilley Vander Zee made a nice move in the lane for a bucket and a 12-6 lead for a 5-0 run with 6:18 left in the quarter.  Wild scored inside for her eighth point and a timeout by CSUP with WT leading 14-6 and a 7-0 run.  Wild didn't score in the first half of last night's 75-67 win over Regis. 

Two free throws from Lauren Heyn ended the run, cutting the WT lead to 14-8, but senior Alie Decker buried her first triple of the game at the other end.  It was her 83^rd triple of the season as she is within one trey of tying for second all-time in school history in a single season.  Senior Sasha Watson scored inside for a 19-8 lead as CSUP uncharacteristically turned the ball over five times during the first eight minutes of the quarter.  Junior Cece Wooten was wide open in the lane for a bucket and a 21-8 lead.  Two free throws from CSUP cut the WT lead to 21-10, but since leading 7-6 early in the quarter, WT outscored CSUP 14-6 as Anderson hit a jumper as time expired in the quarter for a 21-12 WT lead. 

WT opened the game making nine of its first 13 shots and three triples for the lead and held CSUP to three of 12 from the field and zero of five from beyond the arc.  CSUP was a perfect six of six from the line, while WT was zero of one. 

Cunningham buried the team's first triple in eight attempts, but WT junior Sydney Walton scored a jumper at the other end for a 25-17 lead.  Senior Bailey Thiel extended the WT lead to 26-17, but Johnson hit a triple for a 26-20 WT lead with 7:06 remaining in the half.  Following a turnover by CSUP, junior Madison Parker earned the "and one" for a 29-20 lead with 6:20 left in the half.  Wooten pushed the lead back to double-digits with a bucket in the paint for a 31-20 lead, but Molly Rohrer scored her first field goal at the other end.  She entered the game second in scoring at 15.7 points per game.  Leading scorer, Anderson, at 15.9, hit her first triple for a 31-25 WT lead.  Rohrer hit two more free throws for a 33-27 score with 3:11 left in the half as the crowd began to show some signs of life again.

Freshman Lexy Hightower buried a triple and a steal by the Lady Buffs gave them a chance for a two-for-one in the final minute, leading 38-27.  Watson made two free throws for a 40-27 lead with 24 seconds left.  After a jump ball, CSUP had 13.2 seconds to work with for final shot.  A turnover by the ThunderWolves and a heave at the buzzer by the Lady Buffs went off as WT led 40-27 at intermission.

In an outstanding half for the Lady Buffs, WT shot 61.5 percent on 16 of 26 and was four of seven from beyond the arc, while going four of six from the line.  WT was led by eight points from Wild and Watson, while holding CSUP to just eight of 29 from the field (.276) and three of 12 from beyond the arc (.250).  The ThunderWolves were a perfect eight of eight form the line in the half.  WT forced CSUP into 11 turnovers leading to a 10-5 lead in points off turnovers, while the Lady Buffs dominated inside, 20-6. 

A technical foul on Watson began the second half, but CSUP was unable to cut much into the deficit through the first two minutes with fouls starting to mount for the Lady Buffs.  CSUP, who as perfect in the first half, on free throws, went two for four in the first two minutes of the second half, pulling CSUP within 11, at 40-29. 

Through the first 4:30 of the second half, only one point scored on the technical as both teams really were struggling offensively with nine fouls between the two teams during the span.  On the fifth WT foul of the quarter, Rohrer buried two tosses pulling CSUP within 40-31 with 5:09 left in the quarter.  The Lady Buffs missed their first five shots in the second half, while CSUP missed its first eight. 

Johnson hit a triple pulling CSUP within 41-34 with 4:21 left.  Wild hit two free throws for a 43-34 lead with 2:52 left in the quarter, as WT still hadn't made a field goal in the frame.  Watson was fouled making one toss for a 44-34 score.  Cunningham hit two free throws at the other end pulling CSUP within eight at 44-36.  Vander Zee scored inside for a 46-38 lead and the first field goal of the quarter with 1:17 left in the frame. 

A block by CSUP, score in transition and a stolen inbounds pass led to the ThunderWolves cutting the deficit to five at 46-41, Watson, who had been hearing boos from the crowd for the majority of the quarter, scored inside for a 48-41 lead through three. 

"I love it when going against the crowd," Watson said.  "It is part of the game and silencing the crowd is something we talked about before the game.  We didn't come here to play with anyone, we came to make a statement and I think we did.  This was a great environment and we stuck with our game play and battled through."

Both teams were atrocious from the field in the third quarter as WT was two of 10 and CSUP was two of 16.  The ThunderWolves stayed in the game by going nine of 12 from the line in the period. 

Vander Zee scored two big buckets inside for WT pushing the lead back to nine at 52-43, but Vander Zee swatted Rohrer with 8:11 left.  Johnson scored in transition for an "and one" and a 52-45 WT lead with 6:36 remaining in regulation. Watson earned the old fashion three-point play at the other end for a 55-45 WT lead.  Johnson kept CSUP in the game with another triple third of the game and a 55-48 WT lead.  Following two free throws by WT, Johnson buried another triple for a 57-51 WT lead with under five minutes left and a media timeout.   It was Johnson's fourth from long range in the game.

Walton made one of two free throws for a 58-51 lead with 3:40 remaining.  Following a missed shot by WT, Johnson hit her fifth triple and a 58-54 WT lead with 2:56 left.  The 20^th turnover by WT gave the ball back to CSUP with 2:29 left. 

The fifth foul on Vander Zee with 1:42 left put Rohrer at line as she made two pulling CSUP within two and a timeout.  Out of the timeout, Watson missed a shot, but Wild cleaned up the mess pushing the lead back to four at 60-56 with a minute left. 

Katie Jones, who hadn't made a shot in the game, buried a triple pulling CSUP within 60-59 with 53.2 seconds left.  WT missed a shot at the rim as CSUP gained the rebound and a late call on a jumper in the lane put CSUP at the line with a chance for the lead.  Cunningham missed the first, but made the second tying the game at 60.  WT called a timeout with 25.5 seconds left and advanced the ball for a chance at the win.

Watson had a chance for the winning jumper, but was stripped with no call as the game went to overtime.  It marked the second overtime game of the year for WT, as the Lady Buffs won 73-63 at Florida Southern in overtime back in December. 

"We scored the first five points of overtime and it's, one score one stop," Mattio added.  "The biggest thing is staying composed and taking care of the basketball.  This was a big grow up game for us as we haven't been in many of these overtime games and playing in an environment like this."

Parker scored inside for the first bucket of overtime and a 62-60 WT lead.  Decker buried a triple, her second of the game, for a 65-60 lead with 3:30 left.  Rohrer scored inside, but Wooten scored at the other end for a 67-64 WT lead.  A turnover by CSUP gave WT the ball with under two minutes remaining in overtime.  Watson made one free throw for a 68-64 lead with a minute to play.  Following an offensive rebound by CSUP, Anderson hit a triple for a 68-67 WT lead with 39 seconds left and a timeout. 

After a timeout by WT, the Lady Buffs advanced the ball and a block called on Johnson for her fifth foul with 12.9 seconds left.  Walton earned two free throws and made both for a 70-67 WT lead.  CSUP advanced the ball.

The ThunderWolves had two good looks at three's in the final 12 seconds, but both didn't fall as the Lady Buffs won 70-67. 

WT now will face a familiar foe in the regional final Monday evening at 8 p.m. CT in No. 2-seed Angelo State.  This will be the fourth meeting between the two teams this season as WT won in Canyon, 68-61, while ASU won in San Angelo (68-66) and in the Lone Star Conference semifinal last week, 70-68.

"We think they are one of the top teams in the region and they have earned their right to be in the championship game just as we have," Mattio added.  "We look forward to it as ASU is a well-coached team and it will be a slugfest or dogfight Monday night."