PUEBLO, Colo. – For the third time in four years, the West Texas A&M women's basketball team will be heading to the Elite Eight thanks to an 86-64 victory over Angelo State in the South Central Region Championship game Monday evening at Massari Arena on the campus of Colorado State-Pueblo. 

The 2017 Elite Eight is scheduled for Mar. 21-24 in Columbus, Ohio, at Alumni Arena on the campus of Ohio Dominican University.  The Lady Buffs will be making their seventh Elite Eight and have gone in 2014 and 2015 as they were the national runner-up in 2014.  The Lady Buffs improved to 35-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and now have won three South Central Regionals in the last four years.  This also marks the first regional won away from Canyon for the Lady Buffs since 1996-97 as WT won regionals in Canyon in 2008-09, 2013-14 and 2014-15.

The Lady Buffs (26-8), seeded fourth in the South Central Regional, dominated No. 2-seed Angelo State and Lone Star Conference rival from the outset of the game, leading for all but 24 seconds and never trailed in the contest.  The Lady Buffs shot 51.7 percent for the game on 30 of 58 from the field, while draining nine of 17 triples and went 17 of 19 from the line.  WT had 23 assists to just 11 miscues and forced 11 steals. 

"We are in this position because Angelo State has made us better throughout the year," WT head coach Kristen Mattio said.  "They are going to graduate five seniors and they have changed the face of their program along with Coach Baker.  They have been a handful for us to go against and we have a lot of respect for them and have had a great career.  In regards to our team, I couldn't be more proud of how we started this game and our theme all week has been 'Bust Down the Door' and get yourself into the Elite Eight and we have lived and died by that theme.  We thought we couldn't just tip toe into this regional tournament and we were going to have to knock people over to give us a chance to get there.  As for the game, we shot the ball really well, but I thought we defended even better."

The Lady Buffs have had quite a season with Angelo State and the series has turned into quite a rivalry as ASU won two of the previous three meetings this season by four points combined as WT evened the series.  Prior to tonight, the Lady Buffs had lost five of the last six against the Rambelles, with three losses last season, including playing a combined five overtimes.  ASU had ended WT's run in the conference tournament in the finals last season in double overtime and in the semifinals this season, both by two points.  WT now leads the all-time series 49-18 and improved to 4-2 on neutral floors.

Five WT players scored in double figures, led by 16 points from junior Sydney Walton who earned a spot on the All-South Central Region Tournament team.  Walton had an outstanding game, as she was six of nine from the field with two triples and two free throws, while recording a career-high eight rebounds.  Senior Sasha Watson added 14 points on five of nine from the field and four of five from the line.  She had six assists, no turnovers and three steals earning her second All-South Central Region Tournament Team Most Valuable Player honors.  Watson earned the honor in 2015 prior to the Lady Buffs' last trip to the Elite Eight. 

"We missed out last year, but this is what Lady Buff tradition is all about," Watson said.  "Since I have been here, I have had seniors who have pushed me and won games and they have left something for me to want to leave for the underclassmen.  You start a tradition, you are part of the tradition and coming into the program you have to keep the tradition alive and we owed it to ourselves to keep the tradition alive as we are part of the program."

Freshman Lexy Hightower chipped in 14 points tying her career-high with four triples and went five of six from the field.  Senior Lilley Vander Zee also scored 14 points, as she was very productive inside on five of eight from the field with four free throws and four rebounds.  Senior Maddison Wild chipped in 13 points as she played in her 128^th game of her career moving into a tie for second all-time in games played.  Only former Lady Buff Chontiquah White has played in more with 129 which Wild will have a chance to match next week. 

Angelo State (26-6), who trailed 15-0 to start the game, shot 40.9 percent for the game on 27 of 66 after opening nine of 32 from the field for the first half.  The Rambelles were seven of 22 from beyond the arc and were just three of six from the line as the Lady Buffs committed 17 fouls in the game, but a majority of them non-shooting fouls, which was a big factor in the game.  In addition, WT forced ASU into an uncharacteristic 16 turnovers and held a commanding 27-6 lead in points off turnovers, which was the reverse of what ASU did to WT in the Rambelle win in the LSC semifinals.  In that game, ASU forced WT into 14 turnovers, leading to an 18-7 lead, in points off turnovers in the 70-68 win.

"We were active defensively tonight," Mattio said.  "We knew we had it in us, but our big thing was to defend the 3-point line as in the past I thought we had defended them well in the post, but they got us in the past from beyond the arc.  We thought we did a much better job tonight on the defensive end."

The Rambelles were led by 18 points from Taylor Dorsey as she was eight of 20 from the field.  Bria Frierson added 10 points as the only two players in double figures.

The Lady Buffs found work inside easy as both junior Sydney Walton and senior Maddison Wild had early buckets, as well as a pair of turnovers on ASU.  Walton buried two charity tosses for an early 5-0 lead with 8:30 left in the first quarter.  Senior Sasha Watson scored off the third Rambelle miscue forcing ASU into a timeout, trailing 8-0 with 8:21 left in the quarter.  ASU averages just 13.8 turnovers per game.  Walton scored her sixth point of the game with a bucket in transition and a 10-0 run to begin the game. 

Following the fourth turnover on ASU, Walton buried a triple for a 13-0 lead as ASU began the game with a 15-0 run and the second timeout by ASU as senior Lilley Vander Zee scored inside with 6:57 left in the quarter. WT began six of eight from the field, while ASU was zero for four. 

"We got the lead early and it started with Sydney (Walton) I thought she got us going from the offensive end and it just bled over to everyone on the team," Mattio said.  "It has been a continual growth process throughout the season and I think we are seeing the rewards today.  I am proud of the team and the way we finished out and the opportunity to represent in the Elite Eight.

ASU's Taylor Dorsey scored and earned the "and one" in transition cutting the WT lead to 15-3 with 5:26 left in the first quarter.  Senior Alie Decker answered with a triple for an 18-3 lead.  It was her 85^th triple of the season.  Dorsey scored her second bucket of the game for an 18-5 lead for WT, but senior Maddison Wild buried a triple and Walton scored in transition off a turnover for a 23-5 lead. 

"I had heard all about Angelo State when I came here and didn't understand about it," Walton said.  "We lost to them three times last season and all of the games this year were so close with the two point games were heartbreaking so I was determined to make every shot and go out there and get them.

WT led 27-13 through the first quarter as Dorsey banked in a triple at the buzzer.  WT opened the game shooting 11 of 20 for the quarter for 55 percent and was three of seven from beyond the arc, while holding ASU to five of 16 from the field (.313) and two of six from range.  WT forced ASU into seven turnovers leading to a 13-2 lead in points off turnovers.  Walton led WT with 11 points, while Dorsey, who had 35 against WT in the Lone Star Conference semifinal, had eight to pace the Rambelles. 

Freshman Lexy Hightower hit a triple for a 35-17 lead matching the largest of the lead with just under four minutes left in the half.  Following a triple from the Rambelles, senior Bailey Thiel buried a long ball for a 38-20 lead.  Hightower hit her second triple for a 41-20 lead as she had 16 points in the Lady Buffs' win over ASU in Canyon on Jan. 12.   She then hit one from way deep for a 46-22 lead with under a minute left in the half.  WT led 46-24 at intermission. 

In one of the most complete halves of the season, WT shot 58.1 percent on 18 of 31.  WT was an impressive seven of 13 from beyond the arc and three of four from the line, while outrebounding ASU 22-14.  Walton and Hightower each had 11 points to lead the team.  The Lady Buffs forced ten ASU miscues leading to a 19-4 lead in points off turnovers. 

"We actually watched the offense and every possession of the game when we played them the last time as a team last night," Mattio added.  "In practice we walked through a lot of things and tonight we knocked down shots and we moved the ball really well finding each other and that really helped us get the lead."

The Rambelles went nine of 32 for the half for 28.1 percent and were three of 12 from beyond the arc, while going three for three from the line.  Dorsey had ten points to lead the team. 

Walton opened the second with a bucket pushing the lead to 48-24.  Bria Frierson scored on ASU's first possession of the half, but Walton buried another triple for a 51-26 lead with 8:47 left in the third. 

WT had big leads in the first half in the previous two regional games, only to see both Regis and CSU-Pueblo battle their way back into the games.  Watson stated "We started out on teams getting up and let them get back in so our mentality was at halftime the score was 0-0.  It doesn't matter because they (Angelo State) are a team who will continue to fight, treat it like 0-0 and that's what we did.  Whenever they went on a little run, we said regroup, regroup and got back together and got into the structure we had in the beginning."

Back-to-back triples from Christiana Robinson pulled ASU within 53-32.  Vander Zee was fouled in the lane, made two free throws, pushing the lead back to 23 at 55-32 with under seven minutes left in the quarter.  Robinson hit her third triple of the half cutting the WT lead to 55-37 and a timeout by WT with 5:55 left in the third as ASU opened the half, scoring 13 of the first 22 points.  ASU made five of its first seven shots in the half, while WT was three of eight. 

Watson earned the "and one" out of the timeout for a 58-37 lead with 5:42 left in the quarter.  Jasmine Prophet scored just her first bucket of the game pulling ASU within 60-39 and, on a missed shot by WT, Dorsey scored in transition for a 60-41 WT lead with three minutes left in the quarter.  Hightower hit her fourth triple for a 63-41 lead and a steal and score from Decker pushed the lead back to 24 at 65-41 with two minutes remaining the frame.  Every time ASU looked to cut into the deficit, WT had the answer.

Frierson pulled ASU back under 20 with a layup at 71-52 with 6:35 left in regulation.  Strong inside play by Vander Zee and Wild pushed the lead back over 20 at 73-52.  Robinson scored her 14^th point on a jumper pulling ASU back within 19 at 73-54.  Watson hit one free throw for a 74-54 lead with 4:36 left in game.  WT continued the strong pressure on both sides of the court and led 84-60 with two minutes left the large contingent of Lady Buff fans could begin to taste the Lady Buffs' third trip to the Elite Eight in the last four years as WT posted the 86-64 victory.

This year the NCAA is seeding the Elite Eight as the Lady Buffs will find out who and when they will play next week in Columbus.  Check back with www.gobuffsgo.com for updates and news and notes for the Elite Eight.