COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 8-seeded West Texas A&M women's basketball team fell 82-67 to No. 1 Ashland in the 2017 Elite Eight Tuesday evening at Alumni Hall on the campus of Ohio Dominican University.  WT finishes the season with a 26-9 record, while Ashland moves onto the Final Four with a 35-0 record.

WT was led by three seniors in double figures as Lilley Vander Zee posted 18 points and nine rebounds in her final game as a Lady Buff, while Alie Decker scored 18 points with five triples and Sasha Watson finished her storied four-year career with 11 points and four steals.  WT shot 42.9 percent for the game on 24 of 56, while going five of 14 from beyond the arc and 14 of 18 from the line.  WT held a 37-28 lead in rebounding and 14-7 on the offensive end. 

Ashland, who has been the top-ranked team nationally throughout much of the season, shot 50.8 percent as the Eagles entered the Elite Eight at 50.9 percent shooting to lead the nation in field goal percentage and WT was second in field goal percentage nationally.  Ashland was 30 of 59 from the field, while going three of eight from range and 19 of 21 from the line.

"We knew Ashland was a solid and a heck of a team," WT head coach Kristen Mattio said.  "Their post players gave us all we could handle and I commend their coaching staff on being 35-0 and it's a special year they are having.  With that being said, I could not be more proud of our team and what we have accomplished this year.  We have five seniors who have been instrumental for us, and great leaders this year.  Our leadership from the seniors have been great and our team continued to come together and make this year a special year.  The challenge now goes on to the young ones who get to carry on the tradition."



The big difference in the game was turnovers as WT committed 25 for the game and Ashland had 14 as the Eagles turned WT's 25 miscues into a 32-10 lead in points off turnovers.  All-Americans Laina Snyder and Andi Daugherty paced the Eagles as Snyder had a game-high 26 points on 13 of 18 from the field with eight rebounds, while Daugherty added 24 points on six of 13 from the field and a game-high 12 of 13 from the line.

"Every time we had a surge offensively, we gave it right back to them on turnovers," Mattio added.  "Easy buckets for them and the turnovers are demoralizing, especially against a team like Ashland who can turn them into points very quickly."

WT opened the game with a 9-4 lead on a triple from Decker with 6:49 left in the half in front of a large Ashland fan base as Ashland is just 85 miles North of Columbus.  A layup from Daugherty sparked a 17-0 run by the Eagles over the next five minutes as Ashland's pressure forced WT into turnovers and easy buckets as AU led 21-11 at the end of the first quarter. 

Six-straight points from the Lady Buffs began the second stanza as WT cut the deficit to 23-17 with 8:33 left in the half on a jumper from senior Maddison Wild.  AU pushed the lead back to double-digits on three times over the next four minutes, but a Vander Zee jumper in the paint cut the deficit to 34-25 with 3:27 left in the half. 

A big defensive rebound and jumper from freshman Lexy Hightower cut the deficit to five with 42 seconds left in the half at 37-32, but a layup from Snyder and turnover on the inbounds pass and score pushed the lead to nine at 41-32 as time expired in the half. 

For the first half, WT shot 13 of 30 from the field with one triple and five of seven from the line, while Ashland shot 18 of 30 from the field with two triples and three of three from the line.  WT committed 12 turnovers in the half leading to a 15-5 points off turnovers lead for Ashland.  Snyder had 16 points to pace the Eagles in the half, while Vander Zee had ten point to lead the Lady Buffs.

Back-to-back-to-back triples from Decker cut the AU lead to two at 49-47 with 6:08 left in the third as she found the touch from deep and got the Lady Buffs within a bucket.  AU answered with a bucket and a steal and score followed pushing the lead back to six.  Junior Madison Parker scored on a mid-range jumper for a 53-49 deficit with 4:25 left in the quarter, but AU quickly pushed the lead to double digits, once again, capped off a turnover and steal and a Kelsey Peare triple for a 60-49 lead with 2:08 left. 

Wild hit two free throws with two seconds left in the quarter cutting the deficit to 64-53 through three.  The Lady Buffs kept fighting throughout the fourth quarter and cut the deficit back to 11 on three more occasions, but AU had the answer each time. 

Despite the loss, the Lady Buffs accomplished a lot this season as Wild, Watson and senior Bailey Thiel all played in three Elite Eights during their time at WT.  The trio won three Lone Star Conference regular season titles, two LSC tournament titles and won three South Central Regionals with two of those in Canyon.  WT has won 20 or more games each of the last five seasons and all five seniors have made a significant impact to the program.

Wild leaves tied with former Lady Buff Chontiquah White for the lead in all-time games played with 129, while Watson finishes her storied career with 1,358 career points ranking 12^th all-time in school history.  She finishes seventh in career free throws made (361) and fifth in career free throws attempted (542), while ranking fourth in career assists (475) and seventh in career steals (226).  Watson was 483 of 940 for her career from the field (.514), while averaging 10.7 points for her career in 127 games, which ranks fifth all-time. 

Decker closed an impressive season finishing with 90 triples ranking second all-time in school history in 3-pointers in a season on 90 of 217 (.415).  She ended her WT career playing in 65 games with 55 starts, while going 207 of 508 from the field and 82 of 105 from the line.  Decker averaged 9.7 points for the Lady Buffs after transferring to WT from Wichita State prior to last season. 

"When I first got to WT, I heard about the tradition at WT and the history and it put some pressure on me, but it was exciting," Decker said.  "This season was very exciting and these girls have become my best friends and the coaches have become someone I can depend on and I got a second family out of this.  The young players know what it takes to get here and hopefully the tradition continues."

Wild finished her four-year career playing in 129 games with 64 starts, while going 304 of 606 from the field (.502) with 35 triples and 171 of 209 from the line (.818).  She averaged 4.3 rebounds for her career and 5.9 for this season, while averaging 10.7 points this year and 6.3 for her career.  Wild finished her career with 60 blocks. 

Vander Zee played in 67 games with 44 starts after transferring from Texas.  She went 176 of 321 from the field for her WT career, while going 108 of 180 (.583) this season from the field.  She averaged 5.0 rebounds this year and led the team with 48 blocks which ranked 10^th in school history in rejections for a season.  She averaged 8.0 points this season and 6.9 for her career. 

"The expectation at WT is so high across the board and I was honored to be recruited by the coaches and to help get the team back here and the opportunity as I can't be any more thankful for that," Vander Zee said.  "We had three seniors who had been here before and for us buying in to their leadership and they knew what it took to get here.  I couldn't be any more thankful for the coaches believing in me and the coaches we have on our staff are more committed than any coaches I've had before.  It burns and stings, but you have to be thankful for every moment I've been able to spend with everyone in our program."

Thiel saw action in 25 games this season and was a significant contributor off the bench for WT as a senior going, 17 of 47 from the field with four triples and 16 free throws this season.  She has been a strong influence on the team throughout her career. 

Mattio finishes her second season as head coach and fourth overall with an impressive 54-14 record.