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CANYON, Texas – The #3 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M hit the road to take part in the 2018 Cruzin Classic presented by Trip Sports at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida as they take on the Barry Bucs with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
 
BARRY
Bill Sullivan begins his 13th season at the helm of the Bucs. Just the fifth head coach in 29 years, he is the longest tenured coach in program history. Overall, he is in his 20th season with the Bucs, having spent seven years as an assistant in the men's program.
 
Barry enters the Cruzin Classic with an overall record of 3-5 with an 1-2 mark in Sunshine Conference action following a 64-63 win over then #25 Eckerd at home on December 8th to snap a three-game losing skid. The Bucs finished off the 2017-18 campaign with an overall record of 19-11 as they went 11-9 in league action, advancing to the SSC Semifinals before falling to top-seeded and host Florida Southern (72-57).
 
Nichel Tampa leads the way offensively for the Bucs as she has gone 45-of-107 (42.1%) from the floor including 28-of-45 (62.2%) from the free throw line to average 15.0 points per contest to go along with 16.8 rebounds per game.
 
WT HEAD COACH KRISTEN MATTIO
Kristen Mattio is now in her fourth season as the head coach of the Lady Buffs, registering an overall record of 91-19 (.827) with three NCAA Tournament appearances including a spot in the Regional Finals each of the three seasons and a South Central Regional Championship in 2016-17. Mattio claimed Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year honors for the first time in her career last season as she led the Lady Buffs to the LSC Regular Season and Tournament Titles.
 
WINNING TRADITION
The 2017-18 season marked the sixth-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.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
Trip Sports will provide live stats and a webstream for the Cruzin Classic inside of the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale. For more information or links, visit the Lady Buff Basketball schedule page at GoBuffsGo.com.
 
WBCA DIVISION II TOP-25 POLL (DEC. 11)
The Lady Buffs jumped one spot to third in the newest edition of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II Top-25 announced on Tuesday afternoon by the association's offices in Lilburn, Georgia.
 
Union moved atop of the poll with 18 of the possible 24 first place votes for 594 points followed by Indiana, Pa. (three first place, 563), West Texas A&M (538), Drury (504), Bentley (484), Fort Hays State (one first place, 469), Northwest Nazarene (432), Ashland (two first place, 428), University of the Sciences (392) and UC San Diego (369) to round out the top ten. The South Central Region was represented by WT (3rd), Black Hills State (18th), St. Mary's (21st), Angelo State (22nd) and Eastern New Mexico (RV).
 
HOME SWEET HOME
West Texas A&M is home to one of the finest multi-purpose facilities in the country as the First United Bank Center has served as the home of the Lady Buffs since January 26, 2002. The Lady Buffs are a staggering 209-30 inside of the FUBC during that time for a winning clip of 87.4%. WT has averaged 1.073 fans per contest since the facility opened its doors with the largest crowd coming on Opening Night with 4,941 members of Buff Nation seeing the Lady Buffs take on rival Abilene Christian.
 
BEST IN THE LONE STAR CONFERENCE
The Lady Buffs have registered an overall record of 383-79 in Lone Star Conference action since joining the league prior to the 1986-87 campaign for a winning percentage of 82.8%. WT has won 16 LSC Regular Season Championships during that span including 14 Tournament Titles.
 
LADY BUFFS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
The Lady Buffs made their fifth straight and 24th overall appearance in the NCAA Division II Basketball Postseason in 2017-18 as they are 37-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with the 37 wins ranking sixth-most all-time in NCAA Division II and ranks fourth-most among active DII institutions. WT has claimed seven Regional Championships with two appearances in the National Finals since the 1986-87 campaign.
 
In the last five NCAA tournament appearances for WT, the Lady Buffs are 15-5 during the stretch with three South Central Regional Championships and an appearance in the 2014 Division II National Title Game.
 
LSC BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL
The defending Lone Star Conference Champion Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M have been picked as the favorite in the league's preseason poll announced on Wednesday, October 24th during the annual LSC Basketball Online Media Day. The preseason poll is voted on by head coaches, sports information directors and media representatives from throughout the league.
 
The Lady Buffs picked up 18 of the possible 31 first place votes for a total of 324 points followed by Angelo State with seven first place votes for a total of 307 points. Tarleton ranked third (four first place, 279) followed by Texas A&M-Commerce (two first place, 252), Eastern New Mexico (199), Cameron (177), Texas Woman's (154), MSU Texas (140), UT Permian Basin (98), Texas A&M-Kingsville (74) and Western New Mexico (42). Marquita Daniels of Angelo State picked up Preseason Player of the Year accolades.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The #4 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M overcame a slow start as they trailed by as many as 12 points in the second period before ending the first half on a 13-0 to top the Drovers of University of Science & Arts, 71-42 in exhibition action at the First United Bank Center in Canyon.
 
West Texas A&M was led offensively by Lexy Hightower who went 8-of-13 from the floor including 3-of-6 from behind the arc to finish the night with 21 points followed by Tyesha Taylor with 10 points to go along with nine rebounds, Megan Gamble dished out a game-high four assists while Deleyah Harris had three steals.
 
Reyna Ammons and Taylor Alexander led the way for the Drovers with 10 points each followed by Tori James and Jaye Cage with seven, Amanda Gibson grabbed five rebounds while Trinity Smitherman had three steals.
 
WT finished the game going 25-of-59 (42.4%) from the floor including 7-of-22 (31.8%) from deep and 14-of-23 (60.9%) from the free throw line with 42 rebounds (12 offensive, 30 defensive), 11 assists, 17 turnovers and eight steals.
 
The Drovers went 17-of-52 (32.7%) from the field including 4-of-14 (28.6%) from behind the arc and 4-of-10 (40%) from the charity stripe with 21 rebounds (seven offensive, 14 defensive), five assists, 17 turnovers and 11 steals on the night.