FORT SMITH, Arkansas – The #19 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M made big defensive stops in key situations on Saturday afternoon as they outlasted the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lady Lions in Lone Star Conference crossover action, 60-57 at the Stubblefield Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
 
Abby Spurgin led the way offensively for the Lady Buffs as the senior went 5-of-10 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line for a team-high 12 points to go along with seven rebounds and two blocks. Madison Kast impressed in her first game in Maroon & White, going 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-3 from behind the arc for 10 points.
 
The Lady Buffs went 25-of-55 (45.5%) from the floor including 3-of-8 (37.5%) from behind the arc and 7-of-11 (63.6%) from the free throw line to go along with 45 total rebounds (12 offensive, 33 defensive), 11 assists, 21 turnovers, six steals and four blocks.
 
UAFS was led offensively by Mar'Shalia Lollie as the senior post went 6-of-13 from the floor and 3-of-6 from the charity stripe for a game-high 15 points while registering four rebounds, two assists and a steal. UAFS finished the afternoon going 22-of-65 (33.8%) from the field including 3-of-21 (14.3%) from deep and 10-of-17 (58.8%) from the charity stripe to go along with 33 rebounds (14 offensive, 19 defensive), 12 assists, 10 turnovers, 10 steals and one block.
 
The opening quarter saw both teams struggle to find their rhythm offensively as WT led 10-9 with just over three minutes left before Madison Kast knocked down a pair of long balls to begin a Lady Buff run, the Lady Lions would answer as they connected twice from deep to cut the lead to 18-17 headed to the second. The second quarter would see UAFS go 6-of-16 from the floor and connect on the front-end of a one-and-one with just two seconds left in the half to take just their second lead of the game heading into the break, 31-20.
 
WT started the second half on an 18-5 run highlighted by strong defensive pressure that led to easy buckets as they held a 48-36 lead heading into a media timeout with 4:32 left in the third, UAFS would go on a run of their own after the break as they cut the WT lead to 53-46 headed to the fourth.
 
The Lady Lions continued their run to start the final quarter as they cut the WT lead to 53-50 with 6:36 left, UAFS cut the lead to one point with 4:25 remaining before Lexy Hightower knocked down a long ball to stop the momentum at 58-54. Fort Smith connected from the free throw line with 1:13 left to cut the lead to 58-57 followed by a big Braylyn Dollar layup, the Lady Lions had their opportunity at the buzzer but WT's defense came up with one more big stop as the Lady Lions failed to get a shot off to end the game.
 
The Lady Buffs and UAFS return to action tomorrow afternoon with tipoff set for 2:00 p.m. at the Stubblefield Center.
 
Lady Buff Basketball Postgame Notes
West Texas A&M 60, Arkansas-Fort Smith 57
December 19, 2020
Stubblefield Center (Fort Smith, Arkansas)

• WT picked up their sixth all-time victory against Arkansas-Fort Smith as they move to a perfect 6-0 in the series.
• The Lady Buffs are now 30-5 all-time in season openers during their Division II Era including a perfect 7-0 in true road contents to open the campaign. Head coach Kristen Mattio is 5-1 in season openers since taking over the program prior to the 2015-16 season.
• Jayla Burgess became the first true-freshman to start the season opener for the Lady Buffs in 15 years on Saturday afternoon. Dixie Bell and Emily Brister were the last freshmen in the starting lineup on opening day for WT in an 86-58 road victory over Adams State in Alamosa, Colorado on November 18, 2005.
• Saturday afternoon marked the latest calendar date that the Lady Buffs have ever began the regular season, the previous latest was November 28, 1987 when Bob Schneider led then West Texas State to a 75-52 victory over MSU-Denver at the WTAMU Fieldhouse "The Box". WTSU would go on to finish the season 33-1 overall with an appearance in the NCAA Division II National Championship Game.
• Senior Lexy Hightower moved into a tie for fourth place on WT's career list of made three pointers with Lori DeShields (198 / 1993-97). She is just 11 long balls short of Holly Isaacs (2006-10) who ranks third all-time with 209.