ODESSA, Texas – West Texas A&M's senior class of Lexy Hightower and Abby Spurgin combined for 38 points as the #22 Lady Buffs left Odessa, Texas with a 75-56 Lone Star Conference divisional win over the UT Permian Basin Falcons on Tuesday night.
 
Hightower led the way for the Lady Buffs as the senior went 9-of-12 from the floor including 2-of-5 from behind the arc and a perfect 1-of-1 from the free throw line for a game-high 21 points to go along with five assists and three steals. Spurgin finished the night going 7-of-12 from the field and 3-of-5 from the charity stripe for a season-high 17 points with eight rebounds and a steal.
 
The Lady Buffs went 31-of-58 (53.4%) from the field including 5-of-13 (38.5%) from deep and 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the free throw line with 33 total rebounds (10 offensive, 23 defensive), 16 assists, 14 turnovers, 11 steals and no blocks.
 
UTPB was led offensively by Jada Berry who went 5-of-13 from the field including 2-of-8 from long range for a team-high 12 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and a steal. The Falcons finished the game going 23-of-55 (41.8%) from the floor including 6-of-24 (25%) from behind the arc and 4-of-6 (66.7%) from the free throw line with 30 rebounds (11 offensive, 19 defensive), 16 assists, 20 turnovers, six steals and three blocks.
 
KEY MOMENTS

• The Falcons started the game on a 12-6 run as they connected on five of their first seven shots of the contests, including a pair from behind the arc
• The Lady Buffs responded with five straight points by Hightower to make it 12-11
• Hightower ran her game total to 10 early points on a steal-and-score to make it 16-15 with 2:36 left in the first
• WT ended the first on an 11-5 run highlighted by a Braylyn Dollar long ball and a pair of Spurgin buckets to give the Lady Buffs the 27-20 lead headed to the second
• The Lady Buffs stretched their run to 12-0 to start the second period as the Falcons failed to score for 5:24
• Hightower moved into 11^th place on WT's all-time scoring list with a layup at the 4:53 mark of the second quarter, her 16^th point of the night
• WT started the second half on an 8-2 run as Sowell knocked down a pair of long balls to make it 47-29
• The Lady Buffs outscored the Falcons 17-11 in the third quarter as WT shot 43.8% from the field in the period (7-of-16) while forcing six forced turnovers
• UTPB wouldn't go down without a fight as they outscored the Lady Buffs 25-19 over the final 12:30 of the game

HALFTIME REPORT
The Lady Buffs took a 39-27 lead into the locker room as they went 16-of-26 (61.5%) from the floor in the first half including 3-of-6 (50%) from deep and 4-of-5 (80%) from the free throw line to go along with 15 rebounds (five offensive, 10 defensive), eight assists, eight turnovers, four steals and no blocks. UTPB finished the half going 11-of-26 (42.3%) from the field including 5-of-15 (33.3%) from behind the arc to go along with 11 rebounds (five offensive, six defensive), 10 assists, nine turnovers, three steals and no blocks. 
 
COMING UP NEXT
The Lady Buffs head home to take on the Falcons at the First United Bank Center on Saturday afternoon with tipoff set for 2 p.m. in Canyon.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• WT moved to 11-1 all-time against the Falcons including a perfect 5-0 record in Odessa
• Jillian Sowell made her first career start in Maroon & White on Thursday night, making it the third different starting lineup for WT this season
• Hightower keeps making her way up the all-time scoring list for the Lady Buffs as she passed Debbie Webb (1974-78 / 1,376) for 11^th place all-time. She is just 30 points shy of Lori DeShields (1993-97) for 10^th place with 1,427 points
• The Amarillo product also knocked down a pair from behind the arc to move within just three made three pointers of Holly Isaacs (2006-10 / 209) for third place in WT history
• Hightower has now scored atleast 20 points in four of WT's six games this season, she has reached the 20-point mark 22 times in her career