CANYON, Texas – The #15 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M forced a season-high 24 turnovers on Saturday afternoon as they finished off a Lone Star Conference crossover sweep of the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas at the First United Bank Center, 71-50.
 
The senior duo led the way offensively again for the Lady Buffs as Lexy Hightower and Abby Spurgin combined for 30 points. Hightower went 7-of-11 from the floor and 1-of-2 from deep with three rebounds and a team-high five assists while Spurgin finished the afternoon going 4-of-9 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the free throw line with four rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
 
The Lady Buffs went 26-of-52 (50%) from the floor including 4-of-12 (33.3%) from behind the arc and 15-of-25 (60%) from the free throw line with 30 total rebounds (10 offensive, 20 defensive), 13 assists, 11 turnovers, four blocks and 13 steals.
 
TAMUK was led offensively by Brianna Pena who went 6-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-5 from deep for a game-high 17 points to go along with four rebounds and a steal. The Javelinas finished the game going 18-of-48 (37.5%) from deep including 9-of-19 (47.4%) from behind the arc and 5-of-6 (83.3%) from the charity stripe with 27 rebounds (eight offensive, 19 defensive), 11 assists, 24 turnovers, two blocks and a steal.
 
KEY MOMENTS

• The Lady Buffs started the game on an 12-2 run with four different WT players registering a point in the first three and a half minutes of the game
• WT continued their hot shooting as McKauley Gregory produced two quick buckets to run the lead to 17-5 with 3:15 left in the first
• Eight different Lady Buffs registered a point in the opening quarter while the WT defense forced eight turnovers during the first 10 minutes of play
• The Javelinas went on a 6-0 run halfway thru the second period to cut the WT lead to 29-16, WT responded with four consecutive points while TAMUK was held scoreless for the final 4:26 of the half
• Kingsville continued their scoring woes in the third as they went on another scoring drought of over four minutes while WT stretched their lead to 43-22
• TAMUK went on a 17-6 run highlighted by long balls on back-to-back possessions, cutting the lead to 49-39
• Hightower moved to ninth on WT's scoring list with a steal-and-score right before the end of the third quarter
• The senior moved into eighth on the scoring list halfway thru the final period, connecting on a long ball from the wing to extend the WT lead to 60-46 with 4:44 left. She also tied Carlee Massie for second on WT's made three pointer list with 214

HALFTIME REPORT
The Lady Buffs took a 33-16 lead into the locker room as they went 12-of-28 (42.9%) from the floor including 3-of-8 (37.5%) from behind the arc and 6-of-11 (54.5%) from the free throw line to go along with 14 rebounds (five offensive, nine defensive), seven assists, four turnovers, nine steals and one block. TAMUK finished the half going 6-of-18 (33.3%) from the field including 4-of-8 (50%) from deep to go along with 13 rebounds (one offensive, 12 defensive), five assists, 16 turnovers, no steals and one block.
 
COMING UP NEXT
The Lady Buffs continue their homestand on Monday and Tuesday as they welcome the St. Edward's Hilltoppers to the First United Bank Center for makeup Lone Star Conference crossover action starting on Monday night at 5:30 p.m.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• WT moved to 65-9 all-time against the Javelinas including a 37-4 record in Canyon
• The Lady Buffs are now 236-33 inside of the First United Bank Center, running their home win streak to seven games
• Hightower connected once from behind the arc to tie Carlee Massie (2000-04 / 214) for second place on WT's made three pointers list
• Hightower jumped two spots to eighth on WT's all-time scoring list, passing Devin Griffin (2011-14 / 1,450) and Von Tucker (1984-88 /1,452). She is 142 points shy of Teresa Tinner (1986-90) in seventh with 1,598