LUBBOCK, Texas – The #22 Lady Buffs of West Texas A&M battled back from a 13-point deficit in the first half as they cut the lead to four with under a minute left before falling to the #10 Texas A&M-Commerce Lions on Friday night in the semifinal round of the 2021 LSC Championship, 60-54 at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock.
 
Hightower led the way offensively as the senior went 5-of-14 from the floor including 1-of-5 from deep and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe for a team-high 17 points as the Amarillo product moved into sixth place on WT's all-time scoring list to pass former All-American Brandi Green (1997-01). Braylyn Dollar chipped in 13 points to go along with seven board in the loss.
 
The Lady Buffs finished the night going 21-of-47 (44.7%) from the floor including 1-of-7 (14.3%) from behind the arc and 11-of-15 (73.3%) from the charity stripe with 26 rebounds (seven offensive, 19 defensive), seven assists, 22 turnovers, three blocks and eight steals.
 
TAMUC was led by DesiRay Kernal who went 6-of-12 from the field including 2-of-4 from deep and 9-of-10 from the free throw line for a game-high 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds for a double-double. The Lions finished the night going 19of-55 (34.5%) from the field including 6-of-16 (37.5%) from behind the arc and 16-of-18 (88.9%) from the free throw line with 36 total rebounds (16 offensive, 20 defensive), 11 assists, 19 turnovers, three blocks and nine steals.
 
HALFTIME REPORT
The Lady Buffs trailed 28-20 at the break as they went 9-of-25 (34.6%) from the floor including 0-of-5 from deep and 2-of-3 (66.7%) from the free throw line with 12 rebounds (three offensive, nine defensive), four assists, nine turnovers, no blocks and three steals. TAMUC finished the first half going 10-of-28 (35.7%) from the field including 3-of-10 (30%) from behind the arc and a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe with 22 rebounds (eight offensive, 14 defensive), five assists, nine turnovers, two blocks and three steals.
 
COMING UP NEXT
The Lady Buffs now await their postseason fate as the NCAA will announce the six-team that qualify for the 2021 South Central Regional Tournament with a selection show at 10 p.m. Eastern time streamed online at NCAA.com. The Regional Tournament will be hosted at the First United Bank Center in Canyon starting on Friday.
 
2021 Lone Star Conference Women's Basketball Championship
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 (on-campus)
Game 1: (8) St. Mary's at (1) Lubbock Christian (LCU 76-52)
Game 2: (7) Oklahoma Christian at (2) Texas A&M-Commerce (TAMUC, 77-63)
Game 3: (6) Texas A&M International at (3) West Texas A&M (WT 59-46)
Game 4: (5) Midwestern State at (4) Cameron (CU 87-76)
 
Friday, March 5, 2021 (Lubbock, Texas)
Game 5: 4:00 p.m. – (1) Lubbock Christian vs. (4) Cameron (LCU, 84-69)
Game 6: 6:45 p.m. – (2) Texas A&M-Commerce vs. (3) West Texas A&M (TAMUC, 60-54)
 
Saturday, March 6, 2021 (Lubbock, Texas)
Game 7: 3:00 p.m. – (1) Lubbock Christian vs. (2) Texas A&M-Commerce