The No. 7 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs continue a strong run through the Lone Star Conference by defeating No. 17 Tarleton State 82-60 at the First United Bank Center in Canyon on Jan. 22 before dismantling Texas A&M-Commerce in Commerce 99-56 on Jan. 25 and taking care of Texas Woman’s University in Denton, 81-65.
The Lady Buffs came out aggressive hitting nine three-pointers in the first half finishing with a season high 12 in a game. WTAMU shot 17 of 33 and 9 of 26 from three-point range. At halftime, the Lady Buffs led Tarleton State 51-26. The Lady Buffs started the third quarter with eight straight points and outscored Tarleton State 56-17, going back to the opening minutes of regulation.
For WT, senior guard Casey Land had a season-high 22 points on 7 of 11 from the field and four three-pointers. Senior forward Devin Griffin scored 14 points and senior guard Raven Gerald added 10.
Tarleton State had a strong run in the second half and cut the deficit to as little as 15 points. However, WT was able to finish winning 82-60. WT has scored 80 points or more in three consecutive games. The Lady Buffs defense also contributed to the win as 30 points were scored after forcing 21 turnovers.
On Jan. 25, West Texas A&M opened the game with an 11-2 lead and continued strong throughout the first half, going up 49-29.
For WT, Devin Griffin had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Raven Gerald and freshman center Maddison Wild scored 12 points each. The Lady Buffs outscored TAMU-C 50-37 in the second half. WT’s 99 points were the most for WT in conference play since scoring 110 against Texas A&M-Commerce on Jan. 4, 2012.
On Jan. 26, the Lady Buffs traveled to Denton to take on Texas Woman’s University. TWU entered the game winning three of four after losing four straight. The Lady Buffs had won five straight in the series, including both meetings in the 2012-2013.
After a quick start the game before, the Lady Buffs struggled out of the gates in the quick turnaround on Sunday. They were able to come back from an early deficit, going into halftime leading 40-33.
Heading into the second half, TWU cut the deficit to 54-48 with 11:09 left, but WT quickly built the lead back to double digits at times by as many as 13 points. WT closed out the game stopping TWU’s attempts at making a comeback but came up short.
Leading scorers for the Lady Buffs were Devin Griffin and Raven Gerald with 17 points and Lacee Logan with 14 points. WT shot 50.9 percent on 28 of 55 from the field and were 7 of 16 from three-point range and 18 of 24 from the free throw line.
With the victory, the Lady Buffs moved to 14-1 and 5-0 in LSC league play, while Tarleton State fell to 13-3 and 4-2.
The 16-1 start by the Lady Buffs is the best start since the 2009-2010 season when the team went 30-4. Texas A&M-Commerce fell to 3-13 on the year and 2-5 in league play while TWU fell to 8-9 on the year and 4-3 in league play. The Lady Buffs will return to Canyon and host Eastern New Mexico on Sat. Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. in the First United Bank Center and will finish the first half of Lone Star Conference play.
