On March 14, the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament kicked off with the top-seeded West Texas A&M Lady Buffs advancing past the St. Edward’s Hilltoppers, 90-72. On March 15, the semifinal game of the tournament regional saw the Lady Buffs come out of the gate in the second half with a bang while tying together several runs to defeat the St. Mary’s Rattlers, 79-66.

The Lady Buffs were led junior forward Chontiquah White, with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Casey Land chipped in 23 points and had three steals while fellow senior guard Sally Higgins scored 13 points coming off the bench and senior forward Devin Griffin had 12 points. On the other hand, St. Edward’s had five players in double figures, led by Mileka Loydrake with 16 points. Erika Rousculp added 15 points and Stephanie Dekkers had 12 points and eight assists for the Hilltoppers.

WTAMU went 32 of 57 from the field for 56 percent in field goals and St. Edwards was 43 percent field goal shooting for the game. St Edwards started off with an aggressive offense, scoring 12 of the first 18 points in the game.

From there, the Lady Buffs settled down and used an 18-2 run to counter the Hilltoppers. St. Edwards cut the deficit to four with 7:45 left, giving the Lady Buffs a 26-22 lead. WT would go on a 10-1 run for a 36-23 lead with 4:49 left and finished the half up with a 41-30 advantage.

The Lady Buffs extended the lead to 20 throughout the second half, but St. Edwards continued to fight back. The Hilltoppers cut the deficit down to 11 with 2:51 left in the game, but WT would close out the game with a 9-2 run, effectively ending the contest.

On the following day, WT struggled offensively and found themselves down 33-30 at half.

The Lady Buffs started their comeback as Land hit a three-pointer with 16 minutes left in the second half with St. Mary’s up by two at 43-41.

The Lady Buffs would then go on a 14-3 run, going up 57-48 with 10 minutes left in the game.  St. Mary’s didn’t go away without a fight, cutting the deficit by five with two minutes left in the contest. WT was able to close out the game by hitting several clutch free throws down the stretch, winning 79-66.

The Lady Buffs had four starters in double figures led by 21 points from Griffin. Land contributed 16 points and six rebounds while senior guard Raven Gerald had 15 and White scored 11 points for the Lady Buffs. Three players in double figures led St. Mary’s as Dezirae Elias and Jackie Woods each had 20 points and Morgan Pullins scored 16.

With the win, the Lady Buffs improved to 24-19 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 28-2 on the year.   The Lady Buffs will meet No. 2-seed Colorado Mesa on March 17 at 7 p.m. at the First United Bank Center for a trip to the NCAA Women’s Elite Eight in Erie, Pa.