The West Texas A&M University Lady Buffs used strong shooting to defeat conference leading Tarleton (11-4) in front of more than 1,200 fans at Wisdom Gym in Stephenville, Texas on Jan. 19. The Lady Buffs are now .500 at 9-9 and 5-4 in conference play.
“Any road win in the LSC is exciting but especially at Tarleton,” Head Coach Krista Gerlich said. “[It’s a] very tough place to play. The girls knew they had to stick together, follow game plan and fight through their runs.”
The Lady Buffs were led in shooting by sophomore Chontiquah White with 23 points and nine rebounds, while junior Devin Griffin had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“Both of those girls are crucial to our success. They are capable of performing like that every night and they are starting to do that,” Gerlich said. “They are both pretty special.”
The first half was all Lady Buffs as the TexAnns never gained the lead. Several different times the Lady Buffs led by seven, nine, and five. Tarleton was led by juniors Kiara White and Brianna Bledsoe with 16 and 14 points, respectively. The second half didn’t change as the margin of victory would increase as high as 13 at one point in the game.
“They are hungry,” Gerlich said. “They want to continue to win. It’s taken a while for this team to gel but they are doing it at the right time.”
The Lady Buffs have now won four of their last five games after starting the season 5-8, but Lady Buffs Head Coach Krista Gerlich knows there is still work to do.
“We have to continue to stay focused and not lose our momentum,” Gerlich said. “We need to guard without fouling and rebound. Those two things have been key for us all year and we have to continue that.”
The Lady Buffs return to action Jan. 23 at Eastern New Mexico in Portales, N.M., at 6:30 p.m. local time. The Lady Buffs then host Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Jan. 26, at 4 p.m.
“It’s so hard to play the same team back to back,” Gerlich said. “I like that we play there first, but we will have to make sure we approach both of those games like we approached this one.”
