The Lady Buffs made their last game of the season at First United Bank Center their most dramatic on Feb. 22’s Senior Night. The team returned to the court only five days after beating Lone Star Conference No. 1 Tarleton State on Saturday to take on Midwestern State to determine who would own the league’s number two spot.
The beginning of the game started like many expected with the teams swapping the lead until MSU went on a 10-2 run to take a 23-15 lead with less than 12 minutes left on the clock in the first. It wasn’t until the end of the period that WTAMU would go on a 9-4 run to end the first with a score of 34-29 in favor of the Mustangs.
WT came out on fire in the second, going on an 8-2 run to grab a 37-36 lead for the first time since the first five minutes of the game. MSU would take the lead back a few minutes later but the Lady Buffs were determined to put the Mustang away, not letting them get the lead or even tie for the rest of the game.
MSU would come close to catching WT during the final minutes, getting as close as one point late in the half. As the final minute appeared on the clock, MSU was forced to foul multiple times and Joni Unruh was able to convert four of the six shots given to WT. MSU would be able to score a three-pointer with three seconds left but ultimately the game would end in favor of the Lady Buffs with a score of 71-69.
Senior Ashley Leven ended the game with a career -best 25 points in addition to getting a team-high seven rebounds. In addition to Leven, Joni Unruh and Aly Sherman played their last home game at the FUBC on Wednesday. The three seniors went 31-9 at home during their three years together while Leven and Unruh went 46-10 during their four years of combined play.
“I thought we came out a little flat, especially after the big game against Tarleton. But I thought after the first half we began to settle down and work our offense a little better and it was just a different ball game from there,” Unruh said. “As a senior on this floor, it’s emotional. I’m sad I’ll never get to play here again but you know, I’m just lucky that it’s not my last game of the season.”
With the team’s win, they are on an eight-game winning streak and have taken their season record to 17-8 overall and 15-4 in the LSC. They also won the league’s No. 2 spot at the LSC Championship tournament starting on March 1. To make the night even more dramatic, LSC No. 1-ranked Tarleton State lost its game against Angelo State 70-63, giving WT a chance to share the LSC Championship with TSU, depending on the outcome of this weekend’s games.
“We still have a big game against Cameron on Saturday and it’s kind of leading up to be quite dramatic since Tarleton lost,” Head Coach Krista Gerlich said. “It’s a lot of fun to be in that position but even taking that part out of it, we just want to make sure we continue to finish the regular season off, finish our run, and have lots of momentum going into the conference tournament.”
