Canyon, TX- Though the Lady Buffs(22-7, 15-5 LSC) never trailed Tarleton State(13-13,12-8 LSC), this game was always close as the score was tied seven different times. The score was tied at 69 with a minute to go, but free throws helped West Texas A&M put away the Texans 73-69.

The Lady Buffs now head into the post season on 9-1 winning spurt. Head coach Kristen Mattio was very pleased with this win as she and the team knew this was going to be a gut-check game.

“Tarleton State is a tough team and we knew it was going to be a battle tonight,” Mattio said. “We had really good focus. It was a real grind it out game. They took their time running their offense so we had to find ways to keep momentum with us.”

Senior Day is a day for reflection and memories. For Lilley Vander Zee, she be able to remember an 8-8 shooting tallying up to 22 points. Could anyone think of a better way for Vander Zee to go out on her final game? The Senior forward’s response…

“No Sir,” Vander Zee said. “It starts from the excitement of the team we were excited to come out and play Tarleton for our final home game because they don’t lay down. It was also so exciting to play in front of our fans one more time and we just worked together.”

Fellow senior teammate and guard, Sasha Watson also had a solid performance. Finishing with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. It’s performance like this that have helped this 9-1 win streak along thus the Lady Buffs are excited to head Allen and compete in the conference tournament.

“I am ready for Allen and hopefully the 6 games after Allen,” Watson said. “I’m looking forward on continuing to play, we hope this wasn’t our last home game.We’ll be ready for game 1 on Friday, hopefully a game 2 and then game 3.”

With this win, the Lady Buffs have clinched a spot in the regional tournament. Granted if some help is given the Lady Buffs could still host regionals. In the meantime WT will first go to Allen, TX to compete for the LSC tourney title. Their first game is on Friday.