Adversity is something that the WTAMU Lady Buff basketball team has been accustomed to overcoming in the past few years as well as this season.
After losing freshman standout Ariel Robertson to an unfortunate knee injury against Tarleton on Feb. 16 in Stephenville, many fans were eager to see how the Lady Buffs were going to respond against Midwestern State on Feb. 19, at the First United Bank Center in Canyon. Senior Megan McLain was honored after the game as the lone senior on the squad.
WT gained a double-digit lead and made sure not to let it get away this time as they never trailed and eventually came away with an impressive 75-59 victory over the Lady Mustangs.
“I really feel like this win was impressive because of the way we won,” Head Coach Krista Gerlich said. “We were really emotionally spent after the Tarleton game and I thought they did a really great job of coming out there and staying focused.”
The Lady Buffs got off to a fast start jumping out to a 6-0 lead at the 17:29 mark of the first half. Midwestern kept the game close and managed to claw their way back to 10-8 with 13:24 left before halftime. An 11-3 run helped spark the Lady Buffs to a 21-11 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half.
MSU could get no closer than eight points the rest of the half as the WT offense kept scoring and the defense getting critical stops. WT went into the locker room for halftime leading 38-25.
“It’s really good for us to come out and attack early on,” senior Megan McLain said. “We remembered the loss at Midwestern and we didn’t want to repeat that again. ”
In the second half, it appeared as though the Lady Mustangs were going to mount a comeback as they got back to within 10 points at 40-30 with 17:42 left in regulation. However, this only seemed to spark the Lady Buffs into action. WT led by as many as 19 points in the second half and never looked back. MSU simply had no response to the Lady Buffs fast break offense and pressure defense. WT eventually came away with the victory at 75-59.
Leading the scoring on the night for the Lady Buffs was junior Jamie Simmons with 14 points followed by fellow junior Ashley Leven with 12 points.
WT’s overall record now stands at 15-10 with an 8-4 record in LSC play. MSU falls to 9-14 overall with a 5-6 record in LSC play. The Lady Buffs will now prepare for a matchup against Incarnate Word on Feb.23. Tip-off from the First United Bank Center is scheduled for 6 p.m.
“Obviously we want to play in the conference tournament,” Gerlich said. “If we don’t take care of business against Incarnate Word then our backs are against the wall.”
