It might have been the end of the regular season on Feb. 26 for the WTAMU Lady Buff basketball team, but Eastern New Mexico seemed poised to spring an upset in Portales at Greyhound Arena.

Thanks to some clutch free throws from freshman Casey Land, the Lady Buffs held off the Zias by a score of 69-68.  With the victory WT claimed the number two seed in the Lone Star Conference tournament, which will be held March 2-5 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

ENMU came out in the first half strong keeping the Lady Buffs at bay.  For the first nine minutes of the contest the Zias were either in the lead or tied with WT.  The Lady Buffs took their first lead of the contest at the 10:50 mark of the first half when it was 13-11.  However, things didn’t stay great for WT as ENMU outscored the Lady Buffs 14-10 over the next five minutes to take a 25-23 lead.  On the next basket for the Lady Buffs, a piece of history was made.  Junior Jamie Simmons layup with 4:18 left in the first half not only tied the game but made her the 18th Lady Buff all time to score 1,000 points in her career.ENMU closed out the half with a 9-1 run to take a 34-26 lead into the locker room for halftime.

When the teams came out for the second half it was the Lady Buffs who took control with a 7-0 run to open the half and close within one at 34-33 with 16:33 left in regulation.  Things started to look grim for the maroon and white as ENMU managed to keep the Lady Buffs at bay throughout most of the second half.  The Zias led by as many as eight points but with 22 seconds left, it was freshman Casey Land who stole the show.  After two free throws cut the Zias lead to one at 67-66, Land was fouled again with just five seconds left on the clock.  Once again, she converted both free throws and the Lady Buffs escaped with a 69-68 victory.

Leading the scoring on the night for the Lady Buffs was junior Jamie Simmons with a game-high 25 points.  Simmons now has 1,016 points in her two-year career as a Lady Buff and sits in 16th place on the all-time scoring list in Lady Buff basketball.

Freshman Casey Land scored 15 points on the evening with junior Ashley Leven close behind with 12 points.  Freshman Kenisha Harris recorded her second straight double-digit scoring effort with 10 points.

WT’s overall record now stands at 17-10 overall with a 10-4 record in conference play.  The Lady Buffs will represent the south division as the number two seed and will play the number three seed from the north in Texas Woman’s on March 2.  Tip-off from Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville is set for 6 p.m.