In front of a pinked-out crowd at the First United Bank Center on Feb. 18, women’s basketball took on one of their toughest opponents in the Lone Star Conference: No. 1 ranked Tarleton State TexAnns.

The Lady Buffs started out the scoring with a two-pointer by Ashley Leven and it wasn’t until the 4:31 mark that the TexAnns would get a non-free throw point on the board.

The Lady Buffs dominated the first 20 minutes on both ends, keeping the TexAnns at least five points behind them for most of the half. The teams went to the locker rooms with a 29-24 lead in favor of WTAMU.

In the second half, it looked like the Lady Buffs would be bested as the TexAnns slowly ate into their lead, tying the game with 9:25 left on the clock. However, WT would not back down, leading by seven points in two instances after the tie.

As the final buzzer sounded, WT had a six-point lead, ending the game with a score of 58-52. It was the seventh straight win for the Lady Buffs and broke a three-game losing streak against Tarleton.

“The first time we played them [this year], I thought we were kind of a young team,” Senior Joni Unruh said. “We kind of have to get some of those losses and get stuff like that done so we can learn from it later on in the season.”

WT’s win over TSU makes their Wednesday game against Midwestern even more important as they move into second-place in the LSC, tied with MSU.  Tip-off for the game against Midwestern is set for 6 p.m. in Canyon at the FUBC.

“We refused to lose, that was the attitude the whole night. We just fought and fought and we got a lead and held on to it and won the game,” Power forward Devin Griffin said.

For Head Coach Krista Gerlich, back-to-back games against tough teams is good practice for playoffs.

“Our kids are ready for that post season run that you make where you have to knock off those big teams night after night,” Gerlich said.