COMMERCE, TEXAS – For 17 minutes, A&M-Commerce women's basketball (13-11; 7-7 in LSC) went blow for blow with the No. 4 ranked team in the country, but West Texas A&M (22-2; 13-1 in LSC) pulled away before the half before cruising to the 88-73 victory.
The game began with the lead changing hands many times, and with under three minutes to play, the game seemed to be headed for a terrific second half. Yet the Lady Buffs had other plans, tearing off a 12-2 run in the final 2:45 of the half to give themselves a lopsided 46-33 lead going into the break.
"Foul trouble had the majority of our team on the bench late in the first half," said head coach Jason Burton, "We had way too many turnovers to finish the first half, and WT capitalized on all of them."
WT did a good job at preventing any one player for A&M-Commerce find any kind of offensive rhythm, as the Lions didn't have a player emerge into double-digit scoring until deep into the second half. Artaejah Gay wrapped up as the offensive leader for the Lions with 16 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the field and 4 of 4 from the line, while teammate Gabby Scott hit five threes to rack up 15 points on 5 of 16 shooting. Abigail Leaupepe-Tele logged a game-high eight rebounds, while Princess Davis submitted a game-high six assists.
While the Lions managed to do a good job limiting WT's top guns in their previous meeting in Canyon, Texas, that wasn't the case in the Field House. Sophomore guard Sasha Watson had an exquisite outing, leading all scorers with 26 points on 9 of 12 shooting and 7 of 8 from the line, chipping in a game-high four steals. Running mate Chontiquah White wasn't far behind, and despite a sub-par shooting night by her standards (5 of 12) scored 24 points and seven rebounds thanks chiefly to her perfect night at the line (13 of 13).
A&M-Commerce managed to hang right in the shooting, rebounding, and assist departments. Yet a 22 turnover night, coupled with a 17-24 foul disparity and a severe free throw disadvantage (58.3% vs. 81.8%) spelled their undoing.
"They're way too efficient a team to be that careless," said Burton, "If we face them again in the tournament, we need to do a better job of staying out of foul trouble, knock down free throws, and limit those turnovers."
With the win secured, the Lady Buffs are guaranteed the top seed in the upcoming LSC Tournament in Allen, Texas. At this point, they are strictly playing to gild their resume for what lies beyond, as an NCAA berth is all but assured regardless of how the rest of the season plays out. Their next assignment comes tomorrow night, as they head to Denton, Texas to take on the Texas Woman's Pioneers (14-11; 7-7 in LSC).
As for the Lions, the loss drops them from fourth place to sixth place in the conference playoff hunt by virtue of Tarleton State's win today over Eastern New Mexico, and TWU's marginally superior overall record. However, A&M-Commerce could find themselves up in fifth by as soon as this time tomorrow, because a TWU loss to WT on Sunday would drop them below the Lions.
A&M-Commerce will await the conclusion of that contest, and then they'll get their own crack at the Pioneers. That game is scheduled for Wednesday, February 25 at 5:30 p.m. In the Field House.
