The Lady Buffs opened LSC crossover play with a win and improved to 3-1 on the season while the Aggies fell to 1-5.
“It’s been a long time since our last game, but I think we handled everything well," WT head coach Krista Gerlich said. "We learned a lot without having our seniors on the court; how to win and compete, especially after the run that Cameron made towards the end of the game.”
Casey Land (Fr-HS, Canyon, Texas) got things started with a three-pointer with just 20 seconds off the clock to put the Lady Buffs up 3-0, but Cameron countered with a layups from Lacy Reinke and Sabelle Diata to put the Aggies up 4-3.
WT went back on top at 5-4 with a layup from Jamie Simmons (Jr-1L, Houston, Texas) and Cameron followed with a pair of jumpers from beyond the arc to give Cameron a 10-5 lead. Lacee Logan (Fr-HS, Sudan, Texas) hit a three-pointer with 15:45 left to bull WT within two points, but Reinke added a jumper of her own to put Cameron back up by four points, 12-8.
Ashley Leven (Jr-2L, Amarillo, Texas) scored three of her nine first half points with less than 15 minutes left to play in the half as she poured in a layup and then converted the three-point play after a foul was called. That opened up a 15-4 run for the Lady Buffs and took a 23-14 lead with 6:32 left to play in the half on a jumper from Leven.
Both teams traded buckets over the final six minutes and WT took a 32-24 lead into the locker room after shooting 43.8 percent (14-for-32) from the field in the first half. The Lady Buffs were led at the break by Leven’s nine points and Simmons followed with six. Diata poured in nine points for the Aggies at the break and Reinke followed with eight.
WT opened the second half with an 11-6 run and led 43-30 with 15:46 left to play and then followed it up with a 10-6 run, which ended with three-pointers from both Land and Logan to make it a 53-35 game with less than 13 minutes remaining in the game.
Logan sank a three-pointer with 9:19 on the clock to put the Lady Buffs on top 58-37, but the 21-point lead quickly evaporated as Cameron went on a 14-4 run to pull within nine points of the Lady Buffs at 62-51.
Cameron made its last field goal with 14:16 left on the clock before Diata nailed a jumper with 7:45 left on the clock to stop more than a six minute scoring drought. She would then go on to score 10 of Cameron’s next 14 points that helped pull the Aggies closer.
WT scored just eight points over the final nine minutes, but Cameron would only get within seven points of the Lady Buffs with 39 seconds left and WT came away with the home opener, 70-61.
Diata finished with 28 points to lead all players in the game, while Leven, Land and Simmons each finished with 10 points apiece. Aly Sherman (Jr-1L, Mt. Vernon, Texas) added 10 points as the other Lady Buffs with double-digits.
WT shot 46.6 percent from the field and held Cameron to just 40.3 percent. Each team scored 20 points apiece off turnovers, but it was WT’s bench that had the edge in the game, outscoring the Aggies 24-4.
The Lady Buffs were playing without its two seniors tonight, as Megan McLain (Sr-3L, Channing, Texas) was left out of the line up with a minor injury and Joni Unruh (Sr-3L, Amarillo, Texas) is out for the season after suffering a season-ending knee injury in practice last week.
“This was a huge win for us to open up LSC play," Land said after making her first collegiate start. " We played for our seniors tonight who weren’t able to be on the court."
"It was a really good win for us, especially playing without our seniors for the first time," Simmons also stated. “Without Joni, I’m the one that needs to step up for us, on and off the court.”
The Lady Buffs will return to action this Saturday as the team hosts Southwestern Oklahoma. Tip-off at FUBC is set for 4 p.m.
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