March 6, 2008

Box Score

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - With the help of junior All-American Emily Brister's sixth overall and third consecutive double-double and junior Courtney Lee's 14 second-half points, the West Texas A&M women's basketball team defeated Southeastern Oklahoma, 72-65, in Thursday's Lone Star Conference quarterfinal round. With the win, the Lady Buffs improve to 24-4 overall and advance to the semifinal round on Saturday, where they will face LSC South foe Angelo State.

The win also allowed WT to become the first team in conference history to record 30 tournament wins, as the program's tournament record moves to 30-11.

Brister, who was named the South Division's Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, finished the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Lee, the South's Defensive Player of the Year, shot 7-of-10 from the floor to tally 14 points, all in the second half. Additionally, Brister led the team in steals, with seven, and blocks, with three, while also dishing out three assists.

Southeastern Oklahoma won the opening tip and after Destiny Brown grabbed an offensive rebound, junior Jamie Dreiling drew a charge to claim the ball for WT at 19:24. The Lady Buffs drew three offensive fouls within the first 4:02 of play - including two on back-to-back SOSU possessions - and five in the first half.

On the ensuing West Texas A&M drive, sophomore Holly Isaacs drained a three-point basket to open the scoring for the Lady Buffs and spark a 9-3 run that junior Dixie Bell capped off with a lay-up at 16:19.

Isaacs, who finished the night with nine points and two assists, pushed the Lady Buffs' lead to 14-9 with 14:23 as she again made a three-pointer; she sank 3-of-4 baskets from behind the arc in the first half.

SOSU would not be deterred though, as the Savage Storm fought back to pull within two points, 16-14, by the second media timeout at 11:34. With just under 10 minutes to play, the Lady Buffs again drew an offensive foul to regain possession; junior Chelsea Blackshear went on to stretch WT's lead with seven straight points as she sank two three-pointers and a free throw to make it 23-15 and force Savage Storm head coach Darin Grover to call a timeout.

After the break, SOSU's Destiny Brown sank a free throw followed by a Kacey Russell lay-up, but West Texas A&M would replenish its lead to go ahead 28-19 by way of a driving lay-up by Dreiling that just beat the shot clock and another Isaacs long range basket.

With 3:48 to play, Brister grabbed a steal from SOSU's Andi Richardson and made a fast break lay-up while also drawing a foul. She converted the old-fashioned three-point play to push WT's lead to nine points at 33-24.

The Amarillo, Texas, native went on scoring rampage with just under five minutes left to play in the half as she tallied 14 of her 20 first-half points, including two free throws after Grover was called for a technical foul with seven seconds to play.

As the clock was winding down in the opening stanza, Channing Gann attempted a three-pointer that Brister blocked point-blank, sending the Lady Buffs into halftime with a 44-29 advantage.

Southeastern Oklahoma went on an 11-4 run to open the second half as they were able to pull within eight points of the Lady Buffs at 48-40, but WT answered back with a 10-0 run of its own as Joni Unruh capped off the stretch with a three-pointer to give the Lady Buffs their biggest lead of the game at 18.

WT's lead hovered around 15 points until the Savage Storm's Brown, who tied her season-high of 17 points, converted a three-point play with 3:26 left in the game to pull Southeastern Oklahoma within eight points at 68-60.

However, WT's lead was too much for SOSU to overcome as Brister drew yet another offensive foul with just 28.1 ticks on the clock to cut short any momentum that Southeastern Oklahoma attempted to build.

For the game, West Texas A&M shot 50% (27-of-54) from the floor, 46.7% (7-of-15) from behind the arc and 73.3% (11-of-15) from the charity stripe.

The Lady Buffs will face Angelo State - for the third time this season - in the semifinal round on Saturday afternoon, with tip-off set for 2:30 p.m.