February 27, 2013
WEST TEXAS HANDLES A&M-COMMERCE ON SENIOR NIGHT, 73-64
West Texas A&M 73, A&M-Commerce 64
LOCATION: The Field House – Commerce, Texas
RECORDS: West Texas A&M (17-11, 13-6 LSC); A&M-Commerce (9-15, 7-12 LSC)
Up Next: at Eastern New Mexico – Portales, N.M. – Saturday March 2 – 3:00 p.m.
Commerce, Texas – West Texas A&M handled A&M-Commerce on Senior Night at the Field House. The Lady Buffs controlled the paint with 40 points inside leading to 63 percent night from the floor and had 25 assists on 29 made field goals.
Both sides traded baskets in the opening four minutes with neither team being able to pull away early. West Texas led 11-8 at the first media timeout then had an eight to two run to open up a 17-8 advantage with 10:37 left in the first half. Chontiquah White of West Texas picked up her second personal foul with 13:05 left and that opened up the paint for the Lions on offense. A&M-Commerce got an old fashion three point play from Danielle Dixon to cut the lead to nine with 4:40 left in the opening stanza. Dixon hit a jumper with just over half a minute left to make the deficit nine heading into the half.
Dixon had nine points and six rebounds to lead the Lions in the first half. Breanna Harris had six points, four rebounds and two steals in the opening 20 minutes. Symone Brown also had six in the first half along with seven rebounds and an assist. Sarah Durran got on the board in final home game and grabbed two rebounds in the first half. Shanekqua Bibbs also got on the board for the Lions with two points.
Devin Griffin led all scorers with 14 in the first half. White added eight points and Raven Gerald had six for the Lady Buffs.
A Dixon layup got the Lions within four after both teams traded baskets through the first four minutes of the second half at 45-41. West Texas quickly answered with a seven nothing run to extend the lead back to 11 with 12:14 to play. WT held the steady for the next five minutes before holding their largest lead of 17 with 5:41 to play at 67-50. The Lions fought hard but could not get within single digits until a Brown three pointer made it a seven point game at 71-64. The Lady Buffs tacked another bucket for the 73-64.
Dixon led the Lions with 26 points, nine rebounds, four assists and five steals. Symone Brown recorded her first double-double with a 15 point 13 rebound performance. Devin Oliver had four points and five rebounds off the bench. La'Tisha Hearne finished with nine points, two rebounds and two assists.
Devin Griffin led all scorers with 27 points. She also grabbed seven rebounds and had two assists. Chontiquah White had 25 and 14 for the Lady Buffs, for her ninth double-double of the season. Casey Land had 11 points as the other Lady Buff in double figures.
The Lions return the court next to close out the regular season on the road at Eastern New Mexico on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. in Portales. If the Lions win then they will be the seventh seed and a loss would mean an eighth seed for A&M-Commerce.
