By Michael Freeman, Assistant Sports Editor
The Wildcats’ eight-game winning streak came to an end Wednesday night as No. 16 West Texas A&M stole a 60-58 victory in Canyon. With the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Tournament scheduled for next week, the win ensured the Lady Buffs the No. 1 seed in the LSC South Division, while the Wildcats will enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed. The win also improved West Texas A&M’s overall record to 22- 4 and 12-1 in the conference. ACU dropped to 16-10 overall with a 10-3 mark in the conference.
“I felt like we played hard,” said head coach Shawna Lavender. “The girls did a great job at maintaining their composure, and they just kept fighting.”
Three Wildcats scored in double-figures against the Lady Buffs. Center Audrey Maxwell led ACU with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Guard Alex Guiton posted 15 points, while forward Jamie Meyer finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
“I couldn’t ask for a better effort from our kids,” Lavender said. “People don’t go into WT and win games very often. And for us to almost come away with one there, hopefully it’s a little bit of a confidence booster. We are playing some of the best basketball in the conference right now.”
West Texas A&M countered ACU with guard Emily Brister scoring 25 points, which placed her as the all-time leading scorer in school history with 1,993 career points.
Lady Buff guard Courtney Lee also scored a season-high 21 points, including the game winning shot.
Both teams began the game shooting tit for tat. Neither team built a lead of more than four points in the first half. The Wildcats shot a blistering 64 percent from the field, however, the Lady Buffs drained 42.9 percent of their 3-point shots. The halftime score was 36-36.
Coming out of the break, West Texas A&M went on a 10-0 run in the first two and a half minutes. ACU answered by going on a 14-4 run and tied the game at 50 at the 8:21 mark. The game stayed close, and with 1:30 left in the game, Maxwell gave the Wildcats their first lead of the second half with a layup. Then with 23 seconds remaining, West Texas A&M tied the game as Lee hit a layup and drew a foul. Lee hit the following free throw, giving the Lady Buffs a 59-58 lead. The Wildcats tried to respond with a layup by Maxwell, but her shot missed. Meyer grabbed the rebound and fired, but her putback rattled out of the basket.
“If we play those 20 seconds over 10 more times, we win 10 of those,” Lavender said. “Both were great looks and really good shots. I don’t know how they didn’t go in. We just didn’t
get the bounce that we needed at the end of the game, but the execution was there.”
ACU will conclude its regular season at home against Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Javelinas are 7-19 for the season with a 3-10 conference record.
“Kingsville is playing the spoiler role; they don’t have anything to lose,” Lavender said. “I think it’s really important for us to come out Saturday ready to play our game. You want to go into the conference tournament on a positive note.”
