By Nick Eatman
It might have been tougher than the Lady Buffs are accustomed
to, but the end result was still the same for West Texas A&M,
which survived Northeastern State Sunday afternoon to capture a
third straight LSC Championship.
Trailing by as much as 10 in the
second half, the Lady Buffs scratched and clawed back and
eventually overcome the RiverHawks for a 66-59 win at Bruin
Fieldhouse.
WTAMU has not only won three
straight LSC Championships and four in the last five years, but the
Lady Buffs now have a conference-best 11 post-season tournament
titles.
West Texas A&M improved to
29-3 and will likely host next week's regional tournament as the
No. 1 seed in the South Central region. Despite having its 10-game
winning streak snapped, Northeastern State (26-6) are also expected
to have a spot in the regional tournament.
But playing for the automatic bid
Sunday, the Lady Buffs were just too strong in the second half. NSU
had a six-point halftime lead and pushed it to 10 just a few
minutes later. But keeping its poise, and likely using some of that
championship experience, the Lady Buffs counted on experienced
players such as Holly Isaacs and Joni Unruh.
Trailing 39-29 with 17:16 to
play, the Lady Buffs went on a 15-4 run to take a one-point lead,
but they would never trail again.
Isaacs, who hit her first
3-pointer just before halftime, hit three more in the second half
and finished with 14 points. But like she's done all year, it was
Unruh who led the way, scoring 16 points and starring on the
defensive end with eight rebounds.
Unruh, who was named the LSC
South Player of the Year, also took home tournament MVP honors as
well. She was joined on the all-tournament squad by Isaacs and
WTAMU center Ceciley Johnson, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Rounding out the all-tournament
team was Northeastern State's Jessica White, Ashley Beckley of
Central Oklahoma and Abilene Christian's Jamie Meyer, who played
just one game but set the LSC Championship single-game scoring
record with 44 points in the triple-overtime loss to UCO in the
quarterfinals.
West Texas A&M sophomore
Jamie Simmons also had a solid tournament, capped off by an
eight-point, nine-rebound effort on Sunday.
For the RiverHawks, White led the
team in scoring with 18 points, along with her six rebounds and
four assists. Sarah Millar hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16
points.
But after shooting 44.8 percent from the field in the first
half, NSU went cold, hitting just 29.2 percent in the final 20
minutes.
West Texas A&M was pretty
consistent from the floor the entire game, finishing at 39.6
percent, but the Lady Buffs dominated the glass, winning the
rebounding edge 41-26.
WEST TEXAS A&M QUOTES
WT Quotes
Coach Gerlich
What a great performance by these girls particularly in the
second half. Coach Gibson does a great job and give them credit
because they came right after us. I certainly think we had some
courageous plays in the second half.
I told these girls that defense is what wins championships, and
I think you witnessed that commitment in the second half. We knew
we had to get second chance opportunities, they did a great job of
making us take perimeter shots, Ceciley got to the rim really well.
This team hasn't played from behind nearly all year, especially
with the game on the line. The one thing I wasn't sure they could
do was come from behind, so I thought they showed a lot of fight
and character and they weren't going to be denied.
I think they just buckled down on the defensive end and I
challenged the seniors that they looked like they wanted it more.
We absolutely love it at Bartlesville obviously, we've tried to
treat Bartlesville like our home court and we have to protect our
home court. The people in the community are talking to you, they
know you, the tournament itself is so well run by both the
conference and the community. It gives a great NCAA tournament
experience. It's what every team should get to experience. We're
glad it's here another year!
It's about these girls right here. Holly been with me for every
one of these championships. They have a passion for the game. If
you are going to do something, you do it to the best of your
ability and put it all on the line. It doesn't get old and every
championship has a different story and that's what makes it so
special.
Holly Isaacs
Northeastern plays back on their man, so it feels like you are
open every time. I knew my team needed it, and it really started
our offense going at the rate it needed to go.
They are all just as sweet. Emily and Courtney were here for the
other two so with them you know you aren't losing. Our team really
really came together and we know we can do it. We are looking
forward to regionals and we know this isn't it.
Joni Unruh
I felt like that was the hardest fought battled we've had at
Bartlesville and the fact that we came from behind for the
championship made it that much better. We really played for each
other and I'm proud of us and how we got that trophy.
Ceciley Johnson
The ACU game came back to me so we all came together and got a
defensive stop right then. They played behind us so we knew what to
do with the ball when they crashed down on us.
We had to fight back to get that lead so when we got there we
weren't going to give it back.
WEST TEXAS A&M NOTES
* With West Texas A&M's 66-59 win over Northeastern State,
WT becomes the first program in Lone Star Conference women's
basketball history to win at least three straight conference
championships on two separate occasions. The Lady Buffs won
the title five straight times from 1987-91 and have now won all
three tournaments played in Bartlesville. Only two other
programs (Abilene Christian and Angelo State) has won as many as
two straight titles.
* West Texas A&M's win extended its conference-record number
of women's championships to 11, four better than second-place
Abilene Christian. The Lady Buffs are 11-5 all-time in
conference championship games and are 38-11 all-time in the LSC
Post-Season Basketball Championship Tournament. No team in
league history has played in more tournament games or won more
tournament games that WT.
* WT forward Joni Unruh became the eighth player in Lady Buff
history to earn tournament MVP honors, joining Vanessa Wells
(1988), Leona Gerber (1989), Teresa Tinner (1990), Darla Leavitt
(1991), Dana Cunningham (1997), Emily Brister (2006, 2008) and
Jamie Dreiling (2009) on the list.
* Unruh is just the eighth player in LSC history to earn both
regular-season MVP and tournament MVP honors, joining ACU's Claudia
Schleyer (1984-85), West Texas A&M's Vanessa Wells (1987-88),
Angelo State's Nicole Collins (1993-94), ACU's Jennifer Clarkson
(1994-95), ACU's Caroline Omamo (1997-98), ACU's Jackie Bucher
(1998-99) and West Texas A&M's Emily Brister (2005-06 and
2007-08) on the exclusive list.
* West Texas A&M trailed at halftime, 32-26 on Sunday,
matching its largest halftime deficit of the season (38-32 at ACU
on Jan. 16). The Lady Buffs, however, rallied for the win to
improve their record to 4-2 when trailing at halftime.
NORTHEASTERN STATE QUOTES
Head coach Randy Gipson
We're proud of our team's effort. We were ready to play. We
made enough shots in the first half to get a lead. We didn't really
establish an offensive tempo the way we wanted too. Then the
second half we made some turnovers.
They got out on the 3-point shot a little bit better than we did.
Give them credit. They played a real good defensive game. They kept
us from doing some things we like to do.
FIVE MINUTE SCORING DROUGHT
We didn't have a good rhythm in our offense. They were pressuring
us. We weren't moving the ball the way we wanted too. They looked
like shots we could make but we rushed them a little bit, lost some
momentum and a little confidence. And, they made a run.
JESSICA WHITE
It comes down to March and everyone is scrapping for every ball
and every possession counts. That's what it comes down too. West
Texas plays extremely hard. That's why they have been a successful
program and we play extremely hard too. Two teams playing really
hard is why it gets so physical.
About Northeastern scoring drought
It was hard, because you work so hard to build the lead and then
you go dry. Just stay in and stay focus. We let them get to many
offensive rebounds. You think you get a shot, they get a stop or
rebound and they put it up and build a lead. And they keep
attacking our lead.
SARAH MILLAR
Difference between last year and this year---I think we were more
ready to play this year. We were confident we could give them a
great game. We played hard. I'm really proud of our team. As
coach said there was some fundamental things we didn't complete and
execute. It hurt us. We got better. We are much better team than we
were last year. Now, we have a week to get better.
NORTHEASTERN STATE NOTES
- The
RiverHawks are 26-6 this season and have set a new school record
for wins in a season.
- NSU had
claimed 10 straight victories to reach the tournament championship.
- NSU
played in its fourth LSC Championship title game, winning just once
in 2003 (vs. WTAMU, 82-68).
- NSU was
21-2 when leading at halftime prior to Sunday's loss to the Lady
Buffs.
- Jessica
White finished the game with 18 points, her season high.
Sunday's game was the third time she has led or tied for the lead
in scoring this season.
- Jasmine
Webb was held to just four points, tying a season-low which she
also had against North Alabama.
- The
RiverHawks were held to 10 points below their season scoring
average of 68.8 points per game in the championship contest.
NSU tallied its third-lowest shooting percentage in a game this
season.