History made at Lady Buff yard

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Matthew Watkins

Lady Buffs Kassey Hendersen and Kimberly LeComte round the bases. Photo by Kati Watson.

The second day of the Lady Buff invitational proved to be quite historic. WTAMU began the day with a 6-2 victory over the Washburn Lady Blues. The Lady Buffs made history in two ways later in the day, though. WT’s 15-2 defeat of the ENMU Zias gave head coach Kevin Blaskowski his 500th win, while junior Kim LeComte hit for the first cycle in Lady Buff history.

“It’s a great feeling to get my 500th win, especially with this team,” Coach Blaskowski said. “They are very special to me and I look forward to many more wins with them.”

The Lady Buffs struck first against Washburn when freshman Mallory Wyatt walked with the bases loaded to make it 1-0. Junior Kristina Myles followed up with a sac fly in the fifth, giving WT a 2-0 advantage. The Lady Blues answered with a two run homerun by Alex Zordel off of junior Shelby Cockrell in the sixth, tying the score 2-2. A two run single by senior Kaitlyn Witte gave the Lady Buffs the lead back at 4-2. An RBI single by Myles would give WT the 6-2 final score. Continue reading →

Buffs take out Cameron

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Evan Grice

While the #24 ranked WTAMU men’s basketball team might have a hold of the number four slot in the regional rankings, they are trying to make sure that there is no doubt they belong in the NCAA tournament. WT took a big step forward in that direction when they took on Cameron University on Mar. 3 in the first round of the Lone Star Conference tournament in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

The Buffs used a strong first half to hang with the Aggies and eventually muscle their way past them in the second half en route to a 75-59 victory. Continue reading →

Lady Buffs stumble in first round against Pioneers

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Evan Grice

Over the past few seasons, if there has been one certainty it’s that when the WTAMU Lady Buff basketball team heads to the LSC tournament in Bartlesville, Okla., good things always happen. In the past three seasons, the Lady Buffs have made Bruin Fieldhouse their second home winning three straight championships. They looked to continue that streak in the first round against Texas Women’s on March 2.

Unfortunately, this season there will be a new conference champion. WT held a slim lead late in the contest, but wasn’t able to hold on as the Lady Buffs fell 57-56. Continue reading →

Buffs finish off Bearcats

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Evan Grice

If there was any question about the WTAMU Buff baseball team being legitament contenders this season, those questions were answered in a big way on Feb. 28 as the Buffs finished their four-game series with Northwest Missouri State at Wilder Park.

WT once again used their powerful offensive attack to smother NMSU and finish off a sweep of the Bearcats with a 17-6 victory. Continue reading →

Lady Buffs win double header

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Mari Samarripas

Lady Buffs celebrate a win against Central Oklahoma. Photo by Frankie Sanchez.

The #7 ranked WTAMU Lady buffs take a big win over the Lady Dust Devils of Texas A&M International. Leading the Lady Buffs on the circle was junior Marci Wolmack who pitched a solid game and gave up no runs on four hits, with five strikeouts.

Alyssa Lemos, a freshman, got the momentum going leading off the Lady Buffs with their first homerun , ripping into center field in the bottom of the first inning. The Lady Buffs brought in two more runs to close out the inning. Continue reading →

Buffs sweep Bearcats in doubleheader

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Evan Grice

Junior Irving Camacho’s pitching helped the Buffs take home a win against Northwest Missouri State. Photo by Frankie Sanchez.

The weather outside isn’t the only thing heating up West Texas. On Feb. 26 the WTAMU Buffs baseball team looked to continue its hot start to the season as they played Northwest Missouri State in doubleheader action at Wilder Park.

In game one, the Buffs found themselves leading 3-2 after one inning of play. By the end of the third, their lead had increased to 9-2. NMSU made things interesting in the top of the sixth inning by cutting the Buffs’ lead to 8-7. However, WT responded in the bottom half of the inning and plated several runs of their own to give themselves a 14-7 lead. The Bearcats scored two more runs in the top of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough as WT claimed a 14-9 victory. Continue reading →

Lady Buffs fight back to beat Zias

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Evan Grice

It might have been the end of the regular season on Feb. 26 for the WTAMU Lady Buff basketball team, but Eastern New Mexico seemed poised to spring an upset in Portales at Greyhound Arena.

Thanks to some clutch free throws from freshman Casey Land, the Lady Buffs held off the Zias by a score of 69-68. With the victory WT claimed the number two seed in the Lone Star Conference tournament, which will be held March 2-5 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

ENMU came out in the first half strong keeping the Lady Buffs at bay. For the first nine minutes of the contest the Zias were either in the lead or tied with WT. The Lady Buffs took their first lead of the contest at the 10:50 mark of the first half when it was 13-11. However, things didn’t stay great for WT as ENMU outscored the Lady Buffs 14-10 over the next five minutes to take a 25-23 lead. On the next basket for the Lady Buffs, a piece of history was made. Junior Jamie Simmons layup with 4:18 left in the first half not only tied the game but made her the 18th Lady Buff all time to score 1,000 points in her career. Continue reading →

Buffs comeback sets number two seed in tournament

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Matthew Watkins

Buzzer beaters and last second heroics are a part of basketball. That’s exactly how the WTAMU Lady Buffs defeated Eastern New Mexico on Saturday, Feb. 26. Two free throws by freshman Casey Land in the final five seconds, combined with a missed shot by ENM’s Kiara Tate at the buzzer gave the Lady Buffs a 69-68 victory over the Zias. The victory gave WT’s women the number two seed in the LSC tournament.

The game began with both teams trading shots. The Lady Buffs proceeded to jump out to a 19-13 lead 12 minutes 30 seconds into the first half. The Zias would counter with a 17-6 run giving them a 30-25 lead two minutes before halftime. Eastern New Mexico took a 34-26 advantage into the locker room. Continue reading →

WT Clinches Tournament Berth

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Matthew Watkins

Coach Cooper earns 500^th win despite Shaun Umeh’s 37 point performance.

West Texas A&M and Incarnate Word are considered to be two of the best shooting teams in the Lone Star Conference. Feb. 23′s showdown at the First United Bank Center did not disappoint. The Buffs and Cardinals battled the entire 40 minutes, with WT coming out on top 81-71. The win clinched a berth in the LSC tournament for the Buffs, and earned head coach Rick Cooper his 500^th career victory. Continue reading →

Lady Buffs win home finale

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Evan Grice

Three players score in double figures

With only two games remaining in the regular season, the WTAMU Lady Buffs can’t afford anymore mistakes against the competition. Incarnate Word looked to derail the Lady Buffs momentum on Feb. 23 at the First United Bank Center in the final home game of the regular season.

WT overcame a slow start in the first half to pull away from the Lady Cardinals and claim a 62-44 victory.

Things started out good for the Lady Buffs as they jumped out to the early 4-0 lead with 19:16 remaining in the first half. UIW though stormed back and went on an 8-2 run which gave them an 8-6 lead with just over 15 minutes left before halftime. The Lady Cardinals held the lead one more time in the first half at the 14:14 mark at 10-8. However, from that point on the Lady Buffs slowly began to take control of the game. UIW managed to stay within single digits for most of the half but fell apart just before halftime.

Going into the locker room for halftime, the Lady Buffs were in firm control leading 34-20.

After the break, it seemed as though the Lady Buffs were firing on all cylinders. WT increased its lead to 19 points at 48-29 with 12:18 left in regulation. UIW simply couldn’t find the spark to stay with the Lady Buffs in the second half. The Lady Cardinals found themselves down by as many as 22 points in the second half. WT eventually came away with a comfortable 62-44 victory.

Leading the scoring on the night for the Lady Buffs was junior Jamie Simmons with a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds to record her eighth double-double of the season. Simmons is now just nine points shy of the 1,000 point mark. Senior Megan McLain scored 13 points on the night with freshman Kenisha Harris scoring a career-high 10 points.

WT’s overall record now stands at 16-10 with a 9-4 record in LSC play.

Coach Cooper earns 500th win despite Shaun Umeh’s 37 point performance.

Coach Cooper earns 500^th win despite Shaun Umeh’s 37 point performance.