Lady Buffs Win Dramatic Final Home Game of the Season

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

The Lady Buffs made their last game of the season at First United Bank Center their most dramatic on Feb. 22’s Senior Night. The team returned to the court only five days after beating Lone Star Conference No. 1 Tarleton State on Saturday to take on Midwestern State to determine who would own the league’s number two spot.

The beginning of the game started like many expected with the teams swapping the lead until MSU went on a 10-2 run to take a 23-15 lead with less than 12 minutes left on the clock in the first. It wasn’t until the end of the period that WTAMU would go on a 9-4 run to end the first with a score of 34-29 in favor of the Mustangs.

WT came out on fire in the second, going on an 8-2 run to grab a 37-36 lead for the first time since the first five minutes of the game. MSU would take the lead back a few minutes later but the Lady Buffs were determined to put the Mustang away, not letting them get the lead or even tie for the rest of the game.

MSU would come close to catching WT during the final minutes, getting as close as one point late in the half. As the final minute appeared on the clock, MSU was forced to foul multiple times and Joni Unruh was able to convert four of the six shots given to WT. MSU would be able to score a three-pointer with three seconds left but ultimately the game would end in favor of the Lady Buffs with a score of 71-69.

Senior Ashley Leven ended the game with a career -best 25 points in addition to getting a team-high seven rebounds. In addition to Leven, Joni Unruh and Aly Sherman played their last home game at the FUBC on Wednesday. The three seniors went 31-9 at home during their three years together while Leven and Unruh went 46-10 during their four years of combined play.

“I thought we came out a little flat, especially after the big game against Tarleton. But I thought after the first half we began to settle down and work our offense a little better and it was just a different ball game from there,” Unruh said. “As a senior on this floor, it’s emotional. I’m sad I’ll never get to play here again but you know, I’m just lucky that it’s not my last game of the season.”

With the team’s win, they are on an eight-game winning streak and have taken their season record to 17-8 overall and 15-4 in the LSC. They also won the league’s No. 2 spot at the LSC Championship tournament starting on March 1. To make the night even more dramatic, LSC No. 1-ranked Tarleton State lost its game against Angelo State 70-63, giving WT a chance to share the LSC Championship with TSU, depending on the outcome of this weekend’s games.

“We still have a big game against Cameron on Saturday and it’s kind of leading up to be quite dramatic since Tarleton lost,” Head Coach Krista Gerlich said. “It’s a lot of fun to be in that position but even taking that part out of it, we just want to make sure we continue to finish the regular season off, finish our run, and have lots of momentum going into the conference tournament.”

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Men basketball defeat No.5 Tarleton

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Matthew Watkins

The WTAMU Buffalo basketball team welcomed the No. 5 ranked Tarleton State Texans to Canyon on Feb. 18. The Buffs prevailed in the important Lone Star Conference matchup 62-53.

WT jumped out to an early 6-0 lead four minutes into the game. TSU would battle back and tie the game at 13 all with 7:53 to go in the half. The two teams would go back and forth the remainder of the half, going into the locker rooms with the score tied at 25.

The Buffs set the tone early for the second half with a powerful dunk by senior Courtney Carr. WT would go on to build a 36-29 lead early in the half, however the Texans would take advantage of turnovers to tie it at 36. Continue reading →

Collegiate Darwinism

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Keltin Wiens

For shame, college sports, for shame.

Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference announced last week the two conferences will form a brand new “super conference,” although it is hardly composed of “super” schools. After the power conferences in college sports like the SEC, Big 12, Big 10, Pac-12 and the Big East have had their pick of C-USA and MWC schools, the remaining 16 teams are Air Force, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Colorado State, East Carolina, Fresno State, Hawaii (football-only), Marshall, Nevada, New Mexico, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Southern Miss, Rice, University of Texas at El Paso, Tulane, Tulsa and Wyoming.

This new conference stretches across five time-zones and reaches from South Carolina to Honolulu. The merger, to me, makes about as much sense as throwing a toaster into a bathtub. So why did the two conferences choose to make such a decision? The answer is survival. Continue reading →

Lady Buffs Down TexAnns in Thriller

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

In front of a pinked-out crowd at the First United Bank Center on Feb. 18, women’s basketball took on one of their toughest opponents in the Lone Star Conference: No. 1 ranked Tarleton State TexAnns.

The Lady Buffs started out the scoring with a two-pointer by Ashley Leven and it wasn’t until the 4:31 mark that the TexAnns would get a non-free throw point on the board.

The Lady Buffs dominated the first 20 minutes on both ends, keeping the TexAnns at least five points behind them for most of the half. The teams went to the locker rooms with a 29-24 lead in favor of WTAMU.

In the second half, it looked like the Lady Buffs would be bested as the TexAnns slowly ate into their lead, tying the game with 9:25 left on the clock. However, WT would not back down, leading by seven points in two instances after the tie.

As the final buzzer sounded, WT had a six-point lead, ending the game with a score of 58-52. It was the seventh straight win for the Lady Buffs and broke a three-game losing streak against Tarleton.

“The first time we played them [this year], I thought we were kind of a young team,” Senior Joni Unruh said. “We kind of have to get some of those losses and get stuff like that done so we can learn from it later on in the season.”

WT’s win over TSU makes their Wednesday game against Midwestern even more important as they move into second-place in the LSC, tied with MSU. Tip-off for the game against Midwestern is set for 6 p.m. in Canyon at the FUBC.

“We refused to lose, that was the attitude the whole night. We just fought and fought and we got a lead and held on to it and won the game,” Power forward Devin Griffin said.

For Head Coach Krista Gerlich, back-to-back games against tough teams is good practice for playoffs.

“Our kids are ready for that post season run that you make where you have to knock off those big teams night after night,” Gerlich said.

Lady Buffs Win Sixth Straight Game

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

The WTAMU Women’s Basketball team traveled to Commerce on Feb. 15 to attempt to extend their winning streak to six in a row.

The Lady Buffs started out strong, grabbing a 4-2 lead but after a few mistakes, lost the lead when the Lions went on a 9-0 run to lead 11-4 with a little over 14 minutes left in the half.

WT spent a large chunk of the first half playing catch up, finally tying the game with 7:15 left on the clock. WT took back the lead with six minutes left before going on a 12-0 lead to take a large lead over the Lions. However, as the half drew to a close, A&M-Commerce would gain back some momentum, pulling the team within four going into the locker room with a 33-29 WT lead.

Ashley Leven extended WT’s lead only seconds into the second half, putting four points on the board in less than 20 seconds to advance the score to 37-29. A&M-C was held scoreless until the 17:24 mark, but the team only scored two more times in the first half of the period. The Lions’ dry spell allowed WT to increase its lead to 56-34 after a 13-0 run.

The Lady Buffs kept a 20-point lead for most of the half, but the Lions would close the gap in the final minutes, ending the game with a 17-point difference. In the end, the scoreboard showed a score of 78-61 in favor of the Lady Buffs

Kenisha Harris would be atop the leader board in multiple categories when the clock ran out. Harris led the team with 15 points and 10 rebounds in addition to four assists and three steals. WT shot 46.2 percent from the field and converted 67.5 percent of their attempts at the charity stripe.

“I thought we struggled the first half but we fought through it and then came out at halftime and owned it,” Sophomore Lacee Logan said.

WT’s season record went to 15-8 and 13-4 in the LSC with the win. The team sits third in the LSC behind Midwestern State. The Lady Buffs have secured a playoff spot but will be more focused on their next few games rather than the upcoming playoffs.

“We just take it one game at a time, right now our focus is on Tarelton. We’re just going to knock one off at a time,” Logan said.

The Lady Buffs will face one of their toughest opponents in their next out as they take on LSC-leading Tarleton State at the First United Bank Center at 4 p.m. on Feb. 18.

WT Basketball pulls a win at ASU

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Matthew Watkins

The WTAMU Buffalo basketball team travelled to San Angelo, Texas on Feb. 11 to take on the Angelo State Rams in Lone Star Conference action. The Buffs made a late comeback to claim a 61-56 victory over the Rams.

ASU opened with an early 14-13 lead over WT with 10:58 to play in the first half. The Buffs would follow up with an 11-3 that would give them a 24-17 advantage with 3:31 remaining in the half. WT would find themselves ahead going into the locker room, 29-24. Continue reading →

This Week in Photos: Lady Buffs Basketball

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

Check out the photos of this week’s Lady Buffs Basketball game! To read about the game, click here.

Lady Buffs Clinch Playoff Spot

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

Joni Unruh gets ready for another attack against ACU. Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog.

Feb. 8 was a big night in the First United Bank Center for women’s basketball as they took on Abilene Christian in front of a “Marooned Out” crowd. The Lady Buffs were attempting to win their fourth-straight game in addition to clinching a spot in the post season, both of which they did spectacularly.

The Lady Buffshit the board hard early, going on a 9-2 run only minutes into the game. With only seven minutes gone from the clock, the Lady Buffs had an 18-8 lead, earned by Joni Unruh’s layup to set the precedent for how the rest of the game would go.

ACU came within six points of the home team almost half way through the first half, but the Lady Buffs continued to motor ahead. ACU would try to catch up to the team, but WTAMU went to the locker room with a 40-28 lead.

WT continued its domination out of the locker room, scoring the first six points of the half. Abilene Christian kept fighting throughout the period but only came within 18 points of the Lady Buffs in the second half. The Lady Buffs added insult to injury in the final minutes, pulling off a 10-0 run to end the game 30 points up over ACU with a final score of 89-59 on the board. Continue reading →

Fans wanted for Buffs Basketball

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

As the women’s basketball team goes into the final critical stretch of the regular season, the team works towards bringing more fans to the First United Bank Center.

The team only has three more regular season games at home, including two of their most important as they take on Midwestern State and Tarleton. In order to attract more WTAMU students to support the former National Championship winning team, each of these games has a promotion event, starting with a “Free Maroon T-Shirt” giveaway on Feb. 8.

Women’s Head Coach Krista Gerlich says trying to bring in students isn’t just about supporting the team but about students enjoying college life to the fullest.

“We want students to participate,” said Gerlich. “We want them to get the full college experience, which obviously athletics is a big part of the college experience. I think we have some students coming to the game but we’d really like for them to be our sixth man, to be a part of the game and to be a game changer.” Continue reading →

Lady Buffs win third straight game

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Melissa Bauer-Herzog

After a rare week-long break, women’s basketball returned to the court on Feb. 4 to take on Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas.

The first half was a major battle between the two teams, with TWU starting the tally before WT took over the lead off of two baskets from Joni Unruh. The Lady Buffs grabbed an 8-3 lead, but it would again be cut into by TWU with a jumper. TWU would soon tie for the lead and the teams swapped back and forth. However, after an 11-2 run, WT had an 32-21 lead at the break.

The second half would see a change of momentum as the Pioneers slowly ate into the WT lead. The Lady Buffs continued to fight back, but when the Pioneers went on a 15-2 run, TWU finally pulled ahead 39-38. Kenisha Harris would be WT’s star as she made a bucket and then two free throws to get WT’s lead back, up by three points. Continue reading →

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