The LSC Basketball Championship kicked off Wednesday with a pair of shocking upsets with the No. 2 seeds.

But thanks to a career-high 27 points from Diana Jones, Midwestern State’s women’s team made sure it was a different story with the No. 1 seed. The top-ranked Mustangs left no doubt against No. 8 Eastern New Mexico, cruising to an 85-70 win over the Zias to advance to the semifinals on Friday. MSU will play the winner of the 4/5 game between Tarleton State and Incarnate Word.

The win was the first postseason victory for the Mustangs since 2003 as they are making just their second appearance in the LSC Championship in the last 11 years. The No. 2 ranked team in the South Central Region, MSU improved to 22-5.

The season ends for Eastern New Mexico with a final record of 7-22.

Along with Jones, who was a perfect 11 of 11 from the free-throw line, MSU had four players in double-figure scoring. Kristi Degelia scored 22, Andrea Carter had 15 and Shatoia Gober notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Zias had four players in double figures, led by Jordyn Cooper’s 19 points. Hanna Altheide and Jasmine Johnson each scored 11 and Nelsha Peterson scored 10. Altheide also had a game-high 11 boards.

Eastern New Mexico turned the ball over 26 times. Carter, Gober and Shambreka Jones had three steals each.

After a slow start by both teams led to a 4-4 tie, the Mustangs went on a 9-0 run, sparked by a basket each by Degelia, Carter, Gober and Jones. From there, MSU controlled the first half and led 40-30 at the half.

Midwestern opened the second half with a 13-2 run and extended the lead to as much as 21. The Zias hit a few shots down the stretch, but never got closer than 14.


 
MSU Notes
 

• First LSC Tournament win since March 4, 2003

 

• MSU and ENMU split their regular-season games. The Mustangs lead the overall series 21-16.

 

• MSU has won six of the last seven meetings versus ENMU

 

• Midwestern State finished the game with 8x points which is the most in a game this season. The Mustangs previous best was 81 in an 82-81 loss in overtime to Incarnate Word.

 

• Dianna Jones basket at the 14:17 mark gave her 21 points breaking her previous high of 20 against Incarnate Word on Nov. 30. She finished with 27 points tying the single-game high by a Mustang player this season.

 

• Kiristi Degelia posted her fifth game of 20-or-more points scoring 22.

 

• Shatoia Grober surpassed her season average of 9.2 ppg in the game’s first 14 minutes scoring 10. She finished with 10 in the game.

 

• The 40 points in the first half were the fourth most this season for the Mustangs. They previously had 45 against Oklahoma Panhandle State, 42 versus Texas-Permian Basin and 41 against Texas A&M-Kingsville.

 

• Leading 40-30 at the half, MSU scored the first nine points of the second half to break open the game.

 

• For the game, MSU outscored the Zias 34-15 on points off turnovers.

 
 
ENMU notes

• Wednesday night's 85-70 loss to Midwestern State marked Eastern New Mexico's eighth straight tournament loss, the longest streak in the league.

 

• ENMU hasn't gotten out of the first round of the LSC Post-Season Tournament since 1996 when it beat former LSC member Central Oklahoma in the first round only to lose to eventual tournament champion Abilene Christian.

 

• The Zias are now 7-17 all-time in the tournament.

 

• The 85 points are the fourth-most the Zias have ever allowed in a tournament game following the 103 they gave up to Abilene Christian in 1996, 92 to ACU in 1994 and Angelo State in 1989 and 90 to ACU in 1993.