The West Texas A&M women’s basketball program is now on its third basketball coach in the last five years.
 
      Yet, nothing seems to change for the Lady Buffs and their winning tradition.
 
      First-year head coach Kristen Mattio, who was an assistant under Mark Kellogg during his two years with the club, has her team in familiar territory after a 52-43 win over Tarleton State in Friday’s semifinal round. The Lady Buffs are back in the LSC Championship final game for the fourth straight year and seeking their third consecutive postseason tournament title in Allen. 
 
      As she said after the game with the TexAnns, her squad won’t be “defending the title because you can’t take it away from them.”
 
      But they might not be defending a title, but definitely a standard of winning. West Texas A&M has won the most LSC tournament titles with 13, including five in the last eight years under head coaches who have left for Division I programs. Krista Gerlich won three tournament titles before leaving for University of Texas-Arlington while Kellogg went on to Stephen F. Austin after last year. 
 
      “Tradition is, that’s what you live off of,” said Mattio, who is 24-3 in her first season as a head coach. “It’s a little bit of the past but we’re trying to earn it on our own, too. We have a few kids who have been in this situation and have had the opportunity to cut down the nets. So it’s special for them to have another opportunity.”
 
      One of those seniors is Madison McLain, who would love nothing more than to cut down the net in Allen for a third straight time.
 
      “(Winning tradition) is really important. We try to focus on the game and opponent,” she said. “But the Lady Buff tradition is winning. We want to keep it going. It’s an awesome atmosphere here in Allen. But we want to cut down those nets again. It’ll be extra motivation for us.”
 
      If the Lady Buffs need any more, it’ll come from the opponent in Saturday’s championship game. The No. 2 seed Angelo State defeated WT twice in the regular season, including a 112-111 thriller in triple overtime, handing the Lady Buffs their only home loss of the season.
 
      “Being No. 1 in the conference, you get everyone’s best game every night,” she said. “You have to have the mentality to play our best game each night. It makes us better as a team.”
 
      That’s a scary thought, considering West Texas A&M has been one of the best teams in the conference, and even the nation, in recent years.