LSC Women's Basketball Championship Central

A quest for a third straight LSC Championship began for West Texas A&M Thursday afternoon at Comerica Center. And the Lady Buffs wasted no time in setting the tone for a three-peat, jumping out to a big first-quarter lead before cruising past St. Edward’s, 70-46.

WT led 20-4 at the end of the first quarter and never let the Hilltoppers make a serious run. The Lady Buffs dominated with their size, outrebounding SEU 46-21 and held a 42-20 advantage with the points in the paint.

As the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the Lady Buffs (27-5) will play No. 3 seed Lubbock Christian Saturday at Noon in the semifinal round. Both teams have a legitimate chance to host next week’s regional tournament.

But the Lady Buffs weren’t looking past a gritty St. Edward’s team that actually beat them back in December. The 7 seed Hilltoppers advanced to Frisco after a Tuesday night win over UA-Fort Smith. Senior Deijah Blanks, fresh off a 30-point game this week against UAFS, led all scorers with 21 against the Lady Buffs.

However, WT had a more balanced attack, with five players with at least seven points, led by Abby Spurgin, who had 15 points and nine rebounds. Sienna Lenz had 12 points, while Nathalie Linden scored nine points and added six rebounds.

After WT led by 16 heading into the second quarter, the Hilltoppers were able to cut the lead to 10 at the half on a running jumper by Blanks. In the third quarter, the lead was cut to seven at the 8:40 mark, but the Lady Buffs went on a 10-0 run to take control, led by six points from Spurgin. 

The season is likely over for the Hilltoppers, who completed their first season in the LSC with an 18-11 record.

WT Notes:

• West Texas A&M is looking for a third straight LSC Championship, a feat only the Lady Buffs have done in LSC history. WT won five straight from 1987-1991 and then three straight from 2008-11.
• WT entered the tournament with 15 LSC Championship titles. The other seven teams in Frisco have a combined eight titles.
• Megan Gamble, who recently moved into fifth on WT’s all-time assists list, finished the game with three and currently has 434.  
• The Lady Buffs have now won six straight games after an overtime loss to Tarleton in mid-February.
• WT is now 24-0 this season when leading at halftime.
• The Lady Buffs led the LSC in scoring defense, allowing just 50 points per game. Holding SEU to just 46 points marked the 17^th time this year to hold an opponent under 50.

 
SEU Notes:

• The Hilltoppers entered the week ranked 10^th in the South Central Region and likely needed three wins to gain an at-large berth.
• Charli Becker scored 10 points as the only other player in double figures aside from Blanks.
• Deijah Blanks led the conference with a 20.8 scoring average and finished her season with 21.
• Sammie Dufek set a single-season school record for blocked shots earlier in the season. She finished the year with 59 after three more on Thursday.
• As a team, SEU set a program record for blocked shots this season with 129.