No. 6 West Texas A&M outlasts UT Tyler 67-61, advances to finals - Lone Star Conference Skip To Main Content

Women's Basketball

No. 6 West Texas A&M outlasts UT Tyler 67-61, advances to finals

Championship Central
 
By NICK EATMAN
 
FRISCO, Texas – West Texas A&M is the only school to ever win three straight conference tournament titles. So it’s only fitting the Lady Buffs will be the team trying to stop anyone else from doing it.

WT advanced to the LSC Championship Tournament finals with a hard-fought 67-61 win over UT Tyler on Saturday. That moves them into Sunday’s final to face Texas Woman's, the two-time defending champions and No. 1 seed of the tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Comerica Center.

The Lady Buffs will seek their 17th LSC tournament title, including three straight from 2008-2010 and five straight from 1987-91.

But to get the chance, it meant the Lady Buffs (28-3) had to overcome a gritty UT Tyler squad that never quit.

The back-and-forth game saw both teams take turns in control. But WT picked the second and fourth quarters to win, including a 21-16 advantage in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Four straight points by Kyla Kane gave the Lady Buffs a 57-50 lead with 4:09 to play. But the Patriots kept pushing, and Leila Davis had five straight points, including a three-point play to cut the WT lead to 57-55. From there, WT got the momentum back on consecutive layups by Taylor Haggan and Claire Graham to regain control. Down the stretch, Graham and Kane put the game away at the free throw line.

Three starters finished in double-figure scoring for the Lady Buffs, led by Haggan, who had 17 points and seven rebounds. Kane scored 16 and Karley Motschenbacher finished with 11.

UT Tyler also had three in double figures, led by Leila Davis’ 18 points and five rebounds. Hayley Cumming had 18 and four assists and Polina Latysheva had 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals. The Patriots drop to 21-10 and will wait for a bid in next week’s regional tournament, where they currently rank seventh.        

 West Texas A&M Notes:
  • WT pushed its all-time lead in LSC Tournament wins to 63, owning a 63-21 record (75 percent).
  • The Lady Buffs ranked first in the LSC, averaging 7.6 three-pointers made per game. But for the second straight game, they were held below the average, hitting just 6 on 16 attempts. WT went 4-of-16 in Friday's quarterfinal vs. St. Mary's.
  • Haggan had just five games of 15 or more points in the regular season, but added two in two days at the LSC Tournament, scoring 15 Friday and 17 on Saturday against UT Tyler.
  • After tying her season high in rebounds on Friday, Claire Graham set a new personal-best on Saturday with 10 boards against UT Tyler, giving her 17 so far in the tournament.
UT Tyler  Notes:
  • UT Tyler is now 5-5 all-time in LSC Championship Tournament games but have yet to make a tournament final.
  • Currently ranked No. 7 in the South Central Region, it’s possible the Patriots will match up again with West Texas A&M, which is ranked No. 2 and not likely to jump TWU even with a win on Sunday.
  • At the end of the regular season, UTT ranked last in the conference with a 33.9 rebounding average. Saturday’s loss also saw them on the wrong end of the glass, getting outrebounded 42-25 by West Texas A&M.