Early Exit

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. --- Northeastern State stood toe-to-toe with No. 15-ranked West Texas A&M on Wednesday. But, experience won out in the end as the Lady Buffs eliminated the RiverHawks in the women's quarterfinals of the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament at Bruin Field House.

Click here for Session One photos.

After falling behind by as many as 17 points in the opening half, Northeastern State battled back and had a chance to force overtime. However, freshman Alix Perkins' 3-point field goal with :09 left was just a tad too long. WTAMU grabbed the rebound and senior Courtney Lee converted a pair of free throws to preserve a 66-61 opening round win.

"I think its obvious the start we had put us in a deep hole," said RiverHawks' head coach Randy Gipson afterwards. "It was probably a by-product of their experience and our inexperience. They came out really ready to play in a big game and made shots. We were tentative, but I was proud of the way our team settled in, fought hard and put ourself in a good situation at the end.

"West Texas had an exceptional shooting day (51 percent from the field). We pushed them out and defended their dribble penetration, but they made almost 60 percent of their shots from the arc. We made them play and they responded."

The Lady Buffs made nine of their first 12 shots and built a 17-5 cushion over the first six minutes of the game. The WT lead increased to 17 twice (28-11 and 30-13), the final coming at the 5:35 mark.

Northeastern State, whose season ended at 16-12, caught fire and whittled away at the deficit to trail by single digits, 34-26, at intermission. Jasmine Webb and Sarah Millar drained back-to-back treys to give their team momentum at the break.

Every time the Lady Buffaloes (23-5) made a run, the RiverHawks had an answer in the final 20 minutes. Jamie Dreiling and Lee hit buckets for WT to start the stanza for a 38-26 lead. Webb answered with a layup and Millar added a trifecta for a 38-31 hole. And, the battle was on.

The RiverHawks eventually got as close as 47-44 when senior Lindsey Sams drained a 3-pointer, made a steal and Perkins hit an 18-foot jumper that came in an :08 span. The spurt forced WT to call and timeout and the Buffs responded by scoring 13 of the next 16 points as they padded their lead to 60-47 with just under five minutes left.

Over the next four minutes Jessica White scored seven of her team-high 14 points and it became a one possession game, 62-58, with 1:04 to go.

WT's Dreiling, who led all scorers with 17, hit from eight feet out with :37 left to push her team ahead 64-59. Perkins answered with a layup and a quick foul resulted in Dreiling missing the front end of the bonus charity. That set the stage for Perkins' try at the end that sealed the RiverHawks fate.

Northeastern State ended the game by shooting 42 percent (21-of-50), but was a dismal six-of-20 from the arc. Sams ended her career with 13 points, four assists and two steals.

Dreiling led four Lady Buff players in double figures. Lee had 15, Joni Unruh added 13 and Holly Isaacs was four-of-five from the arc for 12 points.