CANYON, Texas — The St. Mary's University Women's Basketball came out strong against No. 7 West Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon, leading for much of the first half, but the Lady Buffs made several adjustments at halftime for their 15th straight victory, 80-62.
The Rattlers (9-4, 4-3 LSC) led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter behind seniors
Quezia Bertoni (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and
Imani Ivery (Houston), combining to score nine, and the defense held WT to 4-for-15 from the field (26.7%).
The Lady Buffs (15-1, 7-0 LSC) made a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining in the second period to enter the locker room with a one-point advantage, 34-33, and came out on fire in the third stanza, outscoring the Rattlers 22-to-5 to build a lead StMU couldn't come back from. The Gold and Blue did match the Lady Buffs with 24 points each in the final quarter.
Senior
Aina Maynou (Cabrera de Mar, Spain) led the team with 15 points, while Ivery tied her season-high with 12 points off the bench, and sophomore
Christin Callens (Houston) chipped in 10.
Sophomore
Raynne Malik (London, Ontario) had a game-high eight rebounds, while Bertoni pulled down a career-high seven, as the two teams each collected 31 boards on the afternoon.
Former Rattler Taylor Haggan led the Lady Buffs with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Randi Harding added 15 and four assists, scoring her 1,000th career point in the game, while Kyla Kane scored 13 and Henley West added 12 off the bench. WT's bench outscored StMU's 29-18 on the day, and WT benefitted from Rattler turnovers, scoring 24 points off the 16 miscues.
Both teams were stellar from the free throw line, as the Rattlers shot 80 percent (8-for-10) and the Lady Buffs connected on 88.2 percent (15-for-17).
The road doesn't get any easier for the Rattlers as they host a rematch with No. 3 Texas Woman's on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The Pioneers defeated Western New Mexico 79-64 on Saturday to remain undefeated in LSC action. Earlier this season, StMU dropped a close, hard-fought 59-53 decision in Denton.
