Lady Buffs pull away from Zias

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M held Eastern New Mexico University to two field goals over an 18-minute stretch and the Lady Buffs pulled away to a 66-51 Lone Star Conference South Division victory over the Zias on Saturday.

Freshman guard Ariel Robertson scored 17 points off the bench for WT (9-6, 2-0 South), while junior forward Jamie Simmons added 10 points. Simmons picked up her fourth foul with 8:21 left, then promptly fouled out of the game on a technical.

Junior forward Ashley Leven had just six points, but dominated the boards with 16 rebounds as WT posted a 40-35 advantage overall in that category.

The Zias (3-11, 1-1) got 15 points from junior guard Kiara Tate and 11 off the bench from junior guard Lace Clark. ENMU shot just 30 percent from the field and committed 21 turnovers.

Early on, the Zias held their own with WT. ENMU had several three-point leads during the first half, but after Nikki Ingram’s layup made it 17-14 with 9:25 to go the Zias missed nine consecutive floor tries before Karen Grant’s basket with 2:25 to go pulled them to 31-24.

The Lady Buffs led 36-25 at halftime.

ENMU went more than three minutes into the second half before sophomore guard Tara Johnson’s 3-pointer made it 39-28. They did not get another field goal until Tate hit a jumper with 11:03 to go to cut WT’s advantage to 51-33.