Canyon, Texas, native Dixie Bell (photo by Michael Johnson)

Feb. 12, 2008

CANYON, Texas - After a difficult road trip in Abilene and San Angelo, the West Texas A&M men's and women's hoops team heads to Wichita Falls on Wednesday for a games against Lone Star Conference South rival Midwestern State, with the women set to tip off at 6 p.m. followed by the men's game at 8 p.m. The game marks the fourth consecutive road game for the women and the fifth straight for the men, whose last home game was a win over Midwestern State on Jan. 23.

Last week, the No. 17 Lady Buffs dropped a hard-fought 71-66 overtime loss to Abilene Christian - which broke WT's 29-game win streak in conference play - but bounced back to beat Angelo State by a hefty 66-42 margin. Junior All-American Emily Brister recorded 50 points - including 30 against ASU, marking the ninth time in her career that she has scored 30 or more points in a game - to increase her points per game average to 22.1, placing her fifth in the nation and first in the LSC in that category. Additionally, she is shooting 88.3% (128-of-145) from the charity stripe, which places her 13th in the country and atop the LSC in free throw percentage.

Juniors Courtney Lee, Jamie Dreiling and Dixie Bell also have been solid for the Lady Buffs this season. Lee leads the squad in field goal percentage (.508, 99-of-195) and has the second highest scoring average with 12.0 points per game. Dreiling has recorded the second highest rebounds mark with 105 (5.0 rpg) in addition to averaging 9.6 points per game while Bell has dished out a team-high 60 assists and has only given up 18 turnovers, the fewest of any starter.

In the first meeting between WT and MSU, the Lady Buffs came away with a 72-51 victory despite the Mustangs holding Brister to a season-low 13 points. Midwestern State enters Wednesday's game with an overall record of 9-12 and a 3-5 conference ledger, led by Brandy Moore's 14.8 points per game and Brittni Morrison's average of 11.6 points per game. As a team, the Mustangs are averaging 64.9 points per game while the Lady Buffs are holding opponents to an average of just 56.0 points per game.

On the men's side, the Buffs collected a 90-82 win over Abliene Christian on Thursday and followed up that win with an 84-78 victory over Angelo State. A number of senior Buffs had breakout weeks as Tyler Cooper set a new career high with 13 rebounds against ASU, Andre Hill set a new career high with 21 points against ACU and Chris Hinz set a new season high with 18 points against ASU. Additionally, fellow classmate Robert Lee tallied 49 points across both games, including a double-double in San Angelo.

The Buffs have won six of their last seven games - all of which were league games - with Lee finishing as the leading scorer in all but one of the match-ups. He is WT's leading scorer with 21.7 points per game in LSC action while averaging 16.9 ppg overall; he also has a team-high 32 steals and is third on the team both in rebounds (105; 5.3 rpg) and in assists (40).

MSU has won three of its last four games, including a 79-65 upset over No. 12 Tarleton State on Saturday night. The Mustangs are tied for fourth place in the conference with the help of senior Jeremy Ford, who has averaged 14.8 points in MSU's last four games. Midwestern State is 9-4 in games that Ford has made three or more three-pointers and 6-1 when he sinks three long distance baskets and at least half of his attempts from the arc; the Mustangs are 1-3 in games that Ford does not make any long range shots.

Following the mid-week action, West Texas A&M hoops returns home to the First United Bank Center on Saturday to host Eastern New Mexico with the women slated to begin at 6 p.m. and the men afterwards, at 8 p.m.