DENTON, Texas (Jan. 9) – The TWU basketball team suffered its first loss since Nov. 22 as the Pioneers fell to visiting No. 1 West Texas A&M, 59-41, Saturday afternoon in Kitty Magee Arena.  TWU is now 13-3 on the season and 3-1 in the Lone Star Conference.
 
The Pioneers struggled offensively for the second straight game shooting just 28.0 percent.  However, on defense TWU held the Lady Buffs to 38.0 percent shooting.  West Texas A&M came into the game hitting 45.7 percent of its shots.
 
The Pioneers were led by junior Erin Maxwell with 10 points, six rebounds and four blocks.  Junior Emily Spector came off the bench and added seven points while sophomore Alexis Nezianya led the team with seven rebounds.  Freshman Kara Mitchell handed out four assists and junior Kenesha Saygo recorded four steals.
 
Both teams struggled offensive in the first quarter and combined for just 20 points.  TWU trailed 12-8 after the first but the Lady Buffs started the second quarter with five straight points to push their lead to nine.  WTAMU used an 8-0 run halfway through the quarter to push the lead to 15 points and took a 32-19 lead the half.
 
The Pioneers weren't able to put together a run in the third or four quarters as the dropped their first game in over a month and half.
 
"West Texas A&M is a good team and they are ranked No. 1 for a reason but we didn't execute well on offense," said TWU head coach Beth Jillson.  "We played well on defense and held them to 38.0 percent shooting but need to play better on offense.  We missed couple of layups early in the third quarter and it would have cut our deficit to single digits.  When you play top teams in the country you need to play better on both ends.  We will learn from this and bounce back next week."
 
The Pioneers will return to action when they host Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday, Jan. 14.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Kitty Magee Arena.