DENTON, Texas (Dec. 8, 2016) – Kenesha Saygo scored a season and game-high 28 points to lead Texas Woman's University to a 62-59 win over No. 17 West Texas A&M Thursday night inside Kitty Magee Arena to give the Pioneers their first win over the Lady Buffs since the 2010-11 season.
 
The scoring by Saygo and WT's Sasha Watson headlined the contest, as Watson delivered 21 of her team-high 27 points in the first half while Saygo tossed in 20 after the break. As a team, TWU also performed their best work in the second half. The Pioneers turned the ball over just twice compared to 12 miscues in the first two quarters and held the Lady Buffs to 17 fewer points over the final 20 minutes.
 
TWU (6-3, 1-2 LSC) twice held the lead throughout the game for a total of 93 seconds, with the first coming after the first bucket of the night, and the second on the final field goal of the evening by Saygo with 41 seconds left to play. Trailing WT 60-59, head coach Beth Jillson called a timeout that proved to be fruitful as Saygo regained control of the ball on a drive to punch in a layup while being fouled for a 60-59 lead.
 
The free throw try was unsuccessful to give the Lady Buffs (7-3, 2-2 LSC) the opportunity to regain the lead, but Watson's jumper was off the mark. Maddison Wild towered over the Pioneer defenders to clear the offensive rebound but twice missed a point blank shot before Deja Pointer secured the ball as TWU whistled for another timeout. The Lady Buffs purposely committed four straight fouls that led to Saygo heading to the line where she knocked down the pair for a three-point advantage with nine seconds remaining. Wild attempted a deep shot but drew the back of the iron to hand TWU its first win over WT in the last 13 tries.
 
Emily Spector drained a jumper from the free throw line for the first bucket of the game before Watson began her scoring barrage by hitting a free throw, a layup and a three for a 6-2 Lady Buff advantage. A left-handed drive by Saygo pulled the Pioneers to within 8-6 midway through the quarter, but WT closed the period on a 9-3 run, capped by a trio a Watson free throws.
 
Desiree Phipps connected on a three from the left wing within the first minute of the second quarter, Grace Mitchell scored on a feed inside and Saygo produced a three-pointer from the right wing to bring the Pioneers closer at 21-17. An and-one by Andrea Mapua whittled the margin to 25-22 with seven minutes on the clock until halftime, but Watson tallied nine straight points to help put the Lady Buffs up 38-29 at the break.
 
Saygo turned up the offense in the third quarter by drilling two threes from the top of the key and added four free throws in the opening minutes to make it a 43-39 ballgame. Wild produced layup and two free throws to double the gap to 49-41 before Pointer and Bri'anna Gray each went one-of-two from the line and Kara Mitchell drove through the lane for a score to get the Pioneers to within four.
 
WT extended the lead to 55-46 to begin the fourth quarter before Spector found an open Grace Mitchell underneath and Saygo hit another deep shot from the top to lessen the Lady Buff advantage to 55-51. At the 5:57 mark, Saygo knocked down a three and Pointer made a floater in the lane to pull TWU to within 57-56. Two Watson free throws upped the margin to 59-56, but Spector hit a jumper and a three-point attempt by WT rimmed out to set up Saygo's final heroics.
 
The Pioneers host UT Permian Basin Saturday at 2 p.m.