WICHITA FALLS, Texas (Feb. 8, 2022) – The Pioneers bench erupted and the fans who traveled jumped to their feet—it was pure electricity.
 
The scene above came to life for the Texas Woman's University basketball team on Tuesday night in D.L. Ligon Coliseum on the campus of Midwestern State University.
 
The energy for TWU (15-6, 8-2 Lone Star Conference) reached its crescendo in the third quarter, when the Pioneers went on a 13-0 run to jump to a double-digit lead and the energy never came down.
 
"Tonight was electric," TWU head coach Beth Jillson said. "We wanted and needed to win this game and every player responded with a visible fire on the court tonight. This win personified the heart and fight we bring to the floor every game."
 
MSU (11-10, 5-6) previously beat TWU in Kitty Magee Arena, but tonight they had no answer for the deep Pioneers roster.
 
With several players out, TWU needed everyone to step up and score—every Pioneer answered the call.
 
Scout Huffman, who got her first start of the season, scored a career high 21 points in the win. Keslyn King continued her double-digit dominance and scored a season high 16 points, her fourth game in a row scoring 10 or more points. Brielle Woods was the third Pioneer starter to score in double digits, finishing with 14 points.
 
Then, TWU's bench stepped up and showed out. The Pioneers bench outscored the Mustangs bench 26-7. Ariyanna Hines, the leading bench scorer for TWU, went 3-3 from the 3-point line to score a career high 12 points.
 
At the half, TWU led 36-28 and were shooting 51% from the field. After a solid first half, the Pioneers decided they were not going to give the Mustangs a chance to win in the second half.
 
With 4:18 on the clock in the third, Kayla Glover (who finished with five points) hit a jumper in the paint, which ignited the 13-0 decisive run for the Pioneers. Hines hit two confident threes during the run, Glover added a free throw, King and Ma'K'La Woods contributed with a bucket each.
 
Up by 21 points with two minutes left in the third, the Mustangs attempted to get something going on offensive, but King silenced them with a buzzer beater jumper to send the Pioneers into the fourth with dominant energy.
 
The Pioneers outscored the Mustangs 26-13 in the third quarter.
 
Jada Freeman hit a crossover move to score a layup to kick off the Pioneers scoring in the fourth quarter. Huffman had nine points in the fourth to complete her 21 point performance.
 
Finally, the exclamation point to a beautiful game came with 1:26 left in the game. Amaya Briggs stole the ball from MSU, passed it ahead to Airron Gaydon. Gaydon crossed over her defender, stepped back, and buried a 3-pointer.
 
The win marked TWU's third wire-to-wire to win this season—the game was never tied, and the Pioneers never relinquished the lead.
 
TWU forced 11 turnovers and scored 11 points off those turnovers. The Pioneers also outscored MSU in the paint (36-32) and finished with more fast break points, 15-9. They also won the rebounding battle, 37-34.
 
Brielle Woods, Ma'K'La Woods and Glover were all the leading rebounders for TWU with six rebounds each. Glover and Hines recorded the most assists with five each. On the defensive end, Brielle Woods and Sadie Moyer led the effort with two steals a-piece. Ma'K'La Woods also added nine points in the win.
 
The Pioneers return home to Kitty Magee Arena on Saturday, Feb. 12 to play their 11th LSC game of the season against Western New Mexico University at 2 p.m. Saturday's game will be TWU's Play4Kay—Pink Out Meet.