CANYON, Texas (March 12, 2022) – Games are comprised of moments, and the Texas Woman's University fought until the final moment against West Texas A&M University on Friday night.
 
TWU's historic run and historic season came to close tonight after losing to West Texas A&M University in the South Central Regional Semifinals 78-73.
 
"I am super proud of our team," TWU Head Coach Beth Jillson said. "We were warriors—that's who we are. We never gave up. I could not be prouder of our team and the amazing season we had. There is a lot more to come next year."
 
The Pioneers finished the season 20-9, tying the program's fewest losses in a season. The last time the Pioneers only lost nine games was the 1985-86 season.
 
From the beginning, talks of this team being special circulated throughout the Pioneer fanbase and those talks came to fruition down the stretch of the season. This year included Coach Jillson's 200th career win, the first win over a No. 1 seed in program history, the highest regional seed in program history and the first NCAA Tournament win in program history.
 
The 2021-22 Pioneers also cemented themselves in the record book by committing the fewest turnovers in a season in program history, 437 – the previous record was 442, which was set in the 1988-89 season.
 
On Friday night, TWU stepped onto WT's home court ready to battle with the No. 1 seed in the region.
 
From the jump ball, the tone was set that this game was going to be back-and-forth the entire night. During 40 minutes of action, the score was tied 12 times and there were eight lead changes.
 
After losing the first quarter 16-10, the Pioneers bounced back and won the second quarter 17-15. The Pioneers strength throughout the night came from driving and getting the Lady Buffs into foul trouble. TWU shot 32 free throws to WT's 20.
 
Riding the momentum from the second quarter, the Pioneers made a statement in the third quarter. Ashley Ingram opened the quarter with a lay-up, followed by a 3-pointer from Sadie Moyer to ignite the TWU on offense.
 
The Pioneers finally regained the lead for the first time since the three-minute mark in the second quarter on a 3-point play by Keslyn King. Then, TWU got some breathing room by going on a 6-0 run to close the third quarter and head into the final quarter up by five points. In the run, Ingram scored two free throws and Moyer hit back-to-back jumpers.
 
Out of the gate in the fourth, the Lady Buffs quickly tied the game by opening the quarter on a 7-2 run. The Pioneers traded shots for a while but could not find a solid stop on defense.
 
With 37 seconds left in the game TWU trailed by eight points.
 
Insert fight and insert heart for the final 37 seconds of action. In the span of one second, King scores a lay-up, misses a free throw, gets the pass of the rebound by Moyer and hits a 3-pointer to cut the Pioneers deficit to three points. Then, the Pioneers get a much needed stop and Moyer gets fouled. In route to another perfect night from the free-throw line, Moyer hits two free throws to cut the WT lead to just one point.
 
With only 17 seconds left on the clock, the Pioneers foul to extend the time. They got one more look at a 3-pointer by Keslyn King to tie the game, but it bounced out, as TWU fell 78-73.
 
Moyer led all scorers with 28 points, going a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line and 2-2 from the 3-point line. Tonight marked Moyer's 12th perfect game from the free throw line this season. She also finished the season with a .887 free throw shooting percentage, setting a new TWU season record. On 133 free throw attempts this season, Moyer broke the former record of .875 set by Chelsea Cook in the 2006-07 season.
 
Scoring a season high 19 points, King made six field goals and six free throws, both season highs also. Ingram added 11 points and grabbed four rebounds to close her freshman campaign with 392 total points this season.
 
Scout Huffman added five points and five rebounds tonight. Ngozi Obineke played big bench minutes for the Pioneers, scoring five points, grabbing a season high eight rebounds, and recording a season high two blocks.
 
The Pioneers will look to build on this historic season next year.
 
"This team is different. We're a family—it's truly something different," King said. "To see how young we are and to see how we battled throughout the season is special. We have so much to build on and this is just the starting point. This is expected every year now for sure."
 
TWU Head Coach Beth Jillson, Keslyn King and Sadie Moyer discuss tonight's game here.