DENTON, Texas (Dec. 7, 2023) – Thursday night was a night of celebration in Kitty Magee Arena for the Texas Woman's basketball team.
 
First, today was Scout Huffman's birthday. Second, Ashley Ingram eclipsed a career milestone in front of the home crowd fans.
 
Coming into the night, Ingram lacked just 18 points to hit her career 1,000-point mark. Tonight, Ingram scored 21 points to officially become just the 12th Pioneer in program history to hit the 1,000-point career mark – and Ingram surpassed the milestone early in just her junior season.
 
The career moment came in the third quarter, as Ingram was fouled on the defensive end. Needing just one point to hit 1,000, she connected on her first free throw to seal the accomplishment.
 
On the night, Ingram finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, which also marked a career high for the junior – four straight double-doubles.
 
The final reason to celebrate – TWU (9-1, 3-0) won the game, defeating the former undefeated Western New Mexico (6-1, 2-1), 58-36, for the 10th time in in 11 meetings.
 
"We have been on the road for a while, so it was great to be back in front of our home crowd tonight and to get the win," TWU Head Coach Beth Jillson said. "Ashley truly stepped up and made huge plays for us down the stretch, finding ways to put the ball in the basket. She is a dominant scorer in our league, and I am so proud of her celebrating her 1,000th career point tonight. She is a selfless player who loves the game of basketball and wants to be her best for her team. We are so proud of all she continues to accomplish as a Pioneer."
 
For her 21 points, Ingram went 6-of-8 from the field, 1-of-1 from beyond the arc and 8-of-13 from the three point line.
 
Along with Ingram, the birthday girl, Scout Huffman, also scored in double-digits. Huffman finished the night with 12 points and seven rebounds, marking her third straight game with double-digit points.
 
The Pioneers dominated the boards tonight, out-rebounding the Mustangs 45-34. Contributing to TWU's success on the glass was Ariyanna Hines, who grabbed a season high eight rebounds. Jada Celsur finished the game with five rebounds, and Gionna Carr grabbed four in the Pioneers' win.
 
Hines had a solid stat line for TWU tonight. Along with her eight rebounds, she also dished out three assists, and, on the defensive end, she tied her season high of two steals and one block.
 
TWU finished the night with 30 points in the paint, 11 second chance points and 15 bench points.

The Pioneers scored their most points of any quarter on the night in the first quarter, as they started out the game strong with 16 points. A jumper in the paint from Ingram gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the first quarter at seven, 16-9.
 
WNMU would make a push in the second quarter, drawing within one point on multiple occasions; nevertheless, the Pioneers would continue to push the gas and maintain their lead.
 
A jump shot by Celsur and two free throws by Ingram would send the Pioneers into the locker room ahead by six, 28-22.
 
In the second half, the Pioneers locked down on defense, holding the Mustangs to less than 10 points in both the third and fourth quarter. WNMU scored six points in the third – their lowest quarter of scoring this season – and followed it up with eight points in the fourth.
 
The Pioneers would find their first double-digit lead two minutes into the third quarter off two free throws by Ingram. TWU would lead by as much as 18 in the quarter and would take a 15-point lead into the final quarter of action, 43-28.
 
In the final 10 minutes, TWU would find their largest lead of the game, 22, multiple times. Their final 22-point lead came with 24 seconds left off a made basket by Gionna Carr.
 
TWU would win the game, 58-36, as they held the Mustangs to their lowest scoring game this season.
 
The Pioneers will be back in action in KMA on Saturday, Dec. 9 against Eastern New Mexico at 2 p.m.