ADA, Okla. - East Central wasn't going to let Brittni Morrison beat them Thursday night at Kerr Center.

Clearly, the Tigers' game plan was to rush the Mustangs' senior forward and limit her scoring opportunities.

But that was perfectly fine for Midwestern State as sophomore Andrea Buben stepped in to score a season-high 19 points to lead the Mustangs to a 71-55 win.

"They did a great job on Brittni tonight," MSU coach Shannon Burks said. "But Andrea came in and shot the ball well to pick it up for us."

Buben keyed a 7-0 first-half run for the Mustangs by hitting her first two shots of the contest - a 17-footer at the 12:18 mark and a 3-pointer from the left wing at 8:32 - to give MSU a 19-10 advantage.

After the Tigers answered with a 7-0 run of their own, Buben kick started a 17-5 run over a 4:15 stretch with another trey to allow the Mustangs to construct a 36-22 advantage with 1:53 to go before intermission.

"That run really killed their spirt," Burks said. "Then we came out in the second half and played intelligently."

Senior guard Kaylon Hodge, who scored nine of her 12 points in the second half, keyed the Mustangs in the second half and finished with her first career double-double as she finished with a career highs with 12 rebounds and seven assists.

"Kaylon did it all tonight," Burks said. "It says a lot for any guard to get 12 boards and she finished off the game really well."

The Mustangs also finished strongly after East Central chipped away and climbed to within 58-49 on a Kristie Dodgion shot from the right block with 5:35 to play.

But Midwestern closed with a 13-4 flourish to put the game away to improve to 6-6 on the season.

Junior guard Brandy Moore added 16 for the Mustangs, while Rosy Ofoegbu finished with eight points, nine rebounds and three assists.

East Central, which was led by Dodgion's 22-point effort, dropped to 9-4.

The Mustangs finish off the Lone Star Conference crossover portion their schedule Saturday afternoon at Southeastern Oklahoma State. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. in Durant.