CANYON, Texas - No. 22 ranked Midwestern State had a five-game win streak snapped in a hard fought 59-55 loss to the No. 6 West Texas A&M Lady Buffs on Wednesday night.

MSU (18-4, 9-3) was tasked with digging out of a hole due to posting just 13 points in the entire first half. The No. 6 ranked WT Lady Buffs (19-2, 10-1) weren't much better. scoring only 27 in the first frame.

The battle between the two ranked opponents was for the outright lead in the Lone Star Conference. The win was the 10th straight for West Texas, whose only conference loss this year was to the Mustangs in Wichita Falls back on January 7.

The Mustangs were ice cold in the first half, hitting on 5-27 field goals for a paltry 18.5 percent. Only five players scored for the Mustangs in the first half, including just 2 bench points.

"We put ourselves in a real disadvantage for the second half," said MSU head coach Noel Johnson on the team's 13 point effort. "We didn't attack offensively and they stretched us all over the court."

The second half was a different story for MSU as the Mustangs outscored the Lady Buffs 42-32 over the final 20 minutes.

West Texas held a 16 point lead with 18:04 to play after receiving a 3-pointer from Danielle Logan. The Mustangs methodically chipped away at the lead, eventually getting to within one point, 42-41, on a triple from senior shooter Lisa Hampton.

Midwestern State became more aggressive defensively, forcing the Lady Buffs into 12 second half turnovers, leading to 15 Mustang points.

The Mustangs would again knock on the door of taking a lead, getting as close as 57-55 with just 28 seconds to play after five straight free throws by MSU. The Lady Buffs would close out the game by hitting two free throws after being fouled while grabbing an offensive rebound.

"We just weren't clicking tonight as we know that we can," said Johnson.

"We were hesitant in the first half, missing seven layups in the first half. We ran out of steam trying to come back from that halftime deficit."

Shatoia Gober led the Mustangs scoring 12 points, while Shambreka Jones tallied 10. Andrea Carter came close to another double-double, scoring 9 points and securing 10 rebounds.

Next up for MSU is a Valentine's day home date with the Eastern New Mexico Zias on Saturday, February 14. Tip-off at Ligon Coliseum is set for 4 p.m.