by SILVER CITY, N.M. – Northern New Mexico College came out firing in the opening half, keeping it just a one-point game at the break. The Western New Mexico University women’s basketball team then held the Lady Eagles to 28 percent shooting in the second half to pull away for the 72-59 victory Tuesday night.
NNMC (11-10) opened with 14-of-28 shooting over the first 20 minutes and at one point built an eight-point lead. WNMU (9-7) started the game strong with a three by Ashley Mitchell (Navajo Nation) 29 seconds in. The Lady Mustangs would build off of that to take an 8-2 lead just over a minute in on a layup by Stephanie Moore (Anton, TX/Anton High School).
The Lady Eagles then worked their way back into the game moving in front with a jumper near the midway point of the opening half, 17-16. They would increase the lead to seven with 8:57 to go in the half and later their largest lead of the night at eight, 28-20, with 6:38 to go before halftime.
WNMU answered with a three by RaTanya Newsome (Tucson, AZ/Tucson High School) and then tied the game at 31 with a jumper in the paint by Stephanie Moore (Anton, TX/Anton High School). Mitchell hit a jumper with just seconds left in the half to give the Lady Mustangs a 36-35 lead at the break.
NNMC used the fastbreak to their advantage in the opening half, tallying an 11-0 advantage.
Moore helped ignite a quick 6-0 run to start the second stanza with back-to-back baskets. Mitchell’s layup at the 16:49 mark had WNMU ahead, 42-35.
The Lady Eagles would come back to trim the deficit to two, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way. Jade Botelho (Honolulu, HI/Iolani High School) posted three straight points and then a jumper by Nalani Hernandez (Tucson, AZ/Tucson High School) pushed the lead back to seven. Botelho stretched the lead to nine, 51-42, with 13 minutes to go.
Botelho continued her strong second half extending the lead to double-digits at 64-54 with 4:18 to play. The lead would get as high as 13 when Newsome recorded the final points of the game with 40 seconds left at 72-59.
Newsome tied for the game-high in points with 15. She also added a double-double with 10 assists and three steals. Moore added 14, Botelho with 13 and both Mitchell and Hernandez tallied 11 points apiece. Demetria Clichee (Navajo Nation) led the Lady Eagles with 15 points.
WNMU shot 44.4 percent (28-63) from the field and went 13-of-18 (72.2) from the foul line. NNMC made 21-of-53 (39.6), including five three-pointers and went 12-of-19 (63.2) from the foul line. WNMU held the edge on points in the paint (40-28), points off turnovers (12-6) and bench (19-12).
WNMU will return to RMAC play this Saturday when they play at in-state rival New Mexico Highlands beginning at 2 p.m.
