| Zias Drop Wild Season-Opener to Cowgirls, Clay Hits for 24 Points | ||||||||||
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Monday, November 16, 2009
PORTALES, N.M.— Junior forward Cat Clay (Deming, N.M./Deming HS) scored 24 points, including a 19-point outburst in the opening half, but the Eastern New Mexico University women’s basketball team (0-1) dropped a tight 89-85 decision to visiting New Mexico Highlands (1-0) in the season opening game for both teams, Monday night at Greyhound Arena. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Zias against NMHU, with the last loss coming in a 65-53 decision on January 22, 2002, at Greyhound Arena. Eastern outscored Highlands by a 20-6 edge on the fast break, but the Cowgirls hit 33 of their 41 free throw attempts, while Eastern connected on 12 of their 16 shots from the charity stripe. With the score knotted at 50-all with 15:58 remaining in the game, Clay connected on a three-point bucket, followed by a Tori Northcutt (Jr., G, Clovis, N.M./Clovis HS) hit a fast break jumper to give the Zias a 55-50 advantage. Ashley Godfrey hit a pair of free throws as the Cowgirls went on a 10-0 run over the next 2:21, seizing the lead for good on an Ashley Logan free throw and extending their lead to five points, 60-55, with 12:48 left. After Eastern whittled their deficit to 65-63 on back-to-back buckets from Til-Lois Fifer (Jr., F, Tulia, Texas/Tulia HS), a 14-7 NMHU run capped by a Logan three-point play gave Highlands its largest lead of the game, 75-66, with 7:04 left to play. The Cowgirls maintained a nine-point lead, until Celeste Belizario’s (So., C, Amarillo, Texas/Tascosa HS) layup with 4:30 remaining ignited a 9-1 Zia run, trimming the deficit to 81-80, with 1:23 left, on a three-point play from Karen Grant (So., G, Lubbock, Texas/Estacado HS). A brief 6-1 run extended Highlands’ lead to 87-81, with 23 second left, but a trey from Nikki Ingram (Fr., G, Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) pulled Eastern back to within 87-85 with two seconds left. Fifer fouled NMHU’s Hope Williams with two second remaining, but Williams hit both free throw attempts to seal the game. New Mexico Highlands opened the contest with an 8-2 run, but a 14-7 Zia run capped by seven straight ENMU points gave Eastern its first lead, 16-15, on a Vanessa O'Neal (Jr., G, Clovis, N.M./Clovis HS) fast break jumper with 13:01 left in the opening period. Throughout the half, there would be six tie scores and four lead changes. Eastern out shot NMHU from the field by a 49.2 -40.3 percent margin, but the Cowgirls had a 39-34 edge on the boards, including an18-13 advantage on the offensive glass. Northcutt finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Fifer added 10 points and three assists. Logan paced the Cowgirls with 24 points and five rebounds. The Eastern New Mexico University women’s basketball team will open a four-game road trip on Friday, when they visit seventh-ranked Emporia State. Tip-off time is set for 6:30 p.m. MST. |
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Courtesy: Eastern New Mexico University
