The Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball team pieced together a strong defensive first half and an offensive explosion in the second half to pull away with a big 76-57 victory over UT-Permian Basin on Thursday night inside Greyhound Arena.
The Greek Night game presented by San Juan Village Apartments was a tightly contested contest early as the Hounds (15-6, 10-3 Lone Star Conference) struggled out of the gate. The Falcons (3-18, 0-13 LSC) scored the first six points through the first 2:18 and led by as much as seven on a Nyachristmas Puok three to make it 9-2 with 6:51 to go in the first quarter.
However, the ENMU defense put down the clamps on the Falcons over the final seven minutes of the quarter, not allowing a single field goal and giving up just two points on a pair of free throws during the defensively dominant stretch.
With 3:01 left, junior guard Tilasha Okey buried a three-pointer to close the gap to 11-9 before following it up with another score off a fastbreak jumper on the ensuing possession, tying the contest up at 11. Senior forward Treyanna Clay knocked down the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:22 left to send Eastern into the second quarter with a 14-11 advantage.
The Greyhounds continued to extend its lead in the second, scoring the first seven points off a pair of Clay layups and a Zamorye Cox three-point shot to make it a 21-11 contest with 6:36 left.
Eastern’s defense kept the Falcons from converting a field goal until the 4:36 mark in the second quarter as UTPB’s Khali Pippins-Tryon jumper made it a 21-15 game and ended an 11:55 stretch where UTPB did not convert a field goal.
UT-Permian Basin was able to keep the game to within six until the final 33 seconds as the Eastern ended the half with six unanswered thanks to three-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Okey and Jena Mehlbrech, giving the Greyhounds a 31-19 edge at the halftime break.
The Hounds shot 12-for-27 (44 percent) in the opening half and went 5-for-12 (42 percent) from the three-point arc while limiting the Falcons to just 6-of-28 (21 percent) from the field and 1-for-8 (13 percent) from three.
Eastern continued to assert its dominance in the third quarter as UTPB could only cut the deficit to nine on a pair of occasions while the Hounds led by as much as 14 on a Chelsea Hunter three-pointer with 5:10 to go to set the score at 42-28. Okey notched the final bucket of the period on a fastbreak jumper with 30 seconds left to give ENMU the 49-36 edge going into the fourth quarter.
The Falcons prevented Eastern from building its advantage in the early portions of the fourth as a Chynna Rivera’s three-pointer kept UTPB to within 12 at 58-46 with 4:44 remaining.
The Greyhounds took over the last half of the final period as three-pointer by Laura Rowe on the ensuing possession ignited a 12-3 run over a 1:37 stretch to hold their largest lead of the contest at 67-46 with 3:07 left.
ENMU put together one of its best offensive halves of the season in the second half, going 14-for-23 (61 percent) from the floor, 5-of-10 from three, and converted on 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the charity stripe.
Clay led four Greyhounds in double-figures with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and converted on all four of her free throw attempts while dishing out four assists. Okey turned in a 13-point performance, making 5-of-10 field goals and 3-of-7 from the three-point arc.
Cox nearly notched the first double-double of her young career with 11 points and a career-high nine assists. The nine assist effort was the most assists by a Greyhound player in a game since Tori Northcutt recorded 10 against Wayland Baptist on Dec. 13, 2013.
Rowe rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points in just six minutes of action off the bench. Alivia Lewis also nearly recorded a double-double with nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.
With the victory, the Hounds stayed within striking distance of Angelo State for the top spot in the Lone Star as they are just two games back of the Rambelles with seven regular season games left while also staying in a tie for second with conference rival West Texas A&M.
The Greyhounds will now turn their attention to Western New Mexico on Saturday as Eastern will host the Mustangs for a 2 p.m. tip. The 60s Night game, presented by Pizza Hut will be a special night as Eastern New Mexico will honor the 50-Year Anniversary of the 1969 NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship.