CANYON, Texas – The Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball season came to a tough end on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament as top-seeded West Texas A&M made a late fourth quarter comeback to pull out the 68-67 win over the Hounds on a pair of go-ahead free throws with four seconds left.
The No. 8 seeded Greyhounds (19-11) proved to be a tough challenge in the opening round for the Lady Buffs (29-3) as Eastern led for more than 38 minutes in the contest.
The Hounds got off to a fast start, scoring the first four points in 1:37 on a pair of Treyanna Clay free throws and an Alivia Lewis layup to make it 4-0.
After a Megan Gamble three-pointer closed the gap to one, the Hounds responded with five unanswered on two more scores from Clay and Lewis as well as a Laura Rowe free throw to extend the edge to 9-3 with 6:22 to go.
The defenses were able to lock down over the next three minutes as neither team could muster a score until the Lady Buffs got a three from Reagan Haynes to make it a 9-6 game with 3:44 remaining.
West Texas A&M was able to close the gap to two on a pair of occasions in the final two minutes of the quarter, but senior forward Shelby Jones was able to convert a layup in the paint to send Eastern into the second quarter with a 15-11 advantage.
The Greyhounds kept adding to their lead early in the second period, building the edge up to eight on a Zamorye Cox jumper and a Lewis layup with 8:16left.
The Lady Buffs put together an 8-0 run over the next 2:31, tying the match up at 19 on a Gamble jumper with 5:45 to go until the halftime break.
Clay snapped the streak with a layup off a Kamirah Decker feed to reclaim a 21-19 edge before the Lady Buffs knocked down a free throw to narrow the Hounds’ lead to one.
The offenses for both teams found a rhythm in the final four minutes as a Cox three-pointer with 4:02to go ignited a 7-2 run to extend the advantage to 28-22 with 2:49 remaining.
West Texas A&M was able to fight back to make it a one-point game at 28-27 with 1:53 left, but the Greyhounds closed out the half with six unanswered on buckets from Jones, Rowe, and Tilasha Okey to take a 34-27 lead into the halftime break.
The Greyhounds shot a blistering 14-of-28 (50 percent) in the first half, while limiting the Lady Buffs to just 9-of-31 (29 percent) from the floor.
The Lady Buffs opened the scoring in the second half on a Hightower three-pointer to narrow the ENMU edge to four, but the Hounds put together a strong response. Eastern scored the next seven on a Jones layup, a Cox three-pointer, and a Rowe jumper to take their largest lead of the game at 41-30 less than two minutes into the period.
The Hounds were effective in preventing a Lady Buffs rally throughout the quarter, as every time WTAMU was able to bring the ENMU lead down to single digits, the Greyhounds had an answer on the offensive end to push the edge back to 10 or more.
With 1:58 to go, a pair of Clay free throws extended the Hounds’ advantage back to 11 at 51-40, but the Lady Buffs were able end the period with five unanswered to make it a six-point game heading into the fourth quarter.
Eastern built its advantage back up to nine early, outscoring West Texas A&M 7-4 through the first 2:17, as a Jones jumper brought the lead to 58-49.
The Lady Buffs slowly chipped away at the Greyhound edge as WTAMU outscored Eastern 14-4 over the next five minutes to take its first lead of the game on a Hightower jumper to make it 63-62 with 2:48 remaining.
Cox came up with a big answer on the ensuing possession, burying a big three-pointer from the right side to reclaim a two-point edge and a pair of Clay free throws on Eastern’s next offensive possession made it a 67-63 Hounds lead with 1:47to go.
However, the West Texas A&M defense clamped down on Eastern in the last 1:47, as the Greyhounds could not muster another score for the rest of the game.
The Lady Buffs closed the gap to two on a Nathalie Linden layup with 1:29 to go and a free throw by Hightower with 54 seconds remaining to make it a 67-66 game.
Chelsea Hunter had the chance to seal the game on the ensuing possession with a three-pointer from the right side, but the Lady Buffs were able to corral the miss and call a timeout to set up a potential game-winning shot.
With four seconds left, Hightower was able to draw a foul on Lewis and knocked down a pair of free throws put the Lady Buffs in-front by one.
The Greyhounds were unable to muster a possible buzzer beater on the following possession as West Texas A&M advanced to the second round with the win.
In her final game as a Greyhound, Jones led the ENMU scoring efforts with a season-high 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting while tying a team-high eight rebounds to go with four assists. Cox also finished with 15 points, knocking down 6-of-11 from the field and 3-for-6 from the arc to go with a team-high five assists.
Lewis turned in a 14-point performance after knocking down 7-for-9 from the field to go with four assists, while Clay wrapped up her collegiate career with 10 points, converting 6-of-6 from the foul line and recording eight boards.
The Greyhounds wrap up a fantastic 2018-19 season with a 19-11 overall mark, making the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in the program’s history. The Hounds were especially great on their home court during the campaign, finishing with the best home record in program history at 12-1.
