ODESSA, Texas – The Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball team received a tough challenge from UT-Permian Basin on Saturday afternoon, but the Greyhounds converted on late free throws to come away with a 61-55 win to stay unbeaten in Lone Star Conference action.
The Hounds (9-3, 4-0 LSC) got off to a strong start early on. After UTPB cut the ENMU advantage to one at 5-4 with 7:58 to play in the first quarter, senior forward Treyanna Clay ignited an 8-0 run with back-to-back layups and was capped off on an Alivia Lewis jumper from a Clay assist to make it 13-4 with 5:44 to go.
The Greyhounds were able to maintain a nine-point edge over the next few minutes, but the Falcons closed out the period with a 7-1 streak to shrink the gap to 16-13 after one quarter of play.
Eastern started off on-fire in the second period as Chelsea Hunter buried a three-pointer and Lewis followed with a jumper off a Hunter assist to stretch the lead back to eight at 21-13 just over two minutes in. The Hounds maintained no less than a five-point lead over the next five minutes as Laura Rowe’s free throw put the ENMU advantage back to eight with 2:57 to go until the halftime break.
However, the Falcons once again made a strong push in the final three minutes, outscoring the Hounds 8-2 to cut the Eastern lead to 28-26 heading into the half.
While Eastern only converted on 37-percent of their shots in the opening half, the Hounds defense kept them in it by forcing 13 Falcons turnovers.
UTPB tied the game up 11 seconds into the third quarter before the Greyhounds strung together a strong response by scoring seven straight, five of which coming from Zamorye Cox to make it a 35-28 game just 2:08 in.
The Falcons managed to trim their deficit to five, but the Hounds once again stretched their advantage back to nine at 39-30 off a pair of Clay free throws and a Kamirah Decker layup with six minutes to go in the third.
UTPB responded back with an 8-0 streak of their own over the next 3:30 minutes to make it a one-point game at 39-38 with 2:30 to go, but the Hounds retaliated with Hunter knocking down her third three-point shot of the ballgame and Jones added a layup on ENMU’s final possessioin, giving the Hounds a 44-41 edge heading into the final period.
Once again, the Falcons were able to tie the game at 44-all on their first possession of the quarter with a three-point play, but the Greyhounds took advantage of opportunities at the free throw line during a 6-2 run to set Eastern up with a 50-46 advantage with six minutes left.
Permian Basin continued to fight back, scoring five of the next seven points and trimming the lead to 52-51 with 2:10 to go, but Sydney Clark came up with a huge three-pointer from the right wing on the ensuing possession to make it a two-possession lead once again.
In the final minute, the Hounds were able to capitalize from the free throw line as a pair of free throws by Clay and Cox in-between a big defensive stop expanded the ENMU edge to 59-53 with 36 seconds to go.
The Falcons scored one more time in the final 36 seconds, but they could climb no closer than four as the Hounds held on for their fourth straight conference win.
For the ninth time in 12 games, Clay led the Greyhounds’ scoring efforts as the only player to score in double-figures with 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe to go with five rebounds and five assists.
Lewis controlled the glass for ENMU, tying her career-high with 13 rebounds to go with seven points, three blocked shots, and two steals. Cox and Hunter each added nine points for ENMU while Clark and Jones chipped in eight points apiece.
The Greyhounds will be back on the road next week as they will face their most challenging conference matchup of the season against LSC Co-Leader Angelo State on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 4:30 p.m.before taking on Texas A&M-Kingsville at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
