PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball team received a challenge from in-state rival Western New Mexico, but the Greyhounds made a late fourth quarter push to come away with a 59-44 victory over the Mustangs at Greyhound Arena on Saturday.
The game presented by Pizza Hut was a tightly fought contest for three-plus quarters, but the Hounds (16-6, 11-3 Lone Star Conference) won the battle of attrition against the Mustangs (7-14, 3-11 LSC) with a stingy defense that limited the Mustangs to the second-fewest points an opponent has scored all season against the Greyhounds.
Much like Thursday’s contest, Eastern got off to a slow start. After Alivia Lewis opened the scoring with a layup 15 seconds in, Western New Mexico went on an 11-1 run over the next 5:37 to take its largest advantage of the game at eight.
With 3:20 left, senior forward Treyanna Clay fired up the Hounds by scoring a layup and drawing a foul, converting a three-point play that ultimately ignited a 7-0 run. Clay scored all seven points for Eastern in the final three-and-a-half minute stretch to cut the deficit to 11-10 heading into the second period.
Western pushed the edge back to five with a pair of scores through the first 40 seconds of the second quarter before the Hounds answered back with an 8-3 run of their own. Junior guard Tilasha Okey’s three-pointer started the run and was capped off on a Clay steal and fastbreak layup to tie the game at 18 with 7:17 left until halftime.
The Mustangs converted three free throw to retake the three-point edge, but a Chelsea Hunter three-pointer followed by a Clay three-point play made it 24-21 with 3:10 to go, giving ENMU its first lead since the opening basket of the game.
The Mustangs cut their deficit to one on the ensuing possession, but Clay came up with another three-point play off a Shelby Jones offensive board to give the Hounds their largest lead of the half at 27-23. A Western score trimmed the edge to two before Jena Mehlbrech’s runner in the final minute sent the Hounds into the half with a 29-25 advantage.
The Greyhounds defense held the Mustangs to just 8-for-24 (33 percent) shooting in the first half, while forcing WNMU into committing 15 turnovers.
Clay opened the second half with layup off an offensive rebound to push the edge to six, but Eastern struggled to find the twine over a five minute stretch. Western narrowed the gap to two on a Tatyanna McFarland, making it 31-29 with 5:01 left to go in the third period.
On the following possession, Mehlbrech drained a three-pointer from the left side that started a 7-1 run over a two-minute stretch, expanding the Greyhound edge back to eight at 38-30. Three straight Mustang free throws trimmed their deficit to five with 1:54 remainging before Eastern ended the period with seven unanswered to hold a 45-33 edge after three quarters of play.
WNMU mustered a comeback during the early portion of the fourth period, limiting the Hounds to just one point through the first 6:02 before making it a five-point game at 46-41 on a Destiney Johnson jumper from the right side.
Okey ended the Hounds’ slump on back-to-back buckets to pad the ENMU advantage back to nine before a three-pointer by WNMU’s Ciara Fields closed the gap back to six with three minutes left.
The Greyhounds defense dominated the final three minutes, holding Western New Mexico scoreless while converting on 7-of-8 free throw attempts in the midst of a 9-0 run to seal the win.
The Eastern defense was strong in both halves, as the Hounds held the Mustangs to just 15-for-55 (27 percent) shooting for the game and forced 22 turnovers. Western was held to just 19 points on 7-for-31 (23 percent) from the floor and 1-of-6 (17 percent) from the three-point arc in the second half.
10 different ENMU players scored in the contest, led by Clay who turned in her fifth 20-plus point performance of the season and her fourth in the last six games with 22 points. Clay knocked down a career-best 12-of-13 (92 percent) from the free throw line and had a strong defensive performance as well, finishing with seven rebounds and tying a season-high four steals.
Okey turned in another solid offensive performance, scoring nine points on 4-of-10 from the field to go with a career-high eight rebounds and a pair of blocks. Okey led the Hounds late charge by scoring six of their 13 points in the final four minutes.
Jones led the rebounding efforts with a season-best 11 boards and tied a season-high two blocks. Freshman guard Zamorye Cox led the Eastern passing efforts for a second consecutive game with six assists, giving her 15 in the last two games combined.
The Greyhounds will now turn their attention to their final home games of the season next week as Eastern will take on Texas A&M-Kingsville on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 5:30 p.m. in a Breast Cancer Awareness game, presented by U.S. Bank.
The Hounds will wrap up their home slate with crucial game on Saturday, Feb. 16 as Eastern tries to keep its Lone Star Conference Championship aspirations alive. The Greyhounds will host conference leader Angelo State for Senior Day, presented by J.P. Stone Community Bank for a 2 p.m. tip.
