Game Recap: Women’s Basketball | 1/16/2020 8:54:00 PM | Zac Alfers
Women’s Basketball Knocks Off Reigning Champ #1 Lubbock Christian in OT Thriller
The Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball team defeated #1 Lubbock Christian 69-68 in overtime Thursday night thanks to a five-foot floater from sophomore point guard Zamorye Cox.
With just eight seconds left on the clock and trailing by a point, Cox launched a three-pointer that missed its mark before sophomore post player Kamirah Decker corralled the much-needed offensive rebound. Decker shielded off her defender and handed the ball to Cox who nailed the running layup.
The Hounds snapped Lubbock Christian’s 25-game winning streak, handing last year’s national title winner its first loss of the season. Cox finished with a career-high 29 points and also added four steals and a pair of assists. Junior center Alivia Lewis posted an outstanding 16 point, 18 rebound performance and now leads the Lone Star Conference with five double-doubles. Lewis’ 18 boards are the second-most in a single game in program history
Eastern jumped out to an early 7-2 lead and were able to maintain its advantage for the majority of the contest despite being held to a 34.2 percent shooting clip from the field. The Green and Silver dominated on the offensive glass with 18 of their 46 rebounds coming on that side of the floor, efficiently converting that to 17 second chance points.
The High Plains squad forced 16 Chaparral turnovers while only committing eight themselves and did not allow a single-point following a change of possession. Eastern pushed the lead to 13 points midway through the second quarter before LCU answered with 11 consecutive points of their own as the Hounds led 35-34 at halftime.
The Hounds struggled to shoot the ball in the third quarter, connecting on five of their 18 field goal attempts as their one-point advantage disappeared. LCU capitalized on Eastern’s shooting woes and tied the ball game at 50-50 entering the final quarter of regulation.
Both teams swapped buckets in the fourth with neither squad able to mount a run that wasn’t instantly answered. With the game tied at 63-63 the Hounds gained possession at the :24 mark before running the clock down for the final shot. Eastern swung the ball around the perimeter looking for a hole in the Chaparral’s zone defense. Resdhirt-freshman Natalie Stice took a deep three-pointer with a hand in her face before rattling around the rim and falling to the hardwood, sending the game into overtime.
Cox secured the first points of the overtime period for the Hounds after rolling off a perfectly placed screen from Lewis at the top of the three-point line and burying the 12-foot jumper off the glass. The Chaps answered with five straight points before Stice trimmed the deficit to one with a driving layup in the lane as the Hounds trailed 68-67 with 1:37 left on the clock. The Hounds played stingy defense in the final two minutes of the game and kept Lubbock Christian from adding to their lead which ultimately led to Cox’s game-winner.
The result pushes the Hounds to an 11-4 overall record with a 5-4 mark in LSC play. Eastern will experience a quick turnaround with just a day of rest before hosting a tough Angelo State team on Saturday inside the rowdy Greyhound Arena.
