PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball will pack its bags this weekend as it heads to the Lone Star State for a pair of LSC road games.
The Hounds tipoff their road trip in San Antonio against St. Mary’s, Thursday at 4:30 p.m. before traveling to Austin on Saturday to face St. Edwards at 1 p.m.
LAST WEEK
The Hounds concluded their 2019-20 non-conference schedule with a perfect 6-0 record after cruising to a 93-48 victory over Northern New Mexico College last Thursday.
Eastern put on a defensive showcase and forced 41 turnovers in the program’s sixth annual Youth Day Game in front of 3,300 screaming elementary and junior high students. Sophomore point guard Zamorye Cox filled up the stat sheet, finishing with 14 points, seven assists and seven steals. Following her fantastic performance, Cox moves into the second spot in the program’s single-game record book with seven steals which is also a Lone Star Conference-high so far this season. Junior Laura Rowe connected on three first quarter three point buckets to jump start the Hound offense and overcome their sluggish start. Rowe matched Cox and senior Natalie DeLonge with a team-high 14 points for the contest and spurred a 26-4 run over the course of the next seven minutes of the opening quarter. Nine different Hounds recorded steals on the afternoon while Cox’s seven takeaways is the most for a Greyhound since Elizabeth Richards had eight steals back on Dec. 22nd, 2005 against Western New Mexico. DeLonge combined with fellow posts Alivia Lewis and Jasmine Williams to maintain total control of the paint for the majority of the contest. DeLonge finished with seven rebounds while Lewis led the team with eight boards and Williams finished the afternoon with five. A Greyhound defense that forced turnovers all afternoon proved to be strongest in the final quarter as they conceded just a single Eagle field goal, limiting Northern New Mexico to just 1-of-10 from the field in the fourth quarter. The Hounds limited the opposition to a 35.4 percent (17-of-48) field goal percentage for the game.
SCOUTING THE RATTLERS
The Rattlers haven’t played since November and experienced two tough losses when they hosted the St. Mary’s Thanksgiving Classic inside Bill Greehey Arena. StMU was defeated 78-71 to Central Oklahoma before finishing the weekend with a 64-58 loss to Southern Nazarene.
The Rattlers rank fifth in the Lone Star conference with a .431 team field goal percentage but have struggled so far this season defensively as they allow their opponents to convert .404 percent of their shots, the fourth-highest in the LSC. St. Mary’s has shown some success from three-point range as they lead the conference with a .384 shooting percentage from beyond the arch.
Junior guard Soteria Banks leads the Rattlers offensively and the Round Rock, Texas native has established herself as one of the most potent scorers in the league. Banks averages an LSC-best 21.3 points per game and leads the conference in field goal percentage (.515) and three-point percentage (.469) while averaging 3.8 field goals from deep each time she takes the hardwood.
Helping to orchestrate the Rattlers offensive attack with spacing and excellent ball movement are guards Alexia Torres and Mya Culiver. The back court duo has combined for 51 assists through the first six games while Torres averages 4.3 assists and Culiver averages 4.2 assists per game.
St. Mary’s will look to post player Hannah Wilson on the glass as she leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per game.
Head Coach Jason Martens enters his 14th year at the helm of the St. Mary’s Women’s Basketball team and has led the Rattlers to five national tournament appearances. Martens is the program’s all-time winningest coach with a mark of 244-135.
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
The Hilltoppers were handed their first home loss of the 2019-20 season after falling to No. 10 Texas A&M-Commerce 80-55 last week.
St. Edward’s, the No. 10 squad in the D2SIDA South Central Regional Rankings, began the year on a five-game winning streak and has since been handed back-to-back 20-point losses by Commerce.
St. Edward’s averages 64.7 points per game while converting .370 percent of their field goal attempts. The Hilltoppers have been extremely efficient from the free throw line in the early part of the season and own the second-best free throw percentage in the league (.765). St. Ed’s continues to be out-rebounded on average by 5.7 boards per game, the worst-mark in the LSC.
The Hilltoppers offense is highlighted by senior forward Deijah Blanks who averages 16 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Blanks is also a lock-down defender on the other side of the floor and has swiped 16 steals and recorded six blocks.
Despite constantly being out-rebounded as a team, center Sammie Dufek is one of the best individual rebounders in the LSC. Dufek leads the conference with 27 offensive board and ranks seventh overall with 7.7 per game. Dufek is the team’s best rim protector and she is tied for fourth in the league with 1.6 blocks per game.
The Hilltoppers are led by eighth-year Head Coach J.J. Riehl. Riehl became the sixth head coach of the St. Ed’s women’s basketball team in 2012 and led the Hilltoppers to their second regular-season Heartland Conference title in program history and second conference tournament title in four years during her first year at the helm of the program.
SAME HOUNDS, NEW LOOK
The Greyhounds return 11 players from last year’s team including three starters while Coach Prock added seven new players to the 2019-20 roster. With four transfers and three true freshmen joining the team, the Greyhounds have strengthened their lineup and bolstered their depth coming off the bench.
Two players that have made immediate impacts are seniors Natalie DeLonge and Jasmine Williams. A 6-4 center from Klamath Falls, Ore. DeLonge comes to the High Plains after a decorative career at Western Oregon University. DeLonge has established herself as one of ENMU’s most reliable scorers and ranks second on the squad with 10.3 points per game. A 6-0 post player from Wichita Falls, Texas, Williams joins the Hounds after spending last season at South Carolina State. Williams has provided the Hounds with an efficient option coming off the bench as she has averaged 6.6 points and eight rebounds per game.
SCHEDULE OUTLOOK
The Green and Silver will face nothing but Lone Star Conference competition for the remainder of the regular season.
Following this week’s Texas road trip, the Hounds will return to the rowdy Greyhound Arena for a three-game homestand beginning with their LSC home opener against UAFS Thursday, Dec. 19 before taking the hardwood against Oklahoma Christian Saturday, Dec. 21. The Hounds will look to avenge their lone loss of the 2019-20 season when they host arch-rival West Texas A&M Saturday, Jan. 4.
HOUNDS ON THE ROAD
The Hounds own a 2-1 record this season playing in true road games. ENMU began its away schedule with a hard-fought 69-62 victory over tournament host Fort Lewis in the LSC/RMAC Conference Challenge finale. The Following week the Hounds traveled to Espanola, N.M. where they snatched a 73-62 win over Northern New Mexico despite experiencing an off-shooting night.
CHAIRWOMEN OF THE BOARDS
Eastern continues to dominant on the glass and not only lead the conference in rebounding but, are also one of the best rebounding teams in all of NCAA Division II women’s basketball. The Hounds rank ninth in the nation with a rebounding margin of 12.6 and rank 14th with 44.9 rebounds per game
CONFERENCE LEADERS
The Hounds boast some of the best individual players in the conference as Cox ranks second in the Lone Star in both assists per game (5.3) and steals per game (2.6). Cox also continues to protect the basketball at an elite level and owns the third-best assist/turnover ratio at 1.9, only committing 19 turnovers while dishing out 37 total assists. Alivia Lewis ranks fifth in the LSC in total rebounds (58) and rebounds per game (8.3) while ranking 22nd with 11 points per game. Jasmine Williams ranks right below Lewis with eight rebounds per contest and is one of the best on the offensive boards as she ranks fourth with 3.1 offensive rebounds per game.
As a team, the Greyhounds are outscoring their opponents by an average of 14.6 points per contest which is good enough for the third-highest mark in the LSC. The Hounds continue to get after the ball defensively and have been limiting their opponents to a .347 team shooting percentage while surrendering just 57 points per game, the third and fourth-lowest marks respectively amongst LSC teams.
