PORTALES, N.M. – Coming off a pair of strong home wins last weekend, the Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball team will look to keep the momentum going as the Hounds will travel to Abilene, Texas to take on NCAA Division II Abilene Christian at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Hounds hosted their regular season opener, the Lone Star/Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Challenge on Nov. 9-10.
Eastern opened the tournament with a dominating 66-38 victory over New Mexico Highlands on Friday. The Hounds struggled in the opening quarter as the two teams were deadlocked at 18-all at the end of the first quarter and the Cowgirls scored the opening basket of the second quarter to take the 20-18 lead. However, the Hounds dominated the rest of the way as Eastern held Highlands to just five points in the second, six points in the third, and nine points in the fourth quarters to pull away.
The Greyhounds played stifling defense against the Cowgirls, limiting them to just 26-percent shooting from the field, 22-percent from the three-point arc, and forced NMHU into committing 32 turnovers.
ENMU had an even bigger challenge the following night as they had to overcome a big second half deficit to defeat Fort Lewis 58-55. The Eastern defense limited the Skyhawks to just eight points in the fourth quarter as Treyanna Lewis scored the go-ahead bucket with 1:31 left to make it a 56-55 game and then knocked down two free throws with 12 seconds left to seal the victory.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Abilene Christian (2-0) opened its regular season last week with a 90-47 win over the University of the Southwest and followed it up with a 98-43 victory over Howard Payne on Thursday. The Wildcats were picked to finish sixth in the Southland Conference during the pre-season and are coming off a 16-14 campaign in 2017-18 with a 9-9 mark in conference play.
The Hounds will be challenged in defending junior guard Breanna Wright, who is averaging 16.5 points per game through the first two games and scored 24 points in the opener against the Mustangs. Wright led the team in scoring last season with 14.1 points per game. Junior guard Dominique Golightly was a double-digit scorer for ACU last season at 12.4 ppg and senior forward Sara Williamson averaged 10.6 ppg and is averaging 11 ppg through the first two games.
Golightly was the team’s top rebounder last season with 183 boards, ripping down 6.1 rebounds per game and Wright was the team’s top passer with 137 assists, averaging 4.6 assists per contest. Through the first two games this season, junior forward Lexie Ducat leads the rebounding efforts at 8.5 per game while Williamson has a team-leading 11 assists.
HISTORY WITH THE WILDCATS
Abilene Christian leads the all-time series with a 53-15 record, dating back to the first ever meeting on Dec. 10, 1983. The last time the two teams met was back on Feb. 3, 2013 in Portales, as the Hounds snapped a 22-game losing streak to the Wildcats with an 81-73 win.
TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF
In the regular season opener against New Mexico Highlands, the Hounds were prepared defensively as they forced the Cowgirls into committing 32 turnovers. The last time ENMU forced more than 30 turnovers in a game came on Nov. 22, 2005 when Eastern forced Western New Mexico into committing 38 turnovers in an 87-52 win.
The Hounds also recorded 22 steals in the game, which is tied for the most steals in a single game by an NCAA Division II team this season. The last time the Greyhounds recorded 20 or more steals in a game was on Jan. 25, 2007 as Eastern had 20 steals in an 81-75 loss at Midwestern State.
RALLYING THE TROOPS
Eastern had to fight back its way back against Fort Lewis as the Hounds trailed by as much as 13 at 47-34 in the third quarter and trailed by as much as 10 in the fourth. The Greyhounds outscored the Skyhawks by a 21-8 margin in the fourth quarter to pull off the comeback. The last time the Hound rallied from a double-digit deficit in a game and won was on Jan. 25 at West Texas A&M. In that contest, Eastern trailed by as much as 17 at 37-20 with 4:01to play in the second quarter, but rallied back to win 73-71 in overtime.
LATE GAME CLAY-MAKER
Clay was an intricate part of the Hounds comeback against Fort Lewis, as she scored 10 of Eastern’s 22 points in the period. Despite going 1-of-6 from the floor in the first three quarters, Clay bounced back by shooting 2-for-3 in the fourth quarter, which included the go-ahead score while also converting on all six of her free throw attempts.
ALIVIA’S ACCOLADE
Sophomore forward Alivia Lewis garnered the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week after putting up some strong defensive numbers over the weekend. Lewis recorded a career-high four steals and three blocked shots while also tying her career-high 11 rebounds in ENMU’s victory over New Mexico Highlands. Lewis followed it up with a team-leading nine rebounds while also being a part of a defense that limited the Skyhawks to just 33-percent shooting from the floor and 17-percent from three in the second half. Lewis is averaging 10 rebounds a game through the first two games
