PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball (5-1) will host Northern New Mexico Thursday morning in its home opener and annual Youth Day Game.
Children from several local schools will be in attendance with tipoff scheduled for 11 a.m. inside Greyhound Arena.
LAST WEEK
The Hounds posted a flawless 2-0 record last week at the WT Pak-A-Sak Thanksgiving Classic and have moved into the No. 5 spot in the latest D2SIDA South Central Regional Poll following wins over CSU-Pueblo and Adams State.
Eastern tipped off the tournament with a 77-59 victory over the Thunder Wolves of CSU-Pueblo. Junior Alivia Lewis and senior Jasmine Williams posted their second double-doubles of the season while five total ENMU players recorded double-digit scoring figures. Lewis led the offensive attack with a game-high 18 points and also tallied ten rebounds and was extremely efficient from the free throw line, shooting eight of nine from the charity stripe while also dishing out four assists. Williams turned in a record-breaking performance and is now tied for the fifth spot in the single-game all-time record books after corralling an impressive 17 boards and also added 12 points. Point guard Zamorye Cox finished with ten points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals while sophomores Jena Mehlbrech and Kamira Decker added ten points apiece. Eastern caught fire in the last ten minutes of the game and were able to overcome the 27 turnovers they committed with lights-out shooting. The Hounds outscored their opponents 30-14 in the fourth and shot 48 percent from the field while knocking down four of their nine three-point attempts to secure the win.
The Hounds wrapped-up the weekend with their biggest margin of victory this season after defeating Adams State by a final score of 64-41. Lewis recorded another solid performance and lead the team with 13 points, shooting five of ten from the field and also pulled in nine rebounds, dished out an assist and recorded a steal. Senior Jerraysha Smith turned in her best game of the season, matching Lewis’s game-high nine boards while adding seven points in 20 minutes of action. The Hounds defense played well the entire game and forced 15 Grizzlies turnovers which Eastern converted into 22 points while limiting their opposition to a 29.1 percent field goal percentage. The Green and Silver continue to show why they are one of the best rebounding teams in the nation as the Greyhounds corralled 46 boards compared to 26 from Adams. Eastern has experienced almost no drop-off of talent or output while starters sit and the Greyhound bench outscored Adams bench 37-9 in the contest.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
The Eagles are in the midst of a 12-game losing streak after suffering a tough 93-59 loss to Fort Lewis last week.
Northern New Mexico is under the leadership of first-year Head Coach Mario Caetano who was named as the Interim Head Coach in December of 2018, finishing the last eight games for the Lady Eagles before dropping the interim title this season. Caetano served as the Men’s Associate Head Coach for 5 seasons from 2012-2017. During his tenure with the Eagles, he helped NNMC to their first ever A.I.I Conference Championship and NAIA National Tournament appearance (2014-2015).
Northern New Mexico’s offense is led by the back court pairing of freshman Ahmaya Smith and junior Haley Eaves. The two guards are the only Eagles players averaging double-digit scoring figures with Smith scoring a team-high 10.4 points per game while Eaves averages 10.2 points per game. Smith is a downhill offensive player who excels at driving to the basket, doing most of her damage from the free throw line and leads the squad with 34 made free throws. Eaves is the team’s sharp shooter and has knocked down 29 field goals from beyond the arch.
Smith, the Las Vegas native, is also an extremely capable defender and has swiped a team-high 33 steals and has also added five blocked shots. Standing 6’0″ tall, junior center Kristen Davis is the team’s best shot blocker and has rejected 11 shots and ranks second on the team with 14 steals.
The Eagles post a -23.8 scoring margin and are allowing their opposition to score 79.6 per game while only managing 55.8 points per contest themselves. NNMC has struggled mightily from the charity stripe and has managed a .631 free throw percentage as a team.
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 junior Anasha Hurst and senior Jasmine Williams. A 5-8 guard from St. Louis, MO, Hurst joins the Green and Silver after spending the last two seasons at Kirkwood Community College. Hurst is one of only three Hounds to have started all six games this season for Head Coach Josh Prock and has logged 112 minutes while averaging three points, 3.2 rebounds and .67 steals 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 5.8 points and a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game.
SCHEDULE OUTLOOK
The Green and Silver will pack their bags next week for a pair of Lone Star Conference road games, first stopping in San Antonio, Texas to face St. Mary’s on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. The Hounds haven’t taken the court against the Rattlers since 2017 when Eastern earned a well-deserved 52-45 victory. Eastern will finish the road trip in Austin, Texas against St. Edward’s Saturday at 1 p.m. The Hounds have only faced the Hilltoppers twice in program history with mixed results with St. Ed’s getting the best of ENMU in the last match-up, posting a 60-52 win back in 2006.
Following their 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 AT HOME
Last season the Green and Silver were nearly unbeatable when playing in front of their home supporters and posted an impressive 12-1 record inside Greyhound Arena, setting the best home record in the program’s 45-year history. In the Hounds final home game of the 2018-19 campaign, ENMU rallied from a 12-point deficit to take down No. 17 Angelo State.
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 eight in the nation with a rebounding margin of 14.7, rank 12th with 45.7 rebounds per game and rank 14th with 274 total rebounds.
CONFERENCE LEADERS
The Hounds boast some of the best individual players in the conference as senior post player Jasmine Williams ranks second amongst LSC competitors with 20 offensive rebounds and ranks third in both total rebounds (51) and rebounds per game (8.5). Sophomore point guard Zamorye Cox owns the third-best assist/turnover ratio (2.1) while her 5.2 assists per game ranks fourth in the league. Junior post player Alivia Lewis ranks fifth in the LSC in total rebounds (50) and rebounds per game (8.3) while ranking 16th with 12.2 points per game.
As a team, the Greyhounds are outscoring their opponents by an average of 9.5 points per contest which is good enough for the fifth-highest mark in the LSC.
