Box Score The NMHU Women's basketball team grabbed their first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win of the season, 67-65, on the road at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs. Both teams suffered from sloppy play in the first half, but the Cowgirls'
Whitley Coca hit some big three-point shots to help the Cowgirls take a 28-27 lead into halftime. The Cowgirls looked much better at the start of the second half and led by as much as 14 points. The Mountain Lions were able to claw their way back into the game and had a one point lead with only 45 seconds left to play. The Cowgirls made some critical shots with time running out and Head Coach Tiffany Darling used her timeouts to strategize the victory. When the final buzzer sounded the Cowgirls had secured their first RMAC victory of the season with the final score of 67-65. With the win the Cowgirls, led by Head Coach Tiffany Darling, improve to a 1-4 record in the RMAC and 5-4 in overall play.
Whitley Coca was the top performer for the Cowgirls in their first RMAC win of the season. Coca played the entire 40 minutes in the game and led all scorers with 18 points. Whitley's leadership on the court and big shots were the critical factor for the Cowgirls. She shot 7-13 from the field and 3-8 from behind the three-point line, but those three-pointers were big-time shots in key moments of the game. Coca added five assists, two steals and a rebound to the Cowgirls' efforts.
Alyssa Lopez continued her consistent scoring contributions in this game with 16 points. Lopez was having trouble getting started in the first half, but she turned it up in the second half by scoring 10 points in her typical slashing to the hoop style. She shot 7-11 from the field, and had five rebounds and an assist in her 38 minutes of playing time.
Two first-year Cowgirls made important contributions to the teams win tonight.
Ashley Zaragoza led the team with eight rebounds.
Brittany Neeley came off the bench to make a big impact in the second half. Neeley didn't play in the first half, but when she was called on in the second half she stepped up big time. Brittany scored nine points and grabbed two rebounds in nine minutes on the court. She hit some big free-throw shots for the Cowgirls in the second half to keep momentum going for the team.
The Mountain Lions took a quick 6-0 lead in the game and it looked like it might be all UCCS. The game quickly got sloppy in the first half and the Cowgirls were able to fight their way back into the contest. With 14 minutes left in the first half,
Whitley Coca ran down the court and hit a big three-point shot and
China Smith made two free-throws to give the Cowgirls the one point lead. The Cowgirls held on to their slim lead until the Mountain Lions were able to go back up by one with 8:27 remaining in the half. The teams exchanged the scoring lead for the remainder of the half, but with 15 seconds left on the clock
Ivana Vidal hit a jump shot to give the Cowgirls the 28-27 lead going into the locker room.
The Cowgirls came out of halftime ready to play and quickly extended their lead to six points. The Mountain Lions managed to keep the game close, but three-point shots from
Alyssa Lopez and
Whitley Coca gave the Cowgirls an 11 point lead with 9:58 left.
Brittany Neeley came off the bench and made an immediate impact on the game. Neeley hit two free-throw shots and sank a three-pointer to give the Cowgirls their biggest lead of the game at 14 points with 7:11 remaining. The Mountain Lions made a comeback and two big three-pointers from Danielle Brown cut the Cowgirls' lead to six points with 5:45 left in the game.
The Cowgirls held off UCCS, but with 45 seconds remaining the Mountain Lions' Jessica Brown sliced through the lane and made a lay-up, drawing the foul. Brown completed the three-point play from the free-throw line to give the Mountain Lions their first lead of the second half, 62-61. The Cowgirls looked ready for this scenario as
Whitley Coca drove the ball down the court and hit a big jump shot in the paint to take back the lead. The Cowgirls got the ball back quickly and
Eboni Jacobs hit two big free-throw shots to extend the lead to three points with only 13 seconds left. Head Coach Tiffany Darling expertly used her timeouts in the final seconds, and
Alyssa Lopez and
Brittany Neeley each went 1-2 from the free-throw line to keep the Cowgirls in the lead. When the final buzzer sounded the Cowgirls had won their first RMAC game of the season with the final score of 67-65.
The Cowgirls played well in the victory. They buckled down when the Mountain Lions had grabbed the momentum back in the second half and closed the game out with a true team effort. Head Coach Tiffany Darling was pleased with team's effort after last weekend's heartbreaking overtime loss to Colorado Mesa University. Coach Darling said, “It was a big win on the road for us. I was happy for our girls after we pushed them so hard this week in practice. We got the train back on track tonight.” The Cowgirls got some key production off their bench in the critical last minutes of the game. “
Eboni Jacobs hit two big free throws and
Brittany Neeley played with a tremendous amount of courage being injured,” commented Coach Darling.
The Cowgirls will continue conference action again, on 12/17, as they travel to Pueblo, Colo. to take on the Thunderwolves of CSU-Pueblo. The Thunderwolves are currently ranked fourth in the RMAC with a 4-1 conference record and 7-2 in overall play. The game is scheduled for a 5:30 pm tip-off time, with the Cowboys taking to the court shortly after the completion of the women's game. If you can't make it up to Pueblo to watch your Cowgirls in action, you can click
HERE to watch the game LIVE on the America One network.
GO COWGIRLS!!!
