Box Score The NMHU Women's Basketball team lost to their conference rivals the Mavericks of Colorado Mesa University, 65-47, on the road in Grand Junction, Colo. The Cowgirls got out to an early lead, going up 7-1 three minutes into the first half. The Mavericks gathered themselves and quickly tied the game up at seven points apiece moments later. Mesa had the momentum and took advantage of a 14-0 run to take the 15-7 lead with 9:50 remaining in the first half of play. The Mavericks would lead by as much as 12 points in the first half, but the Cowgirls fought back and when the buzzer sounded to end the first half they had cut the lead to just four points, with Mesa up 26-22. The Mavericks scored first in the second half, but with 17:23 left in the game a lay-up by Cowgirl
Tanee' Denson-Griffin tied the game up at 29 apiece. Mesa regained their composure and put together a 10-0 run to take the 39-29 lead. The Cowgirls answered the challenge and cut the lead back to four points with 10:54 remaining in the second half of play. The Mavericks took control of the game at that point and never looked back, leading by as much as 20 points in the second half. When the final buzzer sound Colorado Mesa University had captured the victory on their home court by the final score of 65-47. With the road loss the Cowgirls, led by Head Coach Tiffany Darling, fall to a 7-11 record in the RMAC and 11-11 in overall play.
Alyssa Lopez led all scorers in the game with 22 points for the Cowgirls. She added 6 rebounds, four steals and an assist in her 36 minutes on the court. Lopez struggled with ball control again, turning the ball over eight times. She shot 6-8 from the free-throw line, but hit only seven of her 19 field goal attempts.
The Cowgirls had a rough game shooting as a team, only able to shoot 29% from the field and 41% from the charity stripe. The Mavericks out-rebounded the Cowgirls 49-39. Colorado Mesa University also had three players score in double figures in the game.
The Cowgirls will continue conference action again, on 2/11, as they travel to Gunnison, Colo., to take on the Mountaineers of Western State College. The Mountaineers are currently in fourth place in the RMAC with an 11-7 conference record and 12-12 in overall play. The last time the teams met, the Mountaineers came away with a 66-49 victory in Las Vegas, N.M. The game is scheduled for a 6 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 to Gunnison to watch your Cowgirls in action, you can click
HERE to watch the game LIVE on the America One network.
GO COWGIRLS!!!
