Box Score The NMHU Women's Basketball team dropped a close game on the road to the Mountaineers of Western State College, 68-62, in Gunnison, Colo. The Cowgirls took the initial lead in the game and looked to be in good shape early in the first half of play. With 11:02 remaining in the first half, a lay-up by
Alyssa Lopez gave the Cowgirls their biggest lead of the game at six points. Western State did not let the Cowgirls extend the lead beyond that, and with 8:27 left in the half the Mountaineers tied the game up at 18 points apiece. Moments later the Mountaineers took a narrow one point lead, but the Cowgirls stayed in the game and the teams went back and forth on the scoreboard. Western State had extended their first half lead to six points with 1:59 remaining in the first half, but the Cowgirls hit a late surge and another lay-up by
Alyssa Lopez cut the lead down to two points. When the teams went into the locker room for halftime, the Mountaineers were on top 34-32. Western State was first to score in the second half, but the Cowgirls continued to keep the game close. The Cowgirls took their first lead of the second half with 13:02 left in the game when
China Smith hit a lay-up on the fast break. The Cowgirls were playing with confidence and there was 8:35 on the clock when
Trish Simpson hit a free-throw shot to give the Cowgirls a five point lead. The Mountaineers fought their way back into the game and took the lead back off a three-point shot with 5:11 remaining. Western State took control of the game at that point and with 1:18 left in the game they enjoyed their biggest lead of seven points. The Cowgirls fought to get back into the game and with only 17 seconds left on the clock
Alyssa Lopez hit a three pointer to cut the lead to just three points. The Mountaineers hit their free-throw shots down the stretch and when the final buzzer sounded it was Western State College who would come away with the win on their home court by the final score of 68-62. With the road loss the Cowgirls, led by Head Coach Tiffany Darling, fall to a 7-12 record in the RMAC and 11-12 in overall play.
“The Silent Assassin,”
Alyssa Lopez, had another great game for the Cowgirls, earning a double-double against the Mountaineers. She scored a game high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to complete the double-double in her 39 minutes on the court. Lopez shot a respectable 10-21 from the field and added three assists, one blocked shot, and a steal to her night's totals. Lopez is currently the scoring leader in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference averaging 17.7 points per game in all contests.
Brittany Neeley and
Tanee' Denson-Griffin both had good games for the Cowgirls. Both players scored eight points in the game. Neeley added three rebounds and a blocked shot in the game, while Denson-Griffin grabbed four rebounds, made two assists, and had one blocked shot and a steal in the contest.
China Smith pulled down nine rebounds for the Cowgirls.
Turnovers hurt the Cowgirls in the game as they gave the ball up 23 times compared to Western State's 13 turnovers. The Cowgirls struggled from the free-throw line, only able to convert 47.6% of their shots from the charity stripe.
The free-throw line was a deciding factor in the game as the Mountaineers were able to get 11 more attempts at the charity stripe than the Cowgirls, hitting 23 of their 32 attempts for a team free-throw shooting average of 71.9%. The Cowgirls were able to outshoot the Mountaineers in field-goal percentage, 40.7% to 29.2%, but they only made three more field goals than the Mountaineers.
The Cowgirls three remaining games will be at home in Las Vegas, N.M.
The Cowgirls will continue conference action again, on 2/17, as host the Rangers of Regis University at the John A. Wilson Complex in Las Vegas, N.M. The Rangers are currently in ninth place in the RMAC with an 8-10 conference record and 10-15 in overall play. The Cowgirls will be celebrating Pink Night at the game against Regis, helping to support the local fight against breast cancer. The Cowgirls will be playing in special pink uniforms which will be raffled off after the game to raise money to support breast cancer. The last time the teams met in Denver, Colo., the Rangers were able to get the victory at home, 76-65. 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 out to the John A. Wilson Complex to watch your Cowgirls in action, you can click
HERE to watch the game LIVE on the America One network.
GO COWGIRLS!!!
