SILVER CITY, N.M. – The New Mexico Highlands men's and women's basketball teams return to action this weekend with one game at Western New Mexico Saturday afternoon (Jan. 25). The Cowgirls battle the Mustangs at 2 p.m., while the Cowboys battle Western New Mexico approximately 20 minutes following the conclusion of the women's games.
Live video will be unavailable but live stats will be available by clicking
here.
Noting Cowboys Men's Basketball
The New Mexico Highlands men's basketball team (9-7, 6-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) is clinging to the final spot of the RMAC Tournament by a half-game above Adams State and Black Hills State. Conversely, Highlands is only a half-game behind 6-5 UC-Colorado Springs, Colorado Mesa and CSU-Pueblo. Highlands already beat CSU-Pueblo on the road, 82-71, on Dec. 21, 2013.
Should the Cowboys knock off the Mustangs, Highlands will be 5-1 against the six teams that are currently on the outside looking in for the conference tournament.
Individually, Senior
Mannie Cass has bumped up his scoring average to 18.9 points a game, which is seventh in the conference and 80th in the nation. Cass had dipped down to 18.1 from a season-high of 21.3 after his career-best 41 against Western State on Dec. 13, 2013, but he has raised his average by nearly a point with a solid last three games. For the first three contests of 2014, Cass did not even reach double-digit points. He has followed that up with 21, 15 and 31 in the last three games. While he only had 15 points at Chadron State, his 10 rebounds gave him his first double-double of the season and the second of his career.
Before his 10 boards at Chadron State, Cass most rebounds on the season was seven multiple times.
Senior
Stargell Love also has been making waves lately. Love had a double-double against Chadron State with 18 points and 10 rebounds, joining Cass' 15 points and 10 rebounds. Before the game against Chadron State, the Cowboys only had one double-double on the year from junior
Augustus French in the season-opening game on Nov. 11, 2013 (10 points and 11 rebounds). It was the first time a player had tallied double-digit assists since Roman Andrade on Dec. 6, 2008 against the University of the Southwest.
To read more on the win over Chadron State, click
here.
Love has moved up the ladder statistically in both assists and steals. He is fifth in the conference and 93rd nationally with 4.3 assists per game. Love is 12th in the conference and 217th in the nation with 1.47 steals per game.
Scouting Western New Mexico
Western New Mexico (1-14, 1-11 RMAC) enters the game with its only win of the season coming in Silver City against Western State. The only statistic that the Mustangs rank in the top-100 in the nation is in assists, ranking 100th with 14.4 dimes per game. Western State ranks last in the RMAC and 285th in the nation with 63.4 points per game. Both the Cowboys' and Mustangs' defenses have had trouble stopping people on the season as they are giving up 83.9 and 80.2 points, respectively.
It could be a long night for Western New Mexico if Highlands is able to hit its threes. The Cowboys are 78th in the nation with 7.9 threes per game, while the Mustangs allow teams to hit 37.7 percent of their threes (243rd in the nation).
Marcos Castrillo leads a trio of Mustangs with double-digit scoring with 12.7 points per game. Brelan Berry adds 12.1 points per game while Terrez Scott has 10.5 points per game. Scott leads the RMAC and is 12th in the nation with 6.6 assists per game. Castrillo leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game and has three double-doubles on the season.
Noting Cowgirls Women's Basketball
The New Mexico Highlands women's basketball team (8-8 and 4-8) looks to move above .500 when it travels to take on Western New Mexico (7-10, 4-8). Sitting 1.5 games out of the final spot for the RMAC tournament, both teams sit 10th needing a win.
Not appearing in the Cowgirls most recent game against Northern New Mexico, senior
TJ Manson has picked up her play recently and been a force inside for Highlands. She has raised her season average by nearly two points the last three games, scoring double-digits in each. At Chadron State - a 102-99 2 OT loss - Manson became the first player not named senior
China Smith to have a double-double this season, finishing with season-highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds. Before her last three games, Manson had only one game where she reached double-digit points.
At one point this season, only Smith averaged double-digit points. Recently, two players have joined Smith in points as she and junior
Jenny Johnson both have 192 points on the season in 16 games (12 points per game). Senior
Alyssa Lopez is the latest player to join the party, having scored 10+ in six of the last seven games to reach 10.9 points per game.
In the last four games, a different player has stepped up to join the top-4 scorers for the Cowgirls (Manson is fourth on the team with 7.5 points per game). In Highlands dominating 82-60 win over rival Adams State,
Anngelina Sanchez scored 17 and
Leisha Crawford had nine points. Sanchez and Crawford only had seven against Chadron State, but
Trish Simpson took over with a team-best 17 points against Black Hills State.
Smith, Lopez and Johnson combined for 51 of the 86 points the Cowgirls scored against Northern New Mexico.
To read more about the Cowgirls win over Northern New Mexico, click
here.
Scouting Western New Mexico
Western New Mexico (7-10, 4-8 RMAC) and New Mexico Highlands plays a critical game on Saturday as both teams enter the contest 10th in the conference at 4-8. The loser of the game is a minimum 2.0 games back of an RMAC tournament berth.
Highlands holds the advantage over Western New Mexico, 71.1-68.0 in points per game. However, the Mustangs hold the advantage defensively, 66.9 to 69.2. If the Cowgirls are able to force the issue on the glass, the game probably will go Highlands' way. The Cowgirls are 95th in the nation by out-rebounding their opponents by 2.7 boards per game. However, the Mustangs are out-rebounded by 0.9 boards per game.
In turn, if Western New Mexico is able to flex its muscles on miscues, the game could very well swing to the Mustangs. Western New Mexico is 12th in the nation with 5.65 less turnovers than its opponents. The Mustangs are also 28th in steals per game (11.1) and 64th with only 15.6 turnovers per game. Meanwhile, Highlands throws 17.3 turnovers per game.
Three players for the Mustangs average double-digit points. RaTanya Newsome leads the team with 13.6 points per game while Ashley Mitchell scores 12.1 points per game. Stephanie Moore has 10.5 points per game. Newsome is not only a top scorer, but is also fifth in the RMAC and 69th in the nation with 4.3 assists per game. She completes an all-around game with 2.35 steals per game (third in the conference, 72nd in the nation).
Next Up
The New Mexico Highlands men's and women's basketball teams return to action Friday (Jan. 31) when they host Colorado State-Pueblo. The women's game tips at 6 p.m. while the men's game will follow approximately 20 minutes after the women's contest.
