ODESSA, Texas – The Cowgirls led by as much as 14 in the first half, but a run that spanned both halves by the Falcons gave Texas Permian-Basin (2-0) a 76-55 win against New Mexico Highlands University (0-2) 76-55 Saturday afternoon (Nov. 22).
The Cowgirls never trailed in the first half, racing out to a 14-point lead thanks to a 11-2 run. With Highlands leading 15-10 with 9:57 remaining in the first half, senior
Jenny Johnson – who led the Cowgirls with eight points in the game – hit a pair from the charity stripe. Senior
Katie Gannon hit a jumper while sophomore
Giulia Simioni hit a lay-up to give the Cowgirls their first double-digit lead of the game. After a layup by the Falcons, Gannon hit a jumper and senior
Claudia Meneses, who also scored eight points, hit a triple to cap the run and give Highlands a 26-12 lead with 5:40 left.
Gannon finished the game with seven points off the bench, all in the first half. Highlands raced out to its double-digit lead thanks to 11-29 shooting (37.9 percent) in the first half, including a 4-9 mark (44.4 percent) shooting from beyond the arc. However, the Cowgirls held the Falcons to a 9-34 (26.5 percent) shooting percentage, including 2-16 (12.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
However, Texas-Permian Basin flipped the script and cut the Highlands' lead to three right before half thanks to holding the Cowgirls to only one field goal in the final 5:40.
Trish Simpson started the run with a jumper followed by a layup and a split from the line by Valerie Barriga – who led all scorers in the game with 13 points – to cut the lead down to double digits. Brianna Dominguez, who added 11 points, and Giselle Loya hit back-to-back triples to pull Texas-Permian Basin within 26-23 with 2:27 left in the half.
Both teams added a field goal and split from the charity stripe to end the half as the Cowgirls led 29-26 at intermission.
As cold as the Falcons were from the field in the first half, they were polar opposites in the second by scoring 50 points. Texas-Permian Basin shot 12-24 in the second half (50 percent), including 6-13 (46.2 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Cowgirls only made eght-of-27 field goals (29.6 percent) and only hit one three.
With a slim 36-34 lead, Texas-Permian Basic scored 11 unanswered to take control of the game. Dominguez and Chelsea Rhamdeow hit back-to-back threes and Shaquiri Graham cleaned up her own miss, was fouled while shooting and hit both free throws to give the home team its first double-digit lead. Dominguez capped the run with a three as Texas-Permian Basin led 47-34 with 10:58 left.
The Falcons led by as much as 26 late in the second half before the Cowgirls closed out the game scoring five straight for the final 76-55 deficit.
The Cowgirls return to action in a week when they travel to Southern Utah (1-0) to take on the Thunderbirds at 1 p.m.
