LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The deck was stacked against the Cowgirls Saturday night (Dec. 20): An undefeated Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team in the ThunderWolves, a gut-wrenching loss last night and a 14-point deficit.
But we were home. We also have seniors
Jenny Johnson and
Anngelina Sanchez.
Every Cowgirl who got in the game scored a bucket while Sanchez scored all of her team-leading 14 points in the second half as New Mexico Highlands (4-6, 3-3 RMAC) stunned CSU Pueblo (7-3, 5-1) 64-54 in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Highlands finishes the 2014 portion of the schedule having played 5-of-6 home games against teams who were regionally-ranked at the time and hold a 3-2 record in such games.
Sanchez, who was 0-5 from the field in the first half, came alive in the second half with 5-9 shooting – including 4-for-5 from distance. Johnson chipped in 10, going 3-for-4 from the field (all from three) and 1-2 from the line. Sophomore
Giulia Simioni added seven points and six assists against only one turnover.
Simioni, who finishes the weekend with 16 assists, moves into third in the RMAC with five assists per game.
Down 21-7 just 12 minutes into the contest, senior
Kristy Marquez ignited an 8-0 spurt with a jumper. Classmate
Emma Hart added a jumper off a Marquez rejection. Both teams could not capitalize on offensive possessions before junior
Brittany Brown nailed a triple to cut the deficit to seven. Redshirt freshman
Kylee Reibel split from the line and the Cowgirls were down 21-15 with 4:09 left in the half.
The visitors scored five straight, but Highlands scored the final eight points of the half to bring the game within a basket. Johnson and Simioni hit back-to-back threes before Reibel scored a basket to bring the score to 26-23 with 31 seconds left. Both teams missed triples before half as the Cowgirls trailed by three at the break.
CSU Pueblo shot 7-14 (50 percent) from the field in the first 9:11 of the game, but finished the final 10:49 until break going just 2-16 (12.5 percent) from the field.
The ThunderWolves split from the line to begin the second half and forced a stop, but Menses picked up the steal and went to the basket with the fastbreak layup to cut the deficit in half. After another turnover, Sanchez nailed a triple for her first points of the game to give Highlands the lead for good.
In the second half, Highlands forced 11 CSU Pueblo turnovers and turned them in to 11 points. The Cowgirls also grabbed five steals.
Sanchez kept the 12-0 run going with a triple and a jumper to bring the home team advantage to six. Senior
Claudia Meneses capped the run on an outlet from Simioni's defensive rebound as Highlands led 35-27 with 15:57 remaining.
The plays that put the game away may have come from Las Vegas' own, junior
Miranda Martinez, picking up a pair of crucial steals. Cutting the Cowgirls' lead to 50-44 with about five minutes left and with the ball, the ThunderWolves found their pocket picked by Martinez. She shoveled the ball off to Simioni, who hit Meneses for the quick jumper. Martinez wasted no time, stealing the inbounds pass and getting the ball off to Meneses. Meneses found Johnson wide open on the perimeter and in a blink of an eye, the Cowgirls had their first double-digit lead of the game.
Being outscored 30-12 last night in points off turnovers, the Cowgirls turned it around and outscored the ThunderWolves 28-14. Highlands only shot 9-for-27 (33.3 percent) in the first half, but was blazing in the with a 16-25 (64 percent) mark in the second half – including 7-for-10 in triples.
For CSU-Pueblo, Ashley Piper narrowly missed the double-double with 15 points and nine boards. Katie Nehf had 12 points and seven rebounds.
CSU Pueblo jumped out to a 13-3 lead less than five minutes into the game. Nehf opened the game with a layup and Piper hit a triple. Dee Amieta hit a pair from the line and Nehf scored on a fastbreak off a steal. John stopped the bleeding with a three for the Cowgirls, but Nehf hit a layup and Piper hit a pair from the charity stripe.
The Cowgirls have two weeks off before they kick off 2015 at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Game time in the Mile High City is set for 5 p.m.
