LAS VEGAS, N.M. – She may have been the smallest player on the court, but junior
Miranda Martinez and Las Vegas, New Mexico, native easily turned it the best game of her career. Martinez scored 12 points, grabbed nine boards, dished out six assists and even had a pair of steals as the New Mexico Highlands women's basketball team (3-3, 2-0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) beat Colorado School of Mines (5-3, 0-2 RMAC) 75-68 Saturday night at the John A. Wilson Complex.
The Orediggers, trailing at the half, came out and hit back-to-back threes to take a 39-35 lead. However, the Cowgirls answered with back-to-back threes by seniors
Anngelina Sanchez and
Jenny Johnson to start an 11-0 spurt and take the lead for good in the game. Sanchez hit a layup and sophomore
Giulia Simioni added a three to give the Cowgirls a 46-39 lead with 16:51 left in the game.
Twice in the second half, the Orediggers cut the deficit to two before Highlands widened the advantage. Up 46-44 with 14:12 left, redshirt freshman
Michelle Tapia split from the line before Sanchez hit a fastbreak layup on a fastbreak from a senior
Claudia Meneses outlet pass. After a stop, Meneses hit a triple as Highlands led 52-44 with 12:42 left.
With 7:46 left and a Cowgirls 59-57 lead, Martinez hit a triple to jumpstart an 8-1 run. Sanchez then grabbed a defensive rebound to take it coast-to-coast to push the lead to seven. Laura Tyree split from the line for the Orediggers, but Sanchez hit a layup and then split from the line to give the Cowgirls a 67-58 with five minutes left.
Martinez sealed the game with a three to put Highlands up 75-64 with 1:11 left as the Cowgirls went on to win 75-68.
Sanchez led Highlands with 20 points while Johnson chipped in 13. The Cowgirls flexed their muscle on the glass by out-rebounding the Orediggers 42-31, the third-straight contest Highlands have achieved that feat.
Going only nine deep, Colorado School of Mines had five players score in double figures. But, only two points were scored by the other four players combined. Kristen Rydell led the Orediggers with 17 while Courtney Martin had 15. Sam Rusk and Paige Husa both chipped in 12 while Laura Tyree had 10. Tyree narrowly missed the double-double with eight assists.
Colorado School of Mines opened up an 18-11 lead on a fastbreak layup by Husa with 12:44 left in the first half. Martinez hit a three and Menses added a layup to cut the deficit to two. Colorado School of Mines pushed it back up to five, but the Cowgirls countered with an 8-0 run. Brown hit a three and a jumper by Sanchez tied the game. Brown hit another three to give Highlands its first lead of the game with 5:38 left in the first half.
The Cowgirls returns to action next Friday (Dec. 12) for their first conference road game of the season at Western State. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.
