Box Score LAS VEGAS, N.M. – In the final game for six seniors, the Cowgirls scored 11 unanswered to take the lead for good in the second half as the New Mexico Highlands women's basketball team (12-14, 8-14 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) knocks off Western New Mexico (11-17, 7-15 RMAC) in the final game for both teams Saturday afternoon (March 1).
Trailing 33-31 in the opening minutes of the second half, senior
Alyssa Lopez – who scored 18 in the game to finish her Highlands career with 1,399 points – hit her only triple of the game to start the all-senior spurt. After a timeout, senior
China Smith got into the act with a layup off a pass from classmate
Patrina Goree. Smith recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds for the game, her 13th double-double of the season and the 26th of her illustrious Highland's career.
Goree added a layup and Smith hit a pair of the line to push the lead to seven. Two offensive rebounds by Smith before the eventual putback put the Cowgirls up 42-33 with 15:01 to play.
Western New Mexico cut it to eight with 4:27 left, but the Cowgirls essentially put the game on ice when junior
Jenny Johnson hit a jumper and sophomore
Leisha Crawford buried a triple on a pass from Lopez.
Johnson came off the bench for 12 points.
Nine unanswered midway through the first half put the Cowgirls up six. Down 14-11, Crawford hit a jumper and Smith added a layup. Johnson added a bunny in the paint before Crawford hit a triple to put Highlands up 20-14 with 8:09 left until halftime.
Western New Mexico answered that spurt with a 7-0 run of its own. Jordan Gutierrez hit a jumper followed by a pair of free throws by Nalani Hernandez. RaTanya Newsome, who finished with a game-high 26 points, tied the game at 20 with a layup. She split from the line with 4:28 until break to put the Mustangs up 21-20.
Hernandez came off the bench for Western New Mexico with 12 points while Stephanie Moore had 10.
