Women's Basketball | 1/9/2015 1:07:00 PM
MEN'S BASKETBALL at FORT LEWIS: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEOWOMEN'S BASKETBALL at ADAMS STATE: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEOMEN'S BASKETBALL at ADAMS STATE: LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO
DURANGO and
ALAMOSA, Colo. – The Cowboys (three games thus far) and Cowgirls (two contests) wrap up their longest road swings of the year when the New Mexico Highlands men's basketball team (1-11, 1-7 RMAC) and women's basketball teams (4-8, 3-5 RMAC) travels to Southern Colorado to battle Fort Lewis Friday (Jan. 9) and Adams State Saturday (Jan. 10).
Both game days begin at 5:30 p.m. with the women playing.
The men had a roadblock with two losses last weekend to nationally-ranked Metropolitan State University of Denver and Regis last week, but the Cowboys gave New Mexico State, a team who has qualified for the NCAA Tournament each of the last four years, all it could handle in a 75-67 loss at the Pan American Center Tuesday (Jan. 6). It was the closest Highlands has been to knocking off the Aggies in 65 years.
Sophomore
Ricky Norris put in his best game in a Highlands uniform with a career-best in points (17), rebounds (seven) and assists (four). In fact, the four assists in that one single game is only one less than first five games of his Highlands career.
To read more about the game at MSU Denver, click
here. To read more about the game at Regis, click
here. To read more about the game at New Mexico State, click
here. Junior
Kendrick Nichols is sixth in the conference and 83rd in the nation with 18 points per game. He is also hitting an average of nearly 37 percent of his three point shots. Classmate
Kalen Shane, who has a double-double in the lone Highlands win on the season, leads the team with 6.5 rebounds per game.
The New Mexico Highlands women's basketball team is still searching for the first road win of the season after falling at MSU Denver and Regis last week.
To read more about the game against the Roadrunners, click
here.
To read more about the game against the Rangers, click
here. The Cowgirls have some hot shooting, particularly from the free throw line and behind the arc. From deep, Highlands is second in the RMAC and 30th in the nation by hitting 37.2 percent of its threes. From the line, the Cowgirls are third in the conference and 60th in the nation by hitting 72.7 percent of their free throws.
Senior
Anngelina Sanchez continues to lead the team with 14.6 points per game, but classmate
Jenny Johnson – who led the team in the non-conference in ppg – is closing in with 13.0 points per game. However, Johnson leads the conference and is second in the nation by hitting better than 55 percent from beyond the arc. Sophomore
Giulia Simioni, who is third in the conference and 63rd in the country with 4.3 assists per game, still has the most assists (10) in a game in the conference this season.
In fact, Simioni's 10 assists against UC Colorado Springs (Dec. 19, 2014) is the most in a single game for a Cowgirl in nearly a decade.
Scouting Fort Lewis Men Fort Lewis (10-3, 5-2 RMAC), ranked 10th in the latest regional poll, likes to get out in score as it is 25th in the nation by scoring more than 85 points a game. However, they also give up a lot of points to the tune of more than 75 a game. The Skyhawks are also 18th in the nation by hitting nearly 51 percent of their shots.
Alex Herrera, who is eighth in the nation with 11.2 rebounds per game and 16th with 22.4 points per game, is one of only 16 players in NCAA Division II averaging a double-double for the season. His 47 blocks for the season also leads the nation.
Scouting Adams State Men The Cowboys defense will face another stiff test against a team who shoots the ball well when they take on Adams State (6-4, 3-4 RMAC) Saturday night. Like the night before, Fort Lewis is north of 50 percent when shooting the ball. The Grizzlies are also 64th in the nation with 14.2 turnovers per game and average about four less miscues per game than their opponents. They are also ninth in the nation with 5.5 blocks per game.
Adams State has many contributors as Shakir Smith leads the team with 16.7 points per game, Mike Hemsley grabs 6.3 boards per game and Michael Middlebrooks is sixth in the nation with 3.1 blocks per game.
Scouting Fort Lewis Women The Cowgirls will finally get a bit of a break this weekend, starting with Fort Lewis (6-5, 3-4) on Friday night. The Skyhawks like to slow things down and plays a stingy defense, only allowing 59.1 points per game and is 10th in the nation by allowing teams to only shoot 34.4 percent. Conversely, they are in the bottom third of the nation by scoring only 62 points per game.
Marcy Brighton is the only player on Fort Lewis averaging double-digit scoring on the season with 13 points per game. She also leads the team with six rebounds per game.
Scouting Adams State Adams State (1-10, 1-6 RMAC) sits near the bottom of the conference and NCAA in many statistical categories, but its one win is against a team that the Cowgirls got beat by (Western State). The Grizzlies are second to last in the nation, losing by an average of 18.5 points.
Mariah Gonzalez leads with 13 points per game while is 52nd in the nation with 2.5 steals per game. Desree Anderson is second on the teams with 12.8 points per game but leads the team with 4.4 rebounds per game.
Next Up Highlands basketball kicks off a quick three game home stand next week with the lone games of the season against Chadron State on Friday (Jan. 16) and Black Hills State Saturday (Jan. 17). The women's game begins at 5 p.m. in the Wilson Complex both days.
