Ratliff With the Closer

Las Vegas, NM- The New Mexico Highlands Women's Basketball had an exciting victory over Oklahoma Pan Handle State University, 63-62. Your Cowgirls improve to 1-1 overall, and 0-0 in RMAC play.
 
First Quarter: The tempo of this game was set from the very beginning. The teams traded point for point resulting in an early 6-6 tie. Sophomore Kaylani Maiava gave the Cowgirls a 14-10 advantage before a media timeout stopped play. Right out of the timeout, Sophomore Brianna Pribble hit a midrange jumper to extend the lead. The Aggies answered back with a run 6-0 of their own and knotted the game up at 16-16.
 
Second Quarter: The Aggies opened up the second quarter with a 10-0 run, giving them an 8 point lead. While the Cowgirls could have folded with this, they came back to tie the score at 28-28 just before halftime. Freshmen Juliana Gurule pitched in four points in the second quarter to help the Cowgirls overcome the deficit.
 
Third Quarter: The second half started just as competitive as the first half. Neither team wanted the game to get away from them. Maiava would go on to score 7 staright points for the Cowgirls, giving them the 38-36 lead. The Aggies would not go away however, as they closed the third quarter trailing only by two, at 43-41.
 
Fourth Quarter: The game was set for an exciting finish. The Aggies were able to tie the game off of a pair of free throws, but Junior Shania Ratliff would quickly break the tie with a huge 3 point shot to put her team up once again. As soon as the Aggies claimed a slim 1 point lead, Ratliff would answer again with another 3 point shot. Pribble followed this up with a 3 of her own, giving the Cowgirls the 52-47 lead with just over 6 minutes left in the game. With just under 3 minutes left in the game, the aggies were threatening again, but Pribble came through huge for her team as she sunk her second 3 point shot of the quarter. The Aggies finally grabbed the lead at 62-61 with 46 seconds left in regulation. The Cowgirls did not flinch however, as Ratliff nailed the game winning jumper to give her team their first win of the season.
 
Final Score: Cowgirls-62 Aggies-61
 
The Cowgirls will be back in action on November 22^nd at 6:00 p.m. against the Eastern New Mexico University Grey Hounds.
 
Go Cowgirls!