Cowgirls hit the road to take on Dixie St., Westminster

LAS VEGAS, N.M. --- The New Mexico Highlands women's basketball team hits the road for the first time in RMAC play as the Cowgirls travel to take on Dixie State on Friday and Westminster on Saturday.

THE COWGIRLS COMING INTO THIS WEEK | SEASON STATS
The Cowgirls split a pair of RMAC games at home last weekend, falling to Fort Lewis College 88-51 on Friday and coming back to beat Adams State in overtime 66-62 on Saturday. In the win over the Grizzlies, NMHU trailed by six points with six minutes left in regulation before rallying to take a 49-47 lead on a jumper from Allyah George with 23 seconds left. But the Grizzlies scored with 14 seconds left to send the game to overtime. In overtime, the Cowgirls pulled away to pick up their first RMAC victory of the season. Jordyn Lewis led NMHU with 25 points while George had 20 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists.

On the season, Lewis is eighth in the RMAC in scoring at 15.7 points per game while she's second in free throw percentage (90 percent) and is third in 3-pointers per game (2.8). George is averaging 9.5 points and 5.9 rebounds, Brianna Stewart averages 8.9 points, DeAvion Allen leads the team in rebounding (6.8) and assists (2.1) while averaging 6.5 points per game while Amari Terry leads the team with 1.4 steals per game. 

ABOUT DIXIE STATE | SEASON STATS
The Trailblazers have started RMAC play 1-2 - all on the road, opening with an 81-63 loss to Westminster (Dec. 1), a 70-62 win at South Dakota Mines (Dec. 7) and an 89-70 loss to Black Hills State (Dec. 8). In the loss Saturday, Dixie State led 22-19 after the first quarter, but was outscored by 22 points over the final three quarters. Lisa VanCampen led the Trailblazers with 20 points to go along with five rebounds while Mariah Martin had 13 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals.

Martin leads the team in scoring (15 ppg - 9th in RMAC) and assists (3.7 - 7th in RMAC) while averaging 4.0 rebounds per contest while the 6-foot-1 VanCampen averaged 13.3 points, a team-best 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals (3rd in the RMAC). Ali Franks is also averaging double figures for the Trailblazers at 11.3 points per contest and is shooting 45.5 percent from beyond the arc (10-for-22). Rashel Blazzard also is shooting above 40 percent from beyond the arc at 42.9 percent (12-for-28) and is averaging 9.3 points per game. Morgen Myers leads the RMAC in steals at 3.7 per game.

Dixie State leads the RMAC in scoring at 77 points per game while they are 15th in the conference in points allowed at 71.2 per contest. The Trailblazers lead the RMAC in steals per contest as well at 14.2 per game and are forcing an RMAC high 24.2 turnovers per contest.

ABOUT WESTMINSTER | SEASON STATS
The Griffins are off to a 3-0 start to RMAC play, including a sweep on the road of Black Hills State (92-89 in overtime on Friday) and South Dakota Mines (66-61 on Saturday). In the win over Black Hills State, Westminster's Hunter Krebs drained a 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation to tie Black Hills State at 80-80. A Krebs layup (she finished with 19 points) with 1:09 left in the first overtime gave the Griffins the lead for good to hold on for the road win. Denise Gonzalez led Westminster with 27 points, six assists and five rebounds.

On the season, Westminster has two of the top five scorers in the conference in Gonzalez (18.4 - fourth) and Hunter (18.3 - fifth) with Gonzalez also averaging 5.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.6 steals while Hunter averages 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. Hunter is shooting 47.8 percent from 3-point range while Gonzalez is shooting 41.0 percent from beyond the arc.

Westminster is second in the RMAC in scoring at 74.9 points per game while allowing 69.9 points per contest (13th in the RMAC). The Griffins lead the RMAC in field goal percentage at 46.4 percent and blocks (5.1) and are third in 3-point percentage at 36.2 percent.