Salt Lake City, Utah - New Mexico Highlands erased an early deficit and led at halftime, but Westminster used a strong second-half push to hand the Cowgirls a 69-63 road loss Thursday evening at Behnken Field House.
Westminster jumped out to a 24-19 lead after the opening quarter, but New Mexico Highlands answered with its best stretch of the night in the second. The Cowgirls held the Griffins to just four points in the period and took a 32–28 advantage into the break.
The hosts responded in the third quarter, outscoring New Mexico Highlands 19-16 to regain the lead, then sealed the game with a 22-point fourth quarter.
Aniya Johnson led the Cowgirls with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, while
Essynce Contreraz added a season high 17 points off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting, including three three-pointers.
Jaelyn Bates chipped in eight points and four rebounds.
New Mexico Highlands received a strong lift from its reserves, outscoring Westminster's bench 51-8, but shot 34.8 percent from the field in the contest.
The Cowgirls fall to 10-12 overall and 6-9 in RMAC play, while Westminster improves to 7-14 overall and 4-11 in conference action.
New Mexico Highlands continues its road trip Saturday at Colorado Mesa. Game time is 1:00 pm.
