Second half pressure and too many turnovers cost the University of Nebraska-Kearney its first half lead and ultimately the game Thursday as host Western New Mexico knocked off the visiting Lopers, 76-71, in a thrilling RMAC women's basketball clash. The win notched WNMU its third win of the season against 10 losses (3-4 RMAC) while Kearney fell to 3-9 (3-3 RMAC).
The game was all Kearney in the early going as the Drag's Court crowd saw the visitors nail 6 of 7 from beyond the arc, but the Mustangs chipped away at the Loper lead and trailed by six points at the intermission, 36-42. The second half saw WNMU turn up the heat on the defensive side of the ball, forcing UNK to give up the ball too many times to hold on.
The Mustangs shot 43.3 percent from the floor to UNK's 45.2 but forced 18 turnovers and had a three-rebound advantage over the Lopers.
WNMU had a balanced scoring attack with
Shatwa Morris (Las Cruces, NM, Mayfield High School)leading way with 17 points with
Lonnie Sanchez (Scottsdale, AZ, St. Mary's High School, Central Arizona College) just a point shy off that mark with 16.
Dana Alexander (Fort Worth, TX, Arlington Heights High School, Kilgore College; East Texas Baptist University) added 14 while
Audra Major (Socorro, NM, Socorro High School, Midland Community College) chipped in 10. Morris went a remarkable 10 of 13 from the charity stripe.
UNK was led by Megan Beckner's impressive 30-point effort. Debi Johnson added 15, while Vanessa Leeper added 14.
