Box Score PUEBLO, Colo. – The Western New Mexico University women's basketball team opened the scoring Friday night against CSU-Pueblo before the Thunderwolves took over from that point forward on their way to a 97-42 victory Friday night inside Massari Arena in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.


WNMU (0-8, 0-5 RMAC) opened the scoring a minute-and-a-half in as both teams missed a few shots early before Heather Hamilton (Ely, NV/White Pine High School) connected on a jumper off a steal by Amanda Tucker (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School) for the early 2-0 lead.


CSU-P (7-2, 4-1 RMAC) answered back in a big way, rolling off a 18-0 run over the next four minutes for the 18-2 lead, as the streak was finally snapped on a jumper by Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School) in the paint from Tucker at the 14:05 mark.


Trailing 20-4, the Mustangs delivered a pair of three-pointers, with the first coming from Lonnie Sanchez (Scottsdale, AZ/St. Mary's High School), which Wohltman followed with one of her own to get WNMU into double-digits and cut the deficit to 10, 20-10.


The Thunderwolves came back with another thunderous run, this one a 9-0 variety to push the lead to 29-10 near the midway point of the first half.


Susie Guerrero (Willcox, AZ/Willcox High School) made one of two from the foul line and after Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School) made a layup on the fastbreak from Larissa Loera (Mira Loma, CA/Jurupa Valley High School), the Mustangs were back within 16, 29-13, at the 10:21 mark, but that would be as close as the Mustangs would get the rest of the half.


CSU-P outscored WNMU by 16 over the final half of the opening stanza to take a 55-23 lead into the locker room.


The Thunderwolves continued with the momentum into the second half on a 5-0 run before the Mustangs tallied their first points of the half over three minutes in when Kassie Scott (El Paso, TX/Coronado High School) delivered a jumper in the paint to leave CSU-P ahead 60-25.


CSU-P controlled the rest of the half, as that would be as close as the Mustangs would get the rest of the way.


Kim Clark (Santee, CA/West Hills High School) led the Mustangs with 10 points, while Tucker added nine points and Hamilton another six.


WNMU shot just 30.4 from the field, while the Thunderwolves shot close to 50 percent (48.6).


The Thunderwolves had five players in double-figures, led by Jennelle Branting's 20.


WNMU will return to action Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. when they will play at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
 

Western New Mexico vs CSU-Pueblo
12/16/11 5:30 p.m. at Pueblo, CO (Massari Arena)
At Pueblo, CO (Massari Arena)
CSU-PUEBLO 97, WESTERN NEW MEXICO 42
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (0-8 (0-5 RMAC))
Kim Clark (Santee, CA/West Hills High School) 4-13 0-1 10; Amanda Tucker (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School) 3-13 2-2 9; Heather Hamilton (Ely, NV/White Pine High School) 3-3 0-2 6;
Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School) 2-7 0-0 5; Kassie Scott (El Paso, TX/Coronado High School) 2-6 0-0 4; Lonnie Sanchez (Scottsdale, AZ/St. Mary's High School) 1-4 0-0 3;
Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School) 1-3 0-0 2; Sasha Montez (Waianae, HI/Nanakuli High School) 1-2 0-0 2; Susie Guerrero (Willcox, AZ/Willcox High School) 0-4 1-2 1;
Larissa Loera (Mira Loma, CA/Jurupa Valley High School) 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-56 3-7 42.
CSU-PUEBLO (7-2 (4-1 RMAC))
Jennelle Branting 7-11 3-3 20; Alex Evans 7-7 1-1 18; Laurel Kearsley 5-10
4-4 15; Kendall Babler 4-8 0-0 12; Paige Ramm 4-9 1-2 10; Taylor Fox 3-8 0-0
7; Alexa Ward 1-4 4-4 6; Erica Hicks 2-9 0-0 5; Katie Nehf 1-4 0-2 2; Emily
Dungey 1-2 0-0 2; Lindsay Harder 0-0 0-0 0; Tori Curneen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
35-72 13-16 97.
Western New Mexico............   23   19  -   42
CSU-Pueblo....................   55   42  -   97
3-point goals--Western New Mexico 5-15 (Kim Clark (Santee, CA/West Hills High School) 2-4; Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School) 1-3;
Lonnie Sanchez (Scottsdale, AZ/St. Mary's High School) 1-1; Amanda Tucker (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School) 1-5; Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School) 0-1; Kassie Scott (El Paso, TX/Coronado High School) 0-1),
CSU-Pueblo 14-26 (Kendall Babler 4-6; Alex Evans 3-3; Jennelle Branting 3-4;
Erica Hicks 1-4; Taylor Fox 1-3; Paige Ramm 1-3; Laurel Kearsley 1-1; Emily
Dungey 0-1; Alexa Ward 0-1). Fouled out--Western New Mexico-Heather
Hamilton, CSU-Pueblo-None. Rebounds--Western New Mexico 24 (Amanda Tucker (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School)
5), CSU-Pueblo 55 (Laurel Kearsley 13). Assists--Western New Mexico 7
(Amanda Tucker (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School) 4), CSU-Pueblo 25 (Alex Evans 6). Total fouls--Western New
Mexico 13, CSU-Pueblo 8. Technical fouls--Western New Mexico-None,
CSU-Pueblo-None. A-410