Box Score CHADRON, Neb. – The Western New Mexico University women's basketball team controlled the first half and held a three-point lead at the break. Chadron State responded by outscoring the Mustangs by 14 in the second half on their way to a 81-70 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory over the Mustangs Saturday night.


WNMU (0-15, 0-12 RMAC) came out firing in the early minutes, with Kassie Scott (El Paso, TX/Coronado High School) and Amanda Tucker (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School) connecting on a pair of three's to open the game and give the Mustangs a 6-3 lead.


After CSC (4-11, 4-7 RMAC) tallied a free throw, WNMU kept the pressure coming, with Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School) tallying a jumper, followed by a three from Amanda Tucker (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School) for a 11-4 lead just a little over two minutes in.


The lead would continue to expand, with Lonnie Sanchez (Scottsdale, AZ/St. Mary's High School) hitting a free throw and then she followed that with a three to make it a 15-4 lead at the 13:42 mark.


The Eagles finally scored on their next possession to snap a scoreless minute streak that reached over five minutes.


CSC fought back to outscore the Mustangs by 10 over the next six minutes to trim the deficit to one, 23-22, but Lariessa Loera and Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School) answered with a pair of shots to push the lead back to five, 27-22 with five minutes to play before halftime.


Loera closed the scoring for the half with a jumper near the one-minute mark to give the Mustangs a 31-28 halftime lead.
Everything changed in the second half, however and right from the get go.


Eleven seconds in, the Eagles posted a layup and then another quick score gave CSC their first lead of the game of 32-31 38 seconds into the second stanza.


The lead wouldn't reach over two points for either side over the next five minutes when the Eagles tallied a three-pointer for a three-point lead, followed by a layup on the fastbreak for a 48-43 lead.


The Mustangs fought back, as Heather Hamilton (Ely, NV/White Pine High School) answered with a layup, which Wohltman added to that a jumper in the paint to trim the deficit to one, 48-47.


CSC continued to keep the lead in their favor, grabbing the next five points for their largest lead of six, 53-47, midway through the second half.


WNMU made one last run, cutting the lead down to two, 58-56, with seven minutes to play after Tucker connected on one of two free throws.


The Eagles followed by breaking off a 14-0 run to put the game out of reach.


WNMU was led by 16 from Tucker, followed by 15 from Wohltman and 11 from Scott. CSC's Kaitlin Petri led all-scorers with 20 points. Both teams shot over 40 percent from the field with the Eagles hitting 25-of-60 (41.7) to a 27-of-62 (43.5) effort for WNMU. CSC took advantage of a big discrepancy at the foul line, making 29-of-39 (74.4), while WNMU went to the stripe just 16 times, making eight.


WNMU will return to action playing in just one game in the coming week when they will host New Mexico Highlands inside Drag's Court on Saturday night with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m. Highlands also had a rough trip to Nebraska, dropping both games this weekend, as well.
 

Western New Mexico vs Chadron State
01/14/12 6 p.m. at Chadron, NE (Armstrong Gymnasium)
At Chadron, NE (Armstrong Gymnasium)
CHADRON STATE 81, WESTERN NEW MEXICO 70
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (0-15, 0-12 RMAC)
Amanda Tucker (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School) 6-8 1-2 16; Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School) 7-16 1-1 15; Kassie Scott (El Paso, TX/Coronado High School) 4-9 1-3
11; Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School) 3-6 0-0 7; Heather Hamilton (Ely, NV/White Pine High School) 2-7 2-4 6; Kim Clark (Santee, CA/West Hills High School) 2-8 1-2
6; Lonnie Sanchez (Scottsdale, AZ/St. Mary's High School) 1-2 2-4 5; Larissa Loera (Mira Loma, CA/Jurupa Valley High School) 2-3 0-0 4; Sasha Montez (Waianae, HI/Nanakuli High School) 0-3 0-0
0. Totals 27-62 8-16 70.
CHADRON STATE (4-11, 4-7 RMAC)
Kaitlin Petri 5-9 9-10 20; Sadie Waugh 5-9 7-7 17; Rachael Smidt 6-9 4-5 16;
Kada Williams 3-10 2-3 8; Marla Munsen 2-5 2-4 6; Dallas Shaw 1-8 2-2 5;
Lexi Smidt 1-5 1-2 3; Greer Babbe 1-1 1-2 3; Betsy Moler 1-2 0-0 2; Mallory
Irvine 0-1 1-2 1; Kattie Ranta 0-1 0-2 0; Kate Simonton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
25-60 29-39 81.
Western New Mexico............   31   39  -   70
Chadron State.................   28   53  -   81
3-point goals--Western New Mexico 8-22 (Amanda Tucker (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School) 3-5; Kassie Scott (El Paso, TX/Coronado High School) 2-3;
Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School) 1-3; Kim Clark (Santee, CA/West Hills High School) 1-4; Lonnie Sanchez (Scottsdale, AZ/St. Mary's High School) 1-2; Sasha Montez (Waianae, HI/Nanakuli High School) 0-1;
Larissa Loera (Mira Loma, CA/Jurupa Valley High School) 0-1; Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School) 0-3), Chadron State 2-11 (Kaitlin Petri
1-2; Dallas Shaw 1-5; Marla Munsen 0-2; Lexi Smidt 0-2). Fouled out--Western
New Mexico-Kassie Scott (El Paso, TX/Coronado High School); Heather Hamilton (Ely, NV/White Pine High School), Chadron State-None.
Rebounds--Western New Mexico 32 (Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School) 9), Chadron State 46
(Kaitlin Petri 9). Assists--Western New Mexico 10 (Amanda Tucker (Las Cruces, NM/Mayfield High School) 5), Chadron
State 13 (Dallas Shaw 3; Kada Williams 3). Total fouls--Western New Mexico
27, Chadron State 14. Technical fouls--Western New Mexico-Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School),
Chadron State-None. A-208