Box Score SILVER CITY, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University women's basketball team built an 18-point lead in the first half and held the lead until a few minutes into the second half when CSU-Pueblo came back and just held on for the 64-57 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory Friday night inside Drag's Court.


Western New Mexico University (WNMU) came out strong scoring the first five points with Kassie Scott (El Paso, TX/Coronado High School) accounting for four of the points and Heather Hamilton (Ely, NV/White Pine High School) a free throw.


After CSU-Pueblo (CSU-P) tallied a three, WNMU (1-8, 0-5 RMAC) went on a run started by a jumper from Kim Clark (Santee, CA/West Hills High School) at the 14:34 mark. The run would continue with Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School) tallying a layup that triggered a 16-0 run. Scott followed with a jumper, a layup by Jelesia Gray (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School), playing in her first game of the season, a three by Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School), a jumper by Veronica Celaya (Chandler, AZ/Williams Field High School) and eventually a deep ball from Scott for a 21-3 lead with eight minutes to go before halftime. During the run, WNMU stifled CSU-P holding them to just a 1-for-17 start from the field.


CSU-P (7-2, 4-1 RMAC) would come back, trimming the deficit to six, 26-20, before halftime.


The ThunderWolves opened the second half with the first seven points for their first lead of the game at 27-26 nearly three minutes into the second stanza.


WNMU would respond, jumping back in front by two on a three from Wohltman for a 29-27 lead and later Kim Clark (Santee, CA/West Hills High School) would extend the lead back to three, 32-29, with 16:31 to go in the game.
The lead would get as high as four, 36-32, with 14:58 to play on a jumper by Scott. The ThunderWolves would respond again, going on an 11-0 run to take a 43-36 lead near the midway point of the half.
The Lady Mustangs came charging back, getting to within one at 45-44 on a jumper by Celaya with still 7:46 to play.


CSU-P would then hold between a two-and-four point lead over the next several minutes before pushing the lead to seven, 62-55, with just over a minute to play. A Scott layup on the next possession would get WNMU within five, but the ThunderWolves capitalized on foul shots down the stretch to pull out the win.


Scott ended up leading the Mustangs and all-scorers going for 18 points, along with three assists and two steals. Gray added eight points, to go along with four rebounds. Hamilton, Clark and Wohltman added seven points apiece. Celaya led the team in rebounds with seven.


Laurel Kearsley led the ThunderWolves tallying a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.


WNMU shot 46.2 percent from the field (24-52), while holding CSU-P to a 39.3 effort (22-56). The ThunderWolves held the advantage in three-pointers (10-5) and free throws (10-4).


WNMU will return to action tomorrow night when they will host the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs with game time set for 7:30 p.m. inside Drag's Court.
 
CSU-PUEBLO 64, WESTERN NEW MEXICO 57
CSU-PUEBLO (7-2, 4-1 RMAC)
Laurel Kearsley 6-11 1-2 13; Erica Hicks 3-9 1-3 10; Taylor Fox 2-4 3-4 9;
Alex Evans 3-8 1-3 9; Caiti Forrester 3-4 0-0 8; Paige Ramm 3-7 2-4 8; Jenay
Locke 1-3 2-2 5; Tiana Gill 1-5 0-0 2; Katie Nehf 0-3 0-4 0; Dee Arrieta 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 22-56 10-22 64.
WESTERN NEW MEXICO (1-8, 0-5 RMAC)
Kassie Scott (El Paso, TX/Coronado High School) 8-11 0-0 18; Jelesia Gray (Sierra Vista, AZ/Buena High School) 4-6 0-1 8; Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School) 2-11 2-2
7; Heather Hamilton (Ely, NV/White Pine High School) 3-7 1-2 7; Kim Clark (Santee, CA/West Hills High School) 3-8 0-0 7; Veronica Celaya (Chandler, AZ/Williams Field High School) 3-7 0-0
6; Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School) 1-1 0-0 3; Larissa Loera (Mira Loma, CA/Jurupa Valley High School) 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 24-52 4-7 57.
CSU-Pueblo....................   20   44  -   64
Western New Mexico............   26   31  -   57
3-point goals--CSU-Pueblo 10-24 (Erica Hicks 3-5; Alex Evans 2-5; Taylor Fox
2-4; Caiti Forrester 2-3; Jenay Locke 1-3; Katie Nehf 0-1; Dee Arrieta 0-1;
Paige Ramm 0-2), Western New Mexico 5-15 (Kassie Scott (El Paso, TX/Coronado High School) 2-3; Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School)
1-1; Morgan Wohltman (Queen Creek, AZ/Highland High School) 1-4; Kim Clark (Santee, CA/West Hills High School) 1-5; Veronica Celaya (Chandler, AZ/Williams Field High School) 0-2). Fouled
out--CSU-Pueblo-None, Western New Mexico-None. Rebounds--CSU-Pueblo 41
(Laurel Kearsley 10), Western New Mexico 30 (Veronica Celaya (Chandler, AZ/Williams Field High School) 7).
Assists--CSU-Pueblo 16 (Jenay Locke 5), Western New Mexico 14 (Heather
Hamilton 4). Total fouls--CSU-Pueblo 13, Western New Mexico 18. Technical
fouls--CSU-Pueblo-None, Western New Mexico-None. A-175