Box Score SILVER CITY, N.M. – A 12-0 run to cap the half and a 56 percent shooting effort in the opening stanza propelled the Western New Mexico University women's basketball team to a 77-62 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory over UC-Colorado Springs Friday night inside Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.


"We played pretty well at times tonight. Shooting 48 percent as a team for us is pretty good and held them to 35 percent," second-year head coach Rusty Kennedy said. "Anytime that we can do that we are much better, especially because we shoot under 40 percent as a team for the season."


UCCS (7-11, 6-8 RMAC) opened strong, pushing out to a five-point lead three minutes in. After the Mountain Lions moved in front by as many as eight a few minutes later, it was all WNMU (9-10, 6-8 RMAC) after that.

Trailing 19-11, the Lady Mustangs ripped off a blistering offensive and defensive attack over the remainder of the half going on a 32-12 run over a 13-minute span.


Freshman forward Tessa Jones (Truth or Consequences, NM/Hot Springs High School) started the run with a foul shot and that would ignite an 11-0 run. Junior guard Ashley Mitchell (Fort Defiance, AZ/Window Rock High School) added a three-pointer and after a fastbreak layup from junior point guard RaTanya Newsome (Tucson, AZ/Tucson High School), Mitchell delivered another three to put the Lady Mustangs on top, 20-19, near the midway point of the half. Jones would cap the run she started with a jumper in the paint a minute later for the 22-19 advantage. Mitchell connected on five 3-pointers to tie Moore for the team lead in scoring with 16.


After a run by the Mountain Lions to briefly take the lead and then tie it back up again, Moore helped trigger a 12-0 run to close the half with a layup. Junior guard Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School) added a triple and after freshman point guard Jordan Gutierrez (Albuquerque, NM/Valley High School) hit a jumper and Mitchell drilled a three, Young concluded the run with a pair from the line to give WNMU the 43-31 lead at the break.


In addition to the scoring run to cap the half, one of the top scorers in the RMAC, Abby Kirchoff, played only six minutes due to early foul trouble and scored four points. She would come back to score 13 in the second half to lead all-scorers with 17 points.


The momentum continued out of the half, as Moore tallied three straight baskets a few minutes into the second half to jump the lead to 19, 55-36, with 14:12 to play.


The Mountain Lions would make one last push getting back to within 11 at 57-46 near the midway point of the half, but the Lady Mustangs came back with a 7-0 run on baskets by junior forward Nalani Hernandez (Tucson, AZ/Tucson High School) and a three and two-point jumper from Young. WNMU would lead by as many as 20.

Moore made 6-of-7 from the field, including a 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line and added six rebounds. Newsome reached double-figures going for 11 points and added a team-high seven assists. Hernandez led the way in rebounds pulling down 10 and added seven points.

WNMU shot well from the field making 48 percent (26-54) for the game, including a 14-of-25 (56) effort in the first half. They held UCCS to a 34.9 (22-63) percent clip, as they limited the Mountain Lions to just 28.5 percent shooting (10-35) in the second stanza.

UCCS made one more three-pointer (9-8), while WNMU held a solid 17-9 advantage at the free throw line. Points in the paint also swung the way of the Lady Mustangs holding a 28-12 edge.

WNMU will host CSU-Pueblo Saturday night beginning at 5:30 p.m. the ThunderWolves, currently the second-seed in the conference, defeated New Mexico Highlands, 67-51, earlier tonight.