Box Score SILVER CITY, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University women's basketball team held a six-point lead late in the game before Colorado State University-Pueblo closed the final three minutes on a 14-0 run to come back and take the win against the Lady Mustangs, 63-55, Friday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
Both teams struggled to control the ball in the opening half with 28 combined turnovers. That led to decent shooting percentages with WNMU (4-4, 2-3 RMAC) connecting on 11-of-23 (47.8), while CSU-Pueblo (7-2, 5-0 RMAC) made 13-of-30 (43.3).
The Lady Mustangs quickly had their largest lead of the opening half just over three minutes in after
RaTanya Newsome (Tucson, AZ/Tucson High School) hit a layup off an assist by
Ashley Mitchell (Fort Defiance, AZ/Window Rock High School) for the 7-2 advantage.
WNMU would push the lead back to five a number of times, at 14-9 on a layup by
Jordan Gutierrez (Albuquerque, NM/Valley High School) off the fastbreak and then a 17-12 lead following three free throws by Gutierrez.
That would be the last time the Lady Mustangs held a lead of at least five with the Lady ThunderWolves coming back to take their first lead and then their largest lead of the half of three at 31-28 with just seconds remaining.
Jade Botelho (Honolulu, HI/Iolani High School) helped draw WNMU to within a point following a tough jumper in the paint against the 2-3 zone to provide the 31-30 halftime lead for CSU-Pueblo.
Mitchell had a strong start from the outside hitting 3-of-5 from downtown for nine points to lead WNMU over the first 20 minutes. Gutierrez chipped in seven and both Newsome and Botelho added six apiece. Katie Nehf was a force inside for the Lady ThunderWolves pouring in eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.
The Lady ThunderWolves continued the momentum taking their largest lead of the night at eight at the 14:20 mark with a 42-34 lead.
WNMU remained steady on offense, chipping away in large part to
Stephanie Douthit (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Mountain ) who hit back-to-back three-pointers to tie and then give the Lady Mustangs the 47-44 lead with nine minutes to play.
Stephanie Moore (Anton, TX/Anton High School) and Newsome combined for three points a few minutes later to give WNMU their largest lead of the night of six, 55-49, at the 3:11 mark.
From that point on it was all CSU-Pueblo as they would close the game on a 14-0 run to claim the victory. They took the lead with a minute left following a three by Dee Arrieta for the 57-55 advantage.
A turnover was then cashed into points by the Lady ThunderWolves as there was a foul on the other end, along with a technical which gave CSU-Pueblo four free throws. Ashley Piper would hit all four to give the ThunderWolves a six-point lead on their way to taking the win.
While both teams shot nearly 40 percent, the Lady ThunderWolves held a solid advantage on the glass holding a 41-26 edge. Botelho ended up leading WNMU with 14 points, Moore added 10, Mitchell with nine and Newsome with eight. Mitchell tallied a team-high five rebounds and Newsome had three steals.
Ashely Piper led CSU-Pueblo and all-scorers going for 18 points and also added a double-double with 10 rebounds. Nehf posted 12 points, five rebounds and a team-high two blocks and four steals.
WNMU will host UC-Colorado Springs Saturday night beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Mountain Lions came back to defeat New Mexico Highlands, 84-81, earlier tonight.
