Box Score LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Western New Mexico University women's basketball team led by as many as three in the first half and were tied at halftime before New Mexico Highlands University outscored the Lady Mustangs by 13 in the second stanza to take the 74-61 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory Saturday in the season finale for both teams.


Leads for either team reached just two points over the first nearly 10 minutes of the opening half when junior forward Nalani Hernandez (Tucson, AZ/Tucson High School) collected a layup to give WNMU (11-17, 7-15 RMAC) a 14-11 lead at the 11:29 mark.


NMHU (12-14, 8-14 RMAC) stormed back going on a 9-0 run to open their largest lead at the time of six, 20-14.


The Lady Mustangs responded, as freshman guard Jordan Gutierrez (Albuquerque, NM/Valley High School) started what would end up being a quick 7-0 run with a jumper. Hernandez would add a pair of foul shots before junior point guard RaTanya Newsome (Tucson, AZ/Tucson High School) tallied a layup and later split a pair from the line to help WNMU regain the lead, 21-20, with four minutes to play before the break. Newsome tallied three of what would turn out to be a game-high 26 points, her second highest scoring total of the season.


The teams traded baskets over the final minutes of the half with Newsome closing the scoring with a pair from the line to tie the game at 29 at halftime.


Junior center Stephanie Moore (Anton, TX/Anton High School) helped the Lady Mustangs regain the lead 36 seconds into the second half and following a Newsome jumper at the 18:41 mark to help the lead reach two once again, the Cowgirls reeled off a 11-0 run over the next three-plus minutes to take a 42-33 lead.


Hernandez and Newsome answered with jumpers on consecutive trips to shrink the deficit to five and Newsome would again bring the deficit back to five on a pair of free throws a few minutes later, but that would be as close as WNMU would get the rest of the way.


Newsome tallied a majority of her points at the charity stripe going 14-of-16, along with a 6-of-10 effort from the field. She also had three assists and two steals. Hernandez came off the bench to nearly record a double-double with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Moore rounded out the top-three scorers with 10 points. China Smith led the Cowgirls with 20 points and 11 rebounds


Both teams shot just under 40 percent with NMHU holding a slight edge hitting at 39 percent (23-59) to a 38.8 clip (19-49) for WNMU. NMHU made all four 3-pointers in the game and the teams combined to shoot 59 free throws with the Cowgirls holding a slight 24-23 advantage.


It was the final game as Lady Mustangs for seniors Kim Clark (Santee, CA/West Hills High School) and Veronica Celaya (Chandler, AZ/Williams Field High School).


The 11 wins this season are the most for the program since 2002-03.