SILVER CITY, N.M. – Northern New Mexico College not only stayed in the game, but they nearly won it. The Western New Mexico University women's basketball team got a big late basket by junior Jeylynn Fields (Casa Grande, AZ/Casa Grande) and then survived an in-bounds turnover and half-court shot to claim the 68-66 victory over the Eagles Monday night.

The game seemed to have all the makings for a close contest early on, as each time WNMU (3-1) tried to pull away, NNMC (4-4) was ready with an answer.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Eagles were down just one when Fields got loose for back-to-back three-pointers to move the lead to seven, 57-50. Fields paced the Lady Mustangs with 26 points to lead all-scorers. NNMC fought back to take the lead at 58-57 on a jumper by Ashley John.

Senior Jordan Gutierrez (Albuquerque, NM/Valley ) boosted WNMU back in front with a three on the next trip down the floor, just to watch John do it again, this time with an incredible fall away shot while being fouled. She would cash in the foul shot to move the Eagles back to a 61-60 lead with 4:58 to play in the game.

Fields then started to take over again, hitting a layup after she collected the defensive board on the other end and another layup off an offensive rebound for the 64-61 lead with three minutes to play.

NNMC refused to go away, as sharp-shooter Demetria Clichee sunk her seventh trey of the night to knot the game at 64. Clichee was hitting from everywhere beyond the arc, guarded or un-guarded, as she led the Eagles with 25 points.

With just a little over two minutes to play, the teams traded possessions with WNMU turning it over and NNMC missing on two cracks to take the lead. Fields delivered on the next trip down hitting another tough layup in the paint for the 66-64 lead with 1:54 to play.

Jocelynn Lackey answered with two from the charity stripe to tie the game for the 12^th time at 66 with 1:08 to play. Junior Shoniquia Coleman (Austin, TX/Colony) then came through with a big offensive rebound on a missed three-pointer that eventually led to Fields laying it in for the 68-66 lead with 35 seconds to play.

The Eagles ran the clock for a while without getting a shot, then took a timeout. Out of the break, they went to Cheyenne Cordova, but her contested three from the wing was too strong and Fields grabbed the rebound. With still 14 seconds to play, the Eagles committed a pair of fouls and were still two fouls from putting WNMU at the line in the bonus. With three seconds to play, WNMU turned the ball over on the in-bounds with Lackey collecting the steal. NNMC called timeout with 2.6 seconds to play and had to go the length of the floor. On the in-bounds it went to Cordova and she got as close as she could to mid-court and let it fly with it landing just short of a possible game-winning three-pointer sending WNMU to the two-point victory.
Early on, the Lady Mustangs were up five at 12-7 on a jumper by Coleman. WNMU kept the lead through the first 10 minutes holding the 18-15 advantage.

The second quarter belonged to the Eagles as they outscored WNMU 21-17 to end up taking a 36-35 lead into halftime.

The third quarter was just as tight with the teams trading leads, as the Lady Mustangs were up three at 43-40 on a trey by junior Jade Botelho (Honolulu, HI/Iolani ). The Eagles came back to lead by three a pair of times, with the last with 1:15 to go in the third on a jumper by Cordova. WNMU closed the final minute-plus strong getting a three from Gutierrez and free throw by Fields to take a 51-50 lead into the final quarter.

Outside of Fields' big game, she also added three rebounds and a steal. Gutierrez added 17 points with three, three-pointers, five assists, a block and three steals. Sophomore Megan Looney (Phoenix, AZ/Apache Junction ) grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

In addition to Clichee's big game for the Eagles, Cordova and John added 13 points apiece. John had a double-double with 11 rebounds, while RaeAnnealso pulled in 11 rebounds.

It was a block party throughout the night with the teams combining for 15 blocks, the Eagles sent back nine. WNMU dominated the glass on the offensive end with 21 rebounds and had 43 overall, while the Eagles ended up holding the overall edge on the glass with 49. NNMC shot 22-57 (39) from the field, 12-23 (52) from three and 10-13 (77) at the foul line. WNMU took 22 more shots making 27-79 (34), 7-20 (35) from three and 7-12 (58) at the charity stripe.

Using the size advantage, WNMU held a 30-16 edge on points in the paint, 16-5 on points off turnovers as the Eagles committed 22 turnovers to 10 for the Lady Mustangs and 28-12 on second-chance points. The score was tied 12 times and there were 14 lead changes.

WNMU will return to action this weekend when they will compete in the Colorado Mesa University Holiday Inn and Suites Thanksgiving Classic in Grand Junction, Colo., against Western State on Friday at 1 p.m. and host Colorado Mesa on Saturday at 5 p.m.