Women’s Basketball Travels to Oklahoma to Face Rogers State, Newman

CLAREMORE, Okla. – The Western New Mexico University women's basketball team opens the 2017-18 regular season with another Conference Challenge, only this time it will be in Oklahoma against Rogers State and Newman this weekend.

The Lady Mustangs will open the trip on Friday at 6 p.m. against Rogers State and then on Saturday against Newman at 4 p.m. Both start times are Central Time. Rogers State will be the host institution for the challenge.

WNMU played Rogers State last year in the Conference Challenge that was played in Las Vegas, N.M., and they pulled out the tight 63-61 victory over the Hillcats. WNMU hasn't faced Newman in the past at least 12 years. The Lady Mustangs went 3-0 in neutral site games last year defeating Oklahoma Panhandle State, Rogers State and Western State.

The Lady Mustangs return four players from last year's team that went 5-22 overall, but came close in several games. Seniors Jade Botelho (Honolulu, HI/Iolani), Myla Woods-Brown (Roswell, NM/Roswell), along with juniors Megan Looney (Phoenix, AZ/Apache Junction) and Lucy Benning (El Paso, TX/El Paso) return from last year. Other newcomers junior Ashton Carrasco (El Paso, TX/Canutillo), junior Takiyah Lopez (El Paso, TX/Chapin), freshman Jenika Padilla (Las Vegas, NM/West Las Vegas) and freshman Rachel Francisco (Seattle, WA/Holy Names Academy) also played against the Wildcats in their first games as Lady Mustangs.

Freshman Cassandra Vickery (Tularosa, NM/Tularosa) played well in the exhibition game this past Monday at the University of Arizona as she led the team with 12 points. Botelho added eight points and senior newcomer Melody McLaughlin (Tucson, AZ/Mountain View) added seven. McLaughlin will face her old team on Saturday, as she spent the past two seasons with the Newman Jets.

In last year's meeting against Rogers State, WNMU roared back with a 24-15 scoring effort in the fourth quarter to surge back for the win. Looney hit a free throw down the stretch to take the two-point lead and the Hillcats weren't able to get a shot off at the end of the game with the Lady Mustangs claiming the 63-61 victory.

In that game, Looney scored seven points and Botelho added six.

Rogers State went 8-20 last year as Lauren Schuldt was the second-leading scorer on the team last year averaging 8.6 points and she returns for her junior year. Returning senior Nikola Nedoroscikova added 7.4 per game. Schuldt led the team in rebounding at 6.1 per game. They averaged 57.7 points per game and allowed 62.3. The Hillcats went 6-8 at home last year.

To close the weekend, WNMU will face Newman. The Jets went 19-10 last year and advanced to the Heartland Conference tournament before falling to Lubbock Christian. Hannah Alexander led the team last year averaging 14.4 points and she returns for her senior season. Bria DeGrate will be a junior this year after tallying 13.2 points per game last year. Their top three rebounders all graduated, as DeGrate was the fourth-leading rebounder at 4.2 per game. They averaged 70.6 points and allowed 59.2. Newman went 3-1 in neutral site games last year.

Live video and stats will be available for both games.

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Players Mentioned

#25 Lucy Benning: G; 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior

#31 Jade Botelho: F; 5' 10"; Senior

#42 Myla Woods-Brown: G/F; 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior

#50 Ashton Carrasco: F; 6' 4"; Junior

#15 Rachel Francisco: G; 5' 3"; Freshman

#10 Takiyah Lopez: G; 5' 8"; Junior

#11 Jenika Padilla: G; 5' 8"; Freshman

#13 Cassandra Vickery: G; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#25 Lucy Benning
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#31 Jade Botelho
: 5' 10"; Senior
: F

#42 Myla Woods-Brown
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Senior
: G/F

#50 Ashton Carrasco
: 6' 4"; Junior
: F

#15 Rachel Francisco
: 5' 3"; Freshman
: G

#10 Takiyah Lopez
: 5' 8"; Junior
: G

#11 Jenika Padilla
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: G

#13 Cassandra Vickery
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: G