Silver City, NM– The Mustangs opened the doors to their home arena, Drag's Court, to an exhilarating crowd on Friday evening. Hosting the Conference Challenge, Western New Mexico faced the New Mexico Highlands University Cowgirls in day one of the tournament. Following a heart-racing, infatuating game, the Mustangs defeated their opponent by four points, 67-61.
During the first quarter, the Mustangs and the Cowgirls played very competitively and were evenly matched. By the second quarter, the Mustangs struggled to find leadership on the court and were outscored by halftime 37-22 by the Cowgirls. Although the Cowgirls got a tasted of victory in the first half, junior Zyan Smith (Queen Creek, AZ/Mesquite High School ) refused to let the opponent take over the game on the Mustang's home court. Smith went on a 4-0 run at the beginning of the third quarter, setting the pace for Mustang offense and was quickly followed by her teammates. WNMU scored double the amount that NMHU scored in the third quarter, 28 points to 13 points.
In the final quarter (four), the Cowgirls were looking to close in on their 'win' but the Mustangs fought back to spoil their victory. The Mustangs were able to slowly pull away from the Cowgirls with a 9 point lead. With 51 seconds left on the clock and the Mustangs leading by 1, senior Kyanne Kowtach placed matter into her own hands by forcing the Cowgirl offense to turnover the ball twice, leading the WNMU to the triumph.
WNMU and NMHU played a very even match as both teams had 16 turnovers and 74 possessions. Mustangs shot slightly better than the Cowgirls in all areas:
3-pointers team percentage: 25.0% (NMHU), 27.8% (WNMU)
Field goal team percentage: 56.3% (NMHU), 57.1% (WNMU)
Leading the Stang Pack was junior Zyan Smith (Queen Creek, AZ/Mesquite High School ) shooting 60% from the field goal range, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and a total of 18 points on the night. Senior Kyanne Kowatch (Tularosa, NM/Tularosa HS) also played a large role into the success of the night shooting 40% from the field goal range, shooting 100% for 3-pointers (3-3), 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and a total of 15 points. Defensively, Destiney Johnson (El Paso, TX/Parkland HS) dominated the court with 1 steal, 3 blocks (one to end the game), and 6 defensive rebounds.
The Cowgirls had two girls score double-digits, Jordyn Lewis with 17 points and Sana'a Baker with 13 points.
Mustangs to highlight:
Zyan Smith (Queen Creek, AZ/Mesquite High School ): 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists
Kyanne Kowatch (Tularosa, NM/Tularosa HS): 15 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals
Destiney Johnson (El Paso, TX/Parkland HS): 6 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 steal
This game recap is presented by First American Bank. First American Bank is a proud supporter of WNMU Athletics!
