Silver City, NM– The Western New Mexico University Mustangs geared uo to play against the University of Texas at Tyler Patriots, Saturday afternoon at Drag's Court. Mustangs would come out strong ready to compete in the game, but unfortunately it was not enough to take a Lone Star Conference victory from the Patriots.
 
The University of Texas at Tyler Patriots would immediately force the Mustang offense to give up turnovers early on in the game, giving them control over the court. Shooting behind the arc seem to favor the Mustangs in the first half. Sophomore Alina Simon (Killeen, TX/Ellison High School) decided that she was not going to give in to the defensive pressure given by the Patriots and drains a three early on in the game. Sophomore Cynane Bobbitt stepped off the bench to drain two three-pointers to give the Mustangs needed momentum and confidence. Patriots led the Mustangs 36-17. 

Coming from the halftime intermission veteran Cassandra Vickery (Tularosa, NM/Tularosa HS) went for the hard layup, made the basket and was fouled. Vickery secured three needed points for the Mustangs while also boosting moral for the team. Sophomore Olivia Lee (Peoria, AZ/Cactus HS) rebounded very well for the Mustangs on Patriot territory giving the team more attempts to do something with the ball. She would go on to earn 13 rebounds with 8 points while shooting 50% from the field goal range. The Western New Mexico University Mustangs would be defeated by the University of Texas at Tyler Patriots with a final score of 69-44. 

The sophomores of the Mustang team embarked their potential tonight taking control of the offense and defense. Points from the Mustang bench would be the reason why the team stayed closely in the game at times earning 22 points in comparison to the 17 points from the UTT bench. It was a rough day for offense averaging 29.5% from the paint and 22.7% beyond the arc. 

Mustangs to Highlight:
Olivia Lee (Peoria, AZ/Cactus HS) - (8 points, 13 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist)
Cynaye Bobbitt (Killeen, TX/Harker Heights HS) - (8 points, 1 rebound,  2 steals, 1 assist)
Cassandra Vickery (Tularosa, NM/Tularosa HS) - (7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist)


WNMU hits the head for a busy weekend Thursday, January 27th and Saturday January 29th against St. Edward's University and St Mary's University.
 
 
This game recap is presented by First American Bank. First American Bank is a proud supporter of WNMU Athletics!