ENMU women stave off International late
Jan. 21—PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University's women have struggled shooting the ball much of the season, and those problems continued on Thursday night — in three of the four quarters.
In the second period, though, the Greyhounds found the range on 7-of-13 3-pointers for all 21 of their points, and they rode that cushion to what turned into a somewhat tight 73-67 Lone Star Conference victory over Texas A&M International at Greyhound Arena.
Junior guard Ashley Shipley scored a season-best 18 points — all on 3-pointers, including four in the second stanza — as the Hounds (8-8, 5-6 LSC) snapped a three-game losing streak.
Shipley, a junior from Tucumcari who transferred to ENMU this season from former LSC member Texas A&M-Commerce, went 4-of-6 from distance in the second frame and 6-for-13 overall.
"That was just ball movement," she said of the second-quarter blitz. "We started swinging the ball and getting some open looks."
All five starters reached double digits for the Hounds, who were without junior guard/forward Deja Adrian, the team's top scorer, after she injured a knee in practice this week. Senior forward Edecia Beck, who didn't have a field goal until late in the third period, hit 8-of-9 free throws and scored 14 of her season-best 17 points in the final stanza while flirting a bit with a triple double — she also had team highs with nine rebounds and six assists.
"She did a good job of getting herself to the free throw line," ENMU women's coach Meghan De los Reyes said of the left-handed Beck, who knocked down 11-of-13 charity shots overall and is 66-of-71 (93 percent) for the season.
Junior forward Laz Saunders added 13 points, sophomore guard Bella Stone 12 and freshman guard Julieta Ceja 10. Stone, who banked in a running 3-pointer from about 35 feet to end the third segment, went the entire 40 minutes for the second time this season and has played at least 36 minutes in 10 games — including seven of the last eight.
Overall, the Hounds shot 31 percent and had just eight 2-point field goals, five coming in the final frame, but their early cushion stood up against a late run by the Dustdevils (11-8, 4-7), who scored more points (34) and had more field goals (14) in the final stanza than in the first three combined.
"They (Dustdevils) hit some lucky shots in the fourth quarter," opined Shipley, who last week began playing without a face mask which had been protecting a broken nose. "Sometimes, you just have to live with it."
De los Reyes was OK with it, and happy to see her team be able to win without Adrian, who is second in the LSC in scoring (16.9 ppg) behind International junior forward Rai Brown (18.8).
"Deja's a big part of what we do," she said. "I was proud of our team (because) LSC wins are not easy.
"For us, seeing the ball going through the basket was key, and Ship was a big part of that."
Ending the losing streak, which was all on the road with the last two games at LSC powers West Texas A&M and Lubbock Christian, was important.
"It's nice to bounce back," Shipley said. "It's good for our mental state."
The Dustdevils (11-8, 4-7) got 16 points from sophomore guard Barbara Turkalj of Croatia, 14 points from Brown and 13 from freshman guard Marija Bakic of Montenegro. Shooting 35 percent through three periods, International scorched the nets for 14-for-17 in the final canto and actually finished the night above 50 percent (27-of-53).
"I'm a defensive-minded coach," De los Reyes said. "If we do our job on the defensive end, we can withstand some runs by the other team."
For the game, the Hounds converted 21-of-29 free throws, dominated International on the glass 43-31 and forced the Dustdevils into 22 turnovers.
ENMU hosted Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday. The Hounds have road outings on tap this week against Angelo State on Thursday and Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday.
