Tuesday, December 16, 2014
                                                                                                                      
PORTALES, N.M. — With the Eastern New Mexico University women's basketball team (3-5) facing a four-point deficit midway through the second half, senior forward Tori Tucker (Portales, N.M./Floyd HS/Howard College) contributed six points to an 11-2 run which propelled the Zias to a 72-57 over visiting Northern New Mexico (8-3) in front of 3,218 fans at Greyhound Arena. The win was ENMU's second straight and the first at Greyhound Arena since a 90-76 win over Texas A&M-Commerce, in January.
 
The contest was the first meeting between the teams and the second non-Division I opponent from New Mexico for the Zias, this season. Eastern defeated Western New Mexico by a 77-61 score.
 
The teams traded baskets early on before Jordyn Cooper (Jr., G, Texico, N.M./Texico HS) drained a three-point bucket to ignite a 12-0 Zia run, which stretched a 10-7 lead to 22-7 on Brittany Gutierrez's (Jr., P, Gallup, N.M./Otero JC) layup with 11:41 left in the half. After an exchange of baskets, the Eagles went on a 20-8 run over the ensuing 9:09 of play and pulled to within a single point, 32-31, on Demetria Clichee's trey, 11 seconds into the second half. Just 3:52 later, Northern New Mexico pulled even at 35-all on Clarence Sandjon's shot jumper and took its first lead, 37-35 on a layup from Ashley John with 15:26 remaining.
 
The second half would see four lead changes and three tie scores. The Eagles led by four on two occasions, the final time coming with 12:43 remaining on Francine Clark's layup. A Jasmine Johnson (Sr., P, DeSoto, Texas/DeSoto HS) free throw ignited an 11-2 run, which gave ENMU the lead for good. In the second half, the Zias held a 17-11 advantage on the boards, a 5-0 lead in second-chance points and an 11-0 edge in points off turnovers.
 
Eastern converted on a season-best 50 percent from the floor, 80 percent from the free throw line and connected on 40 percent from three-point range for the second straight game. Tucker paced the Zias with 17 points, all in the second half, grabbed five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. Cassidy Doherty ((Jr., G, Folsom, N.M./Melrose HS) dished out a career-high seven assists, grabbed five boards and a pair of steals. Jordyn Cooper scored all 11 of her points in the first half, added three assists and a steal. Sarah Stinnett (Jr., G, Fort Sumner, N.M./Howard College) and Shayla Williams (Jr., PG, Oklahoma City, Okla./Butler CC) each scored 11 points. Krishia Artieda paced NNMC with nine points
 
The Eastern New Mexico University women's basketball team will return to action on Thursday, when they take on Florida Southern as part of the FSC/Terrace Hotel Classic. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. MT.