Wednesday, January 14, 2015
                                                                                                                      
PORTALES, N.M. — Sarah Stinnett's (Jr., G, Fort Sumner, N.M./Howard College) bucket less than two minutes into Wednesday's Lone Star Conference game gave the Eastern New Mexico University women's basketball team (5-8; LSC 1-2) the lead for good, while Jordyn Cooper (Jr., G, Texico, N.M./Texico HS) poured in a season-high 18 points to lead the 77-58 victory over visiting Texas A&M-Kingsville (0-14; LSC 0-4) at Greyhound Arena. The win snapped a three-game skid for the Zias.
 
The victory was Eastern's eighth in the last 10 against the Javelinas and fourth in the last six meetings at Greyhound Arena. The win also snapped Eastern's 13-game skid in conference play. The last time the Zias earned a LSC win came in a 90-76 decision over Cameron, on January 22, 2014. The Zias never trailed against the Javelinas tonight and led for all but 1:09 of play.
 
Micah Weaver hit a jumper for Texas A&M-Kingsville to knot the score at 6-all, but Stinnett hit a jumper to ignite a 6-0 run capped by a short jumper from Tori Tucker (Portales, N.M./Floyd HS/Howard College), to give ENMU a 12-6 lead with 17:33 left in the opening half. The Javelinas managed to pull within four points on two occasions, but could come no closer as Eastern pulled away for the win.
 
Eastern outscored the Javelinas 10-4 on points off turnovers, while the Zia bench held a 30-16 edge over their TAMUK counterparts. ENMU controlled the boards by a 43-36 margin, although each team pulled down 16 offensive rebounds. Tucker finished with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block, while Brittany Gutierrez (Jr., P, Gallup, N.M./Otero JC) and Stinnett each chipped in 14 points. Gutierrez also grabbed eight caroms, while Stinnett dished out six assists. Jasmine Johnson (Sr., P, DeSoto, Texas/DeSoto HS) contributed nine rebounds. Weaver paced the Javelinas with 18 points.
 
The Eastern New Mexico University women's basketball team will return to action on Saturday, when they visit Angelo State. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. MT.