FRISCO, Texas - Junior guard Aaliyah Smith matched her season-high of 23 points, but it wasn't enough as Eastern New Mexico fell to top-seeded and top-ranked Texas Woman's 73-61 in the Lone Star Conference tournament semifinals Saturday evening at the Comerica Center.
 
Smith paced all scorers with her 23-point performance, going 9-of-19 from the field while knocking down two 3-pointers. The junior guard also contributed three rebounds and three steals in the losing effort.
 
Junior forward Mekhila Brown provided a spark off the bench, scoring 10 points on perfect shooting from the charity stripe, going 4-for-4 on free throws. Brown also led the Greyhounds with six rebounds.
 
Junior guard Julieta Ceja added eight points and five rebounds, while senior guard Chloe Dallas chipped in eight points in the loss.
 
The Greyhounds (20-10, 15-5 LSC) struggled to find their offensive rhythm against the Pioneers' stifling defense, shooting just 43.6 percent (24-of-55) from the field. ENMU fell to 5-7 this season in games when scoring fewer than 63 points.
 
Texas Woman's (28-1, 20-0 LSC) seized control late in the second quarter, closing the first half on a 10-1 run to take a 29-22 lead at the break. The Greyhounds never recovered from the deficit, unable to mount a serious comeback in the second half.
 
Senior forward Gabby Elliott led the Pioneers with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while junior guard Jada Celsur added 11 points. Junior forward Madi Lumsden and junior guard Averee Kleinhans each contributed 15 and 11 points, respectively.
 
The loss extended ENMU's losing streak against Texas Woman's to seven consecutive games, dating back to 2020. The Greyhounds were seeking to make the program's first trip to the LSC Championship finals since 1993 but fell short of that goal. ENMU is now 11-26 all-time in LSC tournament games.
 
The Greyhounds will look ahead to Selection Show Sunday which will air at 10:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 8. Eastern most recently was ranked eighth in the south central region rankings.