Zias edge Texas Woman's

DENTON, Texas —Bouncing back from a 47-point loss on Monday at rival West Texas A&M, the Eastern New Mexico University women’s basketball team gutted out a 62-57 Lone Star Conference South Division victory Thursday night over Texas Woman’s.

Juniors Riikka Lehtonen and Tiana Bryant led a balanced Zias attack, each scoring 12 points. Sophomore guard Heather Brown added 11 points while senior Mika Robertson posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Robertson converted two game-clinching free throws with 22 seconds left as ENMU (8-10, 2-3 South) ended the game on a 10-2 run.

Lehtonen had four blocks and seven rebounds for the Zias, while Bryant added three steals and seven rebounds.

Down 39-24 early in the second half, the Pioneers (9-8, 2-3) scored 16 unanswered points to take their first lead. They took their biggest lead (55-52) on two free throws by guard Matayla McBath with 3:09 left, but didn’t score again until the final 30 seconds.

“We really executed well offensively,” acting ENMU women’s coach Dustin Klafka said. “Defensively we responded really well from the WT game.”

Ashley Browning and Mandy Darwin scored 14 points each and McBath added 10 for TWU, but the Pioneers hit only 2-of-16 shots from 3-point range while ENMU was 6-for-12.

“We did a good job of executing our game plan,” Klafka said. “We didn’t really give them many good looks.”

The Zias were up by as much 13 points in the first half. They led 34-24 at halftime, shooting 56 percent (15-of-27) in the opening 20 minutes.

Lone Star Conference South

ENMU 62, Texas Woman’s 57

Eastern New Mexico (8-10, 2-3) — Riikka Lehtonen 5-9 2-3 12, Heather Brown 4-12 0-0 11, Erika Cook 2-4 1-2 6, Mika Robertson 3-9 3-4 10, Tiana Bryant 5-6 1-2 12, Tia Doss 3-7 0-0 6, Casey Rodriguez 1-2 0-0 2, Ashley Davidson 0-2 1-2 1, Loren Scarlett 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 24-55 8-13 62.

Texas Woman’s (9-8, 2-3) — Teneisha McKinney 1-4 0-0 2, Ashley Browning 5-16 3-3 14, Matayla McBath 2-10 6-8 10, Kelley Humphries 0-2 0-1 0, Mandy Darwin 5-11 4-8 14, Cassie Thornburg 0-1 0-0 0, Whitney Bracey 0-1 0-0 0, Megan McCrummen 0-0 0-0 0, Adriana Martin 4-8 0-0 9, Valery Redfearn 1-3 2-3 4, Lindsey McCutcheon 1-5 0-0 2, Jennifer Schilb 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 20-62 15-24 57.

Halftime — Eastern New Mexico 34, Texas Woman’s 24. 3-pointers — Eastern New Mexico 6-12 (Brown 3-5, Bryant 1-1, Cook 1-1, Robertson 1-1, Davidson 0-1, Doss 0-1, Lehtonen 0-1, Scarlett 0-1), Texas Woman’s 2-16 (Martin 1-2, Browning 1-7, McBath 0-3, McCutcheon 0-4). Rebounds — Eastern New Mexico 44 (Robertson 10), Texas Woman’s 39 (Bracey 10). Assists — Eastern New Mexico 12 (Robertson, Rodriguez 3), Texas Woman’s 10 (McBath 5). Total fouls — Eastern New Mexico 23, Texas Woman’s 18. Fouled out — none. A — 187.