ENMU women hold off Western New Mexico

PORTALES — Western New Mexico almost pulled off the upset in the year in Lone Star Conference women’s play, if not in Division II overall.

But the LSC-leading Greyhounds did just enough to hold the struggling Mustangs off, surviving at the free-throw line in a 76-71 victory Tuesday night at Greyhound Arena.

Johna McClelland scored 15 to lead three in double figures for the Greyhounds (17-5, 13-2 LSC), who seemed on easy street to a school-record 13th conference win after Brandi Gomez’ jumper made it 68-53 with 6:31 to go.

But the Greyhounds, ranked 24th in the Division II media poll, helped fuel a 12-1 Mustang run over the next five minutes with four turnovers, three technical fouls and five missed shots, all from three-point range, before McClelland grabbed an offensive board and hit a pair of free throws with 1:28 left to play.

Jordan Gutierrez answered with a 3-point play for the Mustangs (4-18, 0-15) to make it a 71-68 contest, and Western had a chance to tie after Gomez missed a 3-point attempt with 40 seconds to play.

A game-tying 3-point attempt by Jade Botelho was off, and the Mustangs didn’t score again until Gutierrez had a three-point play with three seconds left and the Greyhounds firmly in control.

The technicals came from what coach Josh Prock termed a shoving match with 2:40 to go. The players involved in the altercation, ENMU’s Shelby Jones and WNMU’s Taimaine Passi, both received technicals. Passi was ejected along with Eastern’s Dasia Johnson and Eliza Martinez, who left the bench during the altercation.

“We’ve got to do a better job of knowing where we are, maintaining our composure,” Prock said.

The Greyhounds led for the final 39:28 of the contest, with McClelland scoring six points during a 13-2 run to build a double-figure lead midway through the first.

“Johna played really well,” Prock said of McClelland, who also pulled down seven rebounds. “She did a good job hitting the shots when she was open, and she did a good job rebounding for us.”

but needed a 30-of-36 effort from the line — including 5-of-6 on their final three possessions — to avoid being Western’s first win over an LSC opponent and first win since Nov. 25.

Gutierrez and Botelho both scored 23 to lead the Mustangs, who only led after an early 3-pointer by Jayla Brown but whittled double-figure deficits to a one-possession game Brown had 17 for the Mustangs, while Gutierrez added 10 rebounds and six assists.

Jasmine Hotchkins scored 13 points, including 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, and Gomez added 12 points and eight rebounds. Jones flirted with a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

The Greyhounds have a quick turnaround, with a 6 p.m. home contest against Texas Woman’s.