Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Senior forward Kassandra Harris, who has made only one start this season, leads the Hounds in scoring (11.6 ppg). She is the only senior on the Hound roster.
PUEBLO, Colorado — After staggering a bit to the finish line, the Eastern New Mexico University women's basketball team is seeking a fresh start.
The Greyhounds will make the program's first appearance in NCAA Division II postseason play today when they take on third-seeded Colorado-Colorado Springs in a noon tipoff in the quarterfinals of the South Central Region tournament.
Sixth-seeded ENMU (20-8) posted the second-most wins in program history and its most all-time victories in Lone Star Conference play, grabbing a share of the LSC regular-season title with Angelo State at 16-4.
But the Hounds dropped their final two regular-season games, both at home, to fall into a tie for the top spot, then lost to Texas A&M-Kingsville in the first round of the LSC postseason tournament last week.
"We stumbled a little bit down the stretch," ENMU coach Josh Prock said. "But everybody's in a one-and-done situation now."
In the Mountain Lions (23-8), the Hounds are facing the co-runnersup of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (17-5) and a team coming in on the heels of an RMAC tourney championship. Colorado Springs, whose roster includes all Colorado players except for one from Utah, has won five in a row and 10 of its last 11.
Prock said Colorado Springs compares favorably to Tarleton State, a team which surged to the LSC tourney title last week after coming in as the fifth seed.
"Obviously, this time of year everybody's really good," he said of the Mountain Lions. "They have two good posts (in seniors Tori Fisher and Brittany Hernandez) and a guard (senior Jen Vigil) that can shoot it."
Hernandez leads the team in scoring (15.7 ppg) and rebounding (8.1 rpg) and has also made 37 3-pointers. Fisher (11.8 and 6.8) is second on the team in both categories, while Vigil averages 10.7 ppg and has made nearly 40 percent of her 3-pointers (71-for-179).
Senior forward Kassandra Harris, who has made only one start this season, leads the Hounds in scoring (11.6 ppg), followed by junior guard Mikaehla Connor (11.4). ENMU has split its two previous all-time meetings with the Mountain Lions.
The LSC has four of the eight teams in the field. Along with ENMU and second-seeded Angelo, others in the meet include fourth-seeded West Texas A&M and No. 8 Tarleton State.
Rounding out the field are top-seeded host Colorado-Pueblo and fifth-seeded Regis of the RMAC, and Heartland Conference champion and seventh-seeded St. Edward's.
It's been a long time since ENMU has contended for conference titles and national tournament berths, but Prock said he thought his squad could do that this season.
"We knew we had a chance to be good," he said. "It was just a matter of we had to jell as a team. These kids are excited to be here."
Semifinals are slated for Saturday with the championship game at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. The tourney winner advances to the Elite Eight, scheduled for March 21-24 at Columbus, Ohio.
WOMEN'S SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL
At Pueblo, Colorado
Friday's quarterfinals
Colo.-Colorado Springs (23-8) vs. Eastern New Mexico (20-8), noon
Angelo State (24-5) vs. St. Edward's (20-8), 2:30 p.m.
Tarleton State (16-13) vs. Colorado State-Pueblo (27-3), 5:30 p.m.
West Texas A&M (23-8) vs. Regis (23-7), 8 p.m.
Saturday's semifinals
Angelo State-St. Edward's winner vs. Colorado-Colorado Springs-Eastern New Mexico winner, 5 p.m.
Tarleton State-Colorado State-Pueblo winner vs. West Texas A&M-Regis winner, 7:30 p.m.
Monday's championship
Semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m.
