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Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Greyhounds rally from 15-point deficit, prevail 73-71 in OT
CANYON, Texas - Last Saturday afternoon, the Eastern New Mexico women's basketball team nearly made history, nearly rallying back from 26 down against Angelo State. However, that rally came up just short, as the Greyhounds missed a 3-pointer as time expired to tie the ballgame.
Safe to say ENMU recovered. The Hounds (10-8, 6-5) proved that they still had a little fight in them from last weekend, as they visited 17th-ranked West Texas A&M and erased a 15-point second quarter deficit before taking down the down Buffs in overtime, 73-71.
Eastern briefly took a two-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but quickly fell back behind by six. Sarina Johnson's trey cut the lead in-half with 2:33 left to play, while Mikaehla Connor's layup tied the contest at 61-all with 25 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Buffs would regain the lead with a Lexy Hightower basket, but Connor simply refused to let her Hounds lose, as she added another lay-in with just five seconds to go, forcing overtime in the process.
After a pair of Madison Parker free throws, ENMU gained the lead for good on a Daeshi McCants basket-and-1, with 3:51 to play. Shelby Jones and McCants would soon add baskets thereafter, before hitting some key free throws to extend the lead to four in the closing seconds.
For the Greyhounds, it is the first double-digit comeback victory for them since Jan. 12, 2017, when they erased a 14-point deficit against Cameron. Eastern went 11-for-13 from the foul line, and was led by Johnson's 18 points.
The "Cardiac Kids" trailed for most of the game, and faced a 37-22 deficit late in the first half. However, Eastern would go on an 18-3 run over the next 6:38 of the game. A Jones layup, plus, a Connor 3 with just seven seconds remaining in the first half cut the Buffs lead down to eight, heading into intermission.
Hightower fired back with a triple of her own to open the third quarter, but Johnson soon responded with five-straight points to cut the lead to 40-38. ENMU quickly fell behind by eight, but Kaylee Edgemon eventually knocked down a 3 with 9:46 to play in the fourth, giving Eastern its first lead of the game, 51-50.
The Greyhounds get their revenge on their rivals after losing at Greyhound Arena, 61-44, back on Dec. 2. Thursday's game was the second-straight road win in the series for ENMU, but only the third dating back to 1974-75.
Interestingly enough, Thursday was also the first overtime meeting in the series' history.
The Hounds will head back out on the road to face UT-Permian Basin in Odessa on Saturday, at 1 p.m. MST. Last time around, Eastern New Mexico lost at home to the Falcons, 68-63, back on Nov. 30.
