Oklahoma Christian hands ENMU women first D-II defeat

EDMOND, Oklahoma — The Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball team didn’t go into its Christmas break in holly-jolly fashion, enduring a heartbreaking 97-96 loss to Oklahoma Christian on the road Monday afternoon.

It was the Greyhounds’ first loss to a Division II opponent this season.

In a game as wild as the final score indicates, there were seven lead changes, with each team taking double-digit leads only to watch them evaporate.

Oklahoma Christian led 96-94 late in the game, when a Treyanna Clay layup tied it. But, a costly foul by Eastern on Oklahoma Christian’s ensuing possession gave the Eagles’ Maddison Collyer a chance to ice it with five seconds remaining.

Collyer stepped to the line and hit the first one to make it 97-96. She missed the second one and the defensive rebound was collected by Eastern’s Shelby Jones, a Clovis High graduate. The Hounds, though, couldn’t score in what little time they had left and suffered a loss in their first game since walloping Northern New Mexico by 60 nine days earlier.

In Monday’s game, teams alternated 30-point quarters during the second half after the Hounds outscored Oklahoma Christian 31-18 in the third to take a 76-65 lead by quarter’s end. That lead, however, was short-lived as Oklahoma Christian answered with a big final period, outscoring Eastern 32-20.

Clay was one of five Hounds in double-digit scoring, finishing the game with 25 points on 9-of-15 (60 percent) shooting from the field. Sophomore Alivia Lewis was next with 13 points for ENMU, while freshman and Portales graduate Zamorye Cox converted 4-of-6 attempts from behind downtown to finish with 12 points.

The deciding factor Monday proved to be Oklahoma Christian's Addy Clift, who posted a school-record 44 points, including eight three-pointers and 12 makes from the foul line.

She got plenty of help from Katie Mayo, who scored 32 points herself while going 10-of-10 from the line and posting team highs of 16 rebounds and three blocks.

Both units had efficient games from the field, with Eastern posting an overall shooting percentage of 44.3 percent (35-of-79) while Oklahoma Christian converted on 28-of-65 shots from the field (43.1 percent). The Hounds matched a season high with 13 three-point makes and outrebounded the Eagles 45 to 41.

Eastern has two weeks off before returning to action on New Year’s Eve. The Hounds visit Lubbock Christian on the last day of 2018, with a 2 p.m. tip-off time.