ENMU women struggle in loss to WT

PORTALES — Eastern New Mexico University’s women started fast and finished with a flurry on Saturday.

In between, though, the Greyhounds struggled mightily on offense and absorbed a 58-51 Lone Star Conference loss to rival West Texas A&M at Greyhound Arena.

Junior post Abby Spurgin converted 9-of-15 shots and finished with game highs of 18 points and nine rebounds for the Lady Buffs (12-3, 5-1 LSC). Sophomore guard Delaney Nix went 4-for-7 from 3-point range for 12 points, while 6-foot-5 post Tiana Parker added 10 points.

Sophomore guard Zamorye Cox led the Hounds (9-3, 3-3) with 14 points, while senior post Natalie DeLonge added 10. ENMU shot just 31 percent for the game, including 29 percent (13-of-48) through three quarters.

Trailing by 19 points entering the final quarter, the Greyhounds went on a 10-2 run over the first six minutes, keyed by two 3-pointers from Cox, to get within 53-42 with 4:18 left.

But the Hounds missed chances to cut into that margin before another trifecta by Cox pulled them to 53-45 with 1:30 left. The Lady Buffs were 1-for-7 from the floor with seven turnovers in the quarter to that point.

The Hounds closed to 54-47 on junior Alivia Lewis’ layup with 1:06 to go, then forced a turnover and called a full timeout with 55 seconds remaining. But they were unable to convert, and Parker converted a layup on the other end to put it out of reach.

ENMU got out of the blocks quickly, taking a 6-0 lead in less than three minutes on two baskets by sophomore post Kamirah Decker and another by Lewis. But the early success wouldn’t last.

WT scored seven consecutive points, capped by a 3-pointer from Nix. ENMU regained the lead briefly when Cox converted a Lady Buffs turnover into a layup at the 5:20 mark, but WT shut the Hounds out the rest of the quarter and scored 10 points in the meantime for a 17-8 lead.

Parker had six points and five rebounds in the period for WT. The Hounds converted just 4-of-17 field goal tries in the stanza.

ENMU got baskets from junior Chelsea Hunter and Decker early in the second quarter, but WT continued to add to its lead with a 3-pointer from Nix followed by three consecutive baskets from Spurgin for a 26-12 margin with under 6 1/2 minutes remaining.

Freshman guard Natalie Stice’s 3-pointer kept ENMU within 28-16 with 4:41 to go. But Spurgin’s putback at the four-minute mark made her 7-for-10 from the floor for 14 points and made the score 30-16.

Decker countered with a putback basket at the 3:07 mark, making her 4-for-5 for eight points. Both teams then went through lengthy droughts before WT’s Megan Gamble nailed a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left in the half, giving the Lady Buffs their largest lead at 33-18 going into halftime.

Spurgin’s 14 points easily led all scorers at halftime, while Nix and Parker chipped in six apiece. No one besides Decker (eight points) had more than three for ENMU.

Outside of Decker, the rest of the Hounds combined to shoot 4-of-27 (15 percent) in the half.