Hounds play well in exhibition loss at UNM

ALBUQUERQUE - Eastern New Mexico University's women, playing their second of three preseason exhibitions, rebounded nicely on Thursday night after their opening debacle.

Coming off an 84-25 setback at Arizona on Oct. 28, the Greyhounds competed relatively well most of the way against a good New Mexico squad before the Lobos pulled away to an 88-72 victory at The Pit.

ENMU led by six points twice in the second quarter, the latter at 25-19 less than two minutes into the stanza to match their entire point total at Tucson.

But the Lobos, picked for second place this season in the 11-team Mountain West Conference, broke open a two-point game with a 10-0 run over the final 2 1/2 minutes of the half to build a 47-35 cushion.

New Mexico tallied 55 points over the middle two quarters and led by 27 late in the third frame, but the Hounds went on a 19-6 surge against mainly subs and forced Lobos coach Mike Bradbury to reinsert his starters for a time early in the final segment.

All 12 ENMU players reached the scoring column, led by senior guard Iyanna McCurdy with 14 points, sophomore guard Julia Chavez with 11 off the bench and senior post Meme Amand with 10. For the game, the Hounds were outrebounded just 44-38 and shot 54 percent (29-of-54), including 7-of-16 from 3-point range, but they were only 7-of-14 from the foul line and turned the ball over 25 times, resulting in 26 UNM tallies.

Senior guard Jaedyn De La Cerda led four Lobos in double figures with 21 points.

Of note, UNM freshman guard Aniyah Augmon is the cousin of Stacey Augmon, who played for six teams over a 15-year NBA career (1991-2006). She totaled eight points off the bench in Thursday's tilt.

ENMU hosted Northern New Mexico in an exhibition at Greyhound Arena on Saturday night. The regular season begins with games against Fort Lewis at 5 p.m. on Friday and New Mexico Highlands at 4 p.m. on Saturday in the LSC/RMAC Conference Challenge, slated for Western New Mexico University in Silver City.

ENMU's win streak ends - Lubbock Christian rallied from a first-set loss to beat ENMU 21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-21 in an LSC volleyball match on Friday night at Lubbock, ending the Greyhounds' five-match winning streak.

Senior outside hitter Jenna Lyons had 13 kills for the Lady Chaps (17-6, 12-2 LSC), who are closing in on a first-round bye (top four of 12 teams) in the upcoming LSC tournament. Junior middle blocker Sage Chain added 11 kills and eight total blocks (two solos), while senior setter Jalee Sims notched 43 assists as LCU extended its own winning streak to five.

Senior outside hitter Jasmine Gannon posted her 10th double-double of the campaign for the Hounds with 11 kills and 13 digs, while freshman outside hitter Mikaela Garvin also had 11 kills. Junior setter Rae Sapiga collected 26 assists, her fifth consecutive match with more than 20.

The Hounds (6-18, 6-8), who are still in good position to make the LSC meet, erased deficits of 7-3 and 16-13 in Game 1, posting late runs of 5-1 and 6-1 to overtake the Lady Chaps. Then, in a second set which featured 13 ties and five lead changes, they led LCU 21-20 before the Lady Chaps finished on a 5-1 surge.

LCU went on a 6-1 charge to break a 4-4 tie in the third and eventually built a 14-6 advantage. The Hounds could get no closer than four the rest of the way.

ENMU led 9-5 early in Game 4 after an ace by Sapiga, but LCU rallied and the teams traded the lead until the Lady Chaps wiped out a two-point deficit with a match-ending 7-1 surge.

Despite beating ENMU for the fourth time in a row, the Lady Chaps still trail the all-time series 33-30.

The Hounds were slated to play at sixth-ranked Angelo State on Saturday, and will close out the regular season at home with LSC matchups against Dallas Baptist on Friday and Texas Woman's on Saturday.

LCU women edge Hounds in soccer - Freshman defender Kaylen McNatt scored her first collegiate goal early in the second half at the end of a Lubbock Christian free kick opportunity, and the Lady Chaps held on late for a 1-0 Lone Star Conference women's soccer victory over ENMU on Wednesday night at Greyhound Stadium.

Lubbock Christian (8-6-2, 5-6-1 LSC) broke though in the 54th minute after junior defender Shadiana Haney sent a free kick to sophomore forward Celia Duarte. She played it back to sophomore forward Julia Shani in midfield, and her pass went to McNatt, who took two touches before firing just past the outstretched hands of ENMU senior goalkeeper Whitney Dockweiler.

Both teams finished with seven shots on goal, but the Greyhounds (2-14-1, 0-11-1) had five of theirs after McNatt's tally to keep the pressure on. Senior keeper Hannah Wise finished the night with seven saves, while Dockweiler collected six for the Hounds.

ENMU, which has lost seven in a row and 13 of 14 (0-13-1) since a 2-1 start, finished its campaign on Saturday at Texas-Tyler.