ENMU subdues Sul Ross State women 98-78

On paper, it looked to be a break in the schedule after a recent rough patch against some of the better teams in the Lone Star Conference.

It took a bit of doing, but Eastern New Mexico University’s women relied on hot shooting wire-to-wire and eventually pulled away to a 98-78 LSC victory over Sul Ross State on Thursday night at Steve Loy Arena.

Off to a 10-1 start at the semester, the Greyhounds (12-4, 7-3 LSC) dropped a pair of Division I exhibitions over the break and had since lost three of four outings in the new year, albeit by close margins.

Against the Alpine, Texas-based Lobos (2-11, 1-9), in their first year of competition in the LSC, the Hounds went with a five-in, five-out approach with three regulars out due to injury. All 10 players ended up scoring with six in double figures, led junior guard Nataya Lockett’s season-best 23 points.

“The thing is, we’ve dropped some close games in the 50s,” ENMU coach Brent Huber said. “Our emphasis has been to try to play with more pace. Obviously, we weren’t that great on defense tonight, but the game plan was to try to speed things up.”

Down 6-2 after nearly four minutes, the Hounds picked it up and opened a 25-16 advantage by quarter’s end.

“It felt like we were pretty steady this game,” Lockett said. “It was definitely back and forth.”

ENMU got 16 points from freshman guard Abbi Holder and a double-double from senior guard Jayla Smith with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Meantime, freshman guard Tonka Jaksic chipped in 11 points, while sophomore guard Tatiana Platonova and freshman forward Kaitlyn Edmondson tallied 10 apiece.

The Hounds were over 50 percent from the floor for most of the game and finished at 48 percent (36-of-75). They committed 26 turnovers, but forced 31 mechanical errors by Sul Ross and posted a 38-18 advantage in points off turnovers, many coming on runouts.

Huber noted that senior forward Ishauna Hunter, the team’s leading scorer, and senior forward-center Trinity Hudson should return for the start of a four-game road trip next week, while junior guard Martrice Brooks could be out a bit longer.

Against the Lobos, Huber said the Hounds were relatively inconsistent against a foe which has been struggling.

“It’s human nature,” he said. “Our kids see the standings. That was (kind of like) a pickup game at times.”

Lockett, who has started 10 games but came in with the second group in this one, said she was fine with the five-in, five-out strategy.

“Whatever helps us win,” she said. “As long as we all bring the same energy, I’m OK with it.”

Sul Ross, which saw its losing streak reach 10 games after a 2-1 start, came in shooting 36 percent from the floor and 27 percent from 3-point range for the season. On this night, though, the Lobos shot 45 percent and drained 8-of-12 from distance.

Third-year coach E.J. Lee Smith, a native of Gimje, South Korea, said it’s been a process trying to build a program while moving from the NAIA American Southwest Conference to the LSC.

“It’s been unbelievably hard,” said Smith, who was a two-time All-American at Northeast Louisiana (now Louisiana-Monroe) in the mid-80s and spent 28 years on the program’s coaching staff before eventually coming to Sul Ross in August 2022. “We’ll be all right, but we’re not there yet.”

Senior point guard Cheyanne Bonilla posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 assists for the Lobos, while junior guard Victoria Aguayo added 17 points, freshman guard Sophiya Bustillo 11 and sophomore guard Melody Martinez 10.

“I’m very proud of my players,” Smith said. “We shot the ball well. We just couldn’t stop them.”

The Hounds hosted winless Western New Mexico (0-14, 0-6) on Saturday. This week they hit the road for matchups at Texas-Tyler on Thursday night and at Texas Woman’s on Saturday.