Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Staff photo: Matthew Asher Amari Dennis drives the lane against Molly McCabe in the first half against the University of South Dakota School of Mining & Technology Friday afternoon at Greyhound Arena. Dennis would score the final two points of the game to give Eastern a 69-66 overtime win.
Staff photo: Matthew Asher Eastern’s Johna McClelland goes for a blocked shot against SDMT’s Megan Rohrer in the first half. McClelland was one of two Hounds to finish with 14 points in Eastern’s overtime win.
STAFF WRITER
It looks like those two exhibition games the Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball team had were good preparation for the regular season as the Hounds fought back the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Friday afternoon for a 69-66 overtime win to start off the season at home.
Staff photo: Matthew Asher
Amari Dennis drives the lane against Molly McCabe in the first half against the University of South Dakota School of Mining & Technology Friday afternoon at Greyhound Arena. Dennis would score the final two points of the game to give Eastern a 69-66 overtime win.
It was a forgettable first half for ENMU (1-0) which trailed SDMT (0-1) 27-22 going into the half. Slowly but surely, ENMU cut away at the lead and started off the fourth quarter trailing by just two points.
Eastern finally took the lead with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter after point guard Jasmine Hotchkins made two consecutive three-point shots to give ENMU a 47-44 lead.
“She played tough,” women’s coach Josh Prock said. “That’s what toughness does for you. It allows you to make those shots. She stayed consistent and I’m proud of her.”
Hotchkins would make one final three point with 2:20 left in the quarter before fouling out with 1:47 left. Prock subbed in Dasia Johnson as the floor general for the remainder of the game. Hotchkins finished with 13 points.
Eastern held onto its three-point lead until the final 30 seconds when SDMT’s Marissa Hirchert drained a trey of her own to tie the game at 59, sending it into overtime.
During the extra period, ENMU took control from the start as Kassandra Harris scored six of her team-high 14 points. The biggest two points took place with 30 seconds left in overtime with ENMU trailing by one. Harris was sent to the charity stripe and drained both shots, giving the Hounds a 67-66 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the contest. Amari Dennis added two more free throws to give Eastern their three-point cushion and the eventual winning score.
Staff photo: Matthew Asher
Eastern’s Johna McClelland goes for a blocked shot against SDMT’s Megan Rohrer in the first half. McClelland was one of two Hounds to finish with 14 points in Eastern’s overtime win.
“I thought we could beat them in regulation but I knew we had the fight and determination to go the extra five minutes to make sure we won,” Harris said. “Amazing for this team.”
Harris added that the two exhibition games against Southern Utah and New Mexico prepared the Greyhounds for this game.
“Those teams were definitely bigger for us on the inside which helped out our posts. Those games were good and we played really well in them,” she said.
Prock was glad for the win and the fact that his team didn’t suffer a meltdown following Hotchkins fouling out.
“All these kids have character. These kids have fight. That’s the biggest thing we continue to do is to keep fighting. I’m excited for the win,” Prock said.
