Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
SAN ANGELO, Texas — After a 16-0 start, Eastern New Mexico handed Angelo State its first loss of the season nearly a month ago in Portales.
Kelli Anne Goble and the Rambelles gained some revenge Thursday, knocking Eastern out of a first-place tie in the Lone Star Conference South with a 70-48 win at Stephens Arena.
Goble scored all 16 points in the second half, including nine points in an 18-2 Rambelles run that broke the game open.
“She’s one of the best one-on-one players in the league as far as getting her own shot,” Eastern coach Dan Buzard said. “Once she gets her confidence going, she’s hard to stop.”
Post Natalja Tsurbokova added 15 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the Rambelles (22-4, 9-4 in LSC South), who were ranked as high as second in NCAA Division II before Eastern beat them.
Laci Lee scored 16 points for Eastern, which had its seven-game winning streak snapped.
The Zias (16-10, 10-3) dropped to second place with the loss, one game behind West Texas A&M, a 69-66 winner Thursday at third-place Abilene Christian.
“We were just a little out of sync offensively,” Buzard said. “I didn’t feel we did a good job of getting the ball into the post as we usually do.”
Lee scored nine points in the first half, which ended with Angelo State up 26-24.
After taking only one shot in the first half, Goble hit 5-of-8 shots in the final 20 minutes, including a trio of 3-pointers.
Three Goble free throws after she was fouled shooting a 3 started Angelo’s decisive run at the 16:28 mark. Courtney Newlin capped off the run with a pair of layups and a free throw, giving Angelo State a 50-30 lead with a little more than 10 minutes left in the game.
Eastern, which has already qualified for the LSC Tournament, got no closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
The Zias can still earn a share of the LSC title and the right to host a first-round game in the LSC Tournament with a win Saturday at Abilene Christian and a WT loss at Angelo State.
Angelo St. 70, Eastern New Mexico 48
Eastern (16-10, 10-3) — Jereena Bosket 3-7 2-3 8, Elizabeth Richards 3-11 3-4 9, Heather Brown 2-10 0-0 4, Laci Lee 6-11 3-5 16, Loren Scarlett 2-4 0-0 4, Casey Rodriguez 0 0-0 0-0 0, Mika Robertson 0-2 0-0 0, Kristi McGuire 1-3 0-0 2, Ashley Golden 0-0 0-0 0, Tiana Bryant 1-3 2-4 5. Totals 18-51 10-16 48.
Angelo State (22-4, 9-4) — Sharon Ballenger 6-13 2-2 15, Kelli Anne Goble 5-9 3-3 16, Courtney Nowlin 5-7 1-1 11, Megan Clift 2-6 0-0 5, Natalja Tsurbakova 5-15 8-15 18, Ashley King 0-0 0-0 0, Tracy Allen 1-4 1-2 3, Asheia Haynes 0-1 0-0 0, Whitney Hoelting 0-5 2-2 2. Totals 24-60 17-25 70.
3-point FG: Eastern 2-11 (Richards 0-3, Brown 0-2, Lee 1-2, Scarlett 0-1, Robertson 0-1, McGuire 0-1, Bryant 1-1). Angelo State 5-15 (Ballenger 1-2, Goble 3-7, Clift 1-4, Tsurbakova 0-2). Rebounds: Eastern 23 (Bosket 8), Angelo State 43 (Clift 14). Assists: Eastern 8 (Brown 4), Angelo State 16 (Tsurbakova 8). Steals: Eastern 5 (Brown 2), Angelo State: 7 (Clift 3). Blocks: Eastern 4 (Scarlett 4), Angelo State 1. Turnovers: Eastern 17, Angelo State: 10. Fouled out: Tsurbakova. Technical fouls: none. A — 1,100.
