Zias ride early lead to crossover win

WEATHERFORD, Okla. — Freshman guard Heather Brown hit five 3-pointers and scored 20 points and junior forward Elizabeth Richards added 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead Eastern New Mexico University past Southwestern Oklahoma 81-70 Saturday in a Lone Star Conference women’s crossover game.

ENMU (6-7) took the lead on a layup by senior Jereena Bosket off the opening tip and stayed in front the rest of the way. Bosket finished with 12 points for the Zias, who shot 61 percent from the floor (33-of-54) and went 10-for-17 from 3-point distance while winning their second straight game.

The Zias dominated early, building a 30-11 lead with eight minutes left in the half and carrying that same margin (45-26) into halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs (5-6) fell behind by 21 early in the second half before closing to 58-49 with 11 1/2 minutes to go after going on an 18-6 run.

Two free throws by Bethanie Bentz with 6:03 to play pulled SWOSU to 71-64. The Lady Bulldogs got as close as five twice, the latter at 75-70 with 3:46 to go, but failed to score the rest of the way.

Junior Loren Scarlett’s 3-pointer with 3:06 left gave the Zias some breathing room, and Scarlett’s free throw and Kristi McGuire’s layup in the final minute closed out the scoring.

Kayla Horn led SWOSU with 23 points, hitting 10-of-15 shots from the field. Bentz finished with 17 points, and Paige Adams scored 11.

ENMU 81, SW Oklahoma 70

ENMU (6-7) — Jereena Bosket 6-10 0-0 12, Elizabeth Richards 8-12 0-1 17, Heather Brown 7-10 1-2 20, Laci Lee 2-3 3-3 7, Loren Scarlett 2-5 1-2 7, Casey Rodriguez 0-2 0-0 0, Mika Robertson 3-3 0-0 8, Kristi McGuire 1-3 0-0 2, Tiana Bryant 4-6 0-0 8. Totals 33-54 5-8 81.

Southwestern Oklahoma (5-6) — Bethanie Bentz 5-14 6-10 17, Julie Dawson 1-4 4-4 6, Roxie Camden 1-3 0-0 3, Paige Adams 4-10 2-3 11, Kayla Horn 10-15 3-5 23, Kayla Watson 1-3 0-0 3, Autumn Aneshansley 1-2 0-0 2, Niki Sloan 1-4 0-0 3, Lindsay Messer 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 25-58 15-22 70.

Halftime — ENMU 45, Southwestern Oklahoma 26. 3-pointers — ENMU 10-17 (Brown 5-7, Robertson 2-2, Scarlett 2-4, Richards 1-2, McGuire 0-1, Rodriguez 0-1), Southwestern Oklahoma 5-14 (Camden 1-1, Bentz 1-2, Sloan 1-2, Adams 1-3, Watson 1-3, Messer 0-1, Dawson 0-2). Rebounds — ENMU 38 (Richards 12), Southwestern Oklahoma 22 (Horn 5). Assists — ENMU 13 (Lee, Richards, Scarlett 3), Southwestern Oklahoma 12 (Adams 4). Total fouls — ENMU 25, Southwestern Oklahoma 12. Fouled out — Brown, Lee. A — 483.