Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CANYON — Carlie Howard hit back-to-back 3-pointers in an 11-0 run midway through the second half as West Texas A&M beat turnover-prone Eastern New Mexico 80-73 in a Lone Star Conference South Division women’s basketball game Tuesday at the WT Event Center.
Celeste Stevenson finished with a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds and Tywanda Harris added 14 points off the bench as the Lady Buffs (12-2, 1-1 South) gained a conference season split with the Zias.
Laci Lee and Elizabeth Richards scored 19 points each for the Zias (6-8, 1-1), who beat WT 76-57 a month ago in Portales in the LSC opener for both teams.
The Zias, who shot 53 percent (26-of-49) from the field, committed 30 turnovers, including 19 in the first half while falling behind 36-28.
Eastern started pecking away at WT’s lead early in the second half. Lee scored six points in a 17-8 run capped off by Heather Brown’s 3-pointer as Eastern drew within 50-49 with 12:23 left.
Lee then gave Eastern its first lead since the middle of the first half with a pair of free throws three minutes later that made it 55-53.
But West Texas retook the lead on Harris’ free throw as Lady Buffs scored 14 of the next 16 points to regain control of the game.
WT hit 6-of-6 free throws in the final 37 seconds to secure its seventh-straight win and 11th in the last 12 games.
WT now leads the all-time series 43-9.
West Texas A&M 80, ENMU 73
ENMU (6-8, 1-1) — Jereena Bosket 7-10 1-3 15, Elizabeth Richards 8-11 3-3 19, Heather Brown 2-8 5-6 10, Laci Lee 6-9 5-6 19, Loren Scarlett 0-1 0-0 0, Casey Rodriquez 1-2 0-0 2, Mika Robertson 1-4 4-4 6, Kristi McGuire 0-1 0-0 0, Tiana Bryant 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 26-49 18-22 73.
West Texas A&M (12-2, 1-1) — Stephanie Williams 2-6 2-2 8, Suni Jo Petty 0-5 0-1 0, Carlee Howard 2-5 0-0 6, Celeste Stevenson 8-15 7-7 23, Vasha Adams 4-8 0-2 8, Jennifer Brock 0-4 4-6 4, Tiffany Lewis 2-5 2-2 7, Natalie Wheeler 0-1 0-0 0, Keisha Monroe 4-4 2-3 10, Tywanda Harris 6-12 2-7 14. Totals 28-65 19-30 80.
Halftime — West Texas A&M 36, ENMU 23. 3-ponters — ENMU 3-10 (Lee 2-3, Brown 1-3, Robertson 0-1, Scarlett 0-1, Richards 0-2), West Texas A&M 5-10 (Williams 2-2, Stevenson 2-3, Lewis 1-2, Harris 0-2, Petty 0-2). Rebound — ENMU 34 (Bosket, Lee, Robertson 6), West Texas A&M 34 (Stevenson 9). Assists — ENMU 17 (Lee 6), West Texas A&M 20 (Brock 6). Total fouls — ENMU 27, West Texas A&M 24. Fouled out — Scarlett, Monroe. A — 878.