Zias keep pace in LSC South

WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Heather Brown scored 10 of her career-high 25 points and hit two crucial 3-pointers during the final 3:49 Thursday as the Eastern New Mexico University Zias improved to 5-2 in Lone Star Conference South Division play with a 76-72 win over Midwestern State Thursday night.

“The kids stepped up and played like winners,” Zias coach Dan Buzard said. “They responded.”

Brown, a 5-foot-7 freshman from Hereford, shot 10-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, to lead five in double figures for the Zias.

With the road win, Eastern (11-9, 5-2) remains in at least second place behind West Texas A&M, which played at last-place Texas Woman’s Thursday.

“Heather just hit everything she shot tonight,” Buzard said. “She played like an experienced player and she’s playing well beyond her years.”

Laci Lee scored 13, with Loren Scarlett and Jereena Bosket scoring 12 each. Elizabeth Richards added 10 and tied Scarlett for a game-high eight rebounds. All five starters scored in double figures.

“That makes it easy when you have more than one person scoring,” Buzard said. “I thought overall, we played a pretty complete game, and we had to against a quality team.”

Midwestern State (14-6, 3-4) led 68-63 with four minutes to play, but Brown and Scarlett outscored the Indians 13-4.

Brown hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two with 3:47 to play, then hit a trey to give ENMU the lead for good at 75-72 with 1:08 to go.

Meosha Walker missed a game-tying 3-point attempt with 12 seconds to go, and Scarlett hit one of two free throws to seal the victory.

Midwestern outshot the Zias 63-48 for the game, but the Zias shot 58.3 percent on the night (28-of-48) to the Indians’ 38.1 percent (24-of-63).

The shooting helped offset a 20-turnover night for ENMU.

Jel-ani Armstrong led four in double figures with 20 points for Midwestern, but shot just 7-of-22 on the night. Haley Hobson scored 17 points, with Walker adding 13 and Sonya Calhoun 10.

The Zias will stay on the road this weekend, as they face Texas Woman’s University. Eastern returns home Thursday to host Midwestern State, which starts a four-game homestand.

ENMU 76, Midwestern State 72

ENMU (11-9, 5-2) — Heather Brown 10-12 2-2 25, Laci Lee 6-12 0-1 13, Loren Scarlett 5-6 1-2 12, Jereena Bosket 2-5 8-10 12, Elizabeth Richards 3-6 4-4 10, Kristi McGuire 1-3 0-0 2, Tiana Bryant 1-3 0-0 2, Mika Robertson 0-1 0-0 0, Casey Rodriguez 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 28-48 15-19 76.

Midwestern State (14-6, 3-4) — Jel-ani Armstrong 7-22 6-6 20, Haley Hobson 5-9 4-4 17, Meosha Walker 3-8 6-6 13, Adrian Fincher 4-6 0-0 8, Kelly Cleavinger 1-1 0-0 2, Kristin Ramsey 1-5 0-0 2, Kelly Woodward 0-4 0-0 0, Katherine Maples 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 24-63 20-23 72.

Halftime — ENMU 33, MSU 31. 3-pointers — ENMU 5-9 (Brown 3-4, Lee 1-2, Scarlett 1-2), MSU 4-14 (Hobson 3-5, Walker 1-5, Ramsey 0-1, Woodward 0-3). Rebounds — ENMU 37 (Richards, Scarlett 8), MSU 26 (Armstrong, Fincher, Walker 5). Assists — ENMU 7 (Richards 3), MSU 15 (Walker 4). Total Fouls — ENMU 19, MSU 16. Fouled Out — None. A — 882.