Midwestern State ousts Zias

ALLEN, Texas — Andrea Carter scored 19 points to lead four in double figures, and Midwestern State struck early to squelch any early hopes of an upset in a 70-49 win over Eastern New Mexico University Wednesday morning in the first round of the Lone Star Conference tournament at the Allen Events Center.

Shambreka Jones and Shatoia Gober added 13 each for the Mustangs (22-5), who move on to a noon (CDT) Friday semifinal. They will face the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal between Cameron and Texas A&M-Commerce.

link Correspondent photo: Scot Stinnett

Junior guard Sarah Stinnett scored 23 points in Eastern New Mexico’s 70-49 loss to No. 2 Midwestern State in the first round of the Lone Star Conference Tournament. The loss ended the seventh-seeded Zias’ season at 9-18.

The Zias, playing in their third LSC tournament in four seasons, finished their season at 9-18.

“We played a very, very talented Midwestern team that executed well,” Zia coach Josh Prock said. “We made a few mistakes, but I’m proud of the girls. We just ran into a very good Midwestern team today.”

Midwestern State scored the game’s first seven points, and never trailed. Gober scored the first four points of the second half to give Midwestern State a 35-23 advantage, and the lead never got below double digits for the rest of the game.

Junior guard Sarah Stinnett, who led the Zias with 23 points, said fatigue became a factor for the team.

“We came in with a game plan,” said Stinnett, who added seven points and five steals, “and I felt like we executed it for a good 10 minutes. We got a little tired. We don’t have as big a bench as everybody; we’re a little bit limited on players, and I feel that’s what killed us in those games.”

Senior post Jasmine Johnson echoed Stinnett’s sentiments.

“We had a game plan,” said Johnson, who had 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds. “We didn’t do it for 40 minutes, and that’s what you have to do here.”

Led by junior guard Sarah Stinnett’s 23 points, the Zias pulled to within six on an 11-4 run in the final minutes of the first half before Carter closed the first-half scoring with a layup.

Carter also had a game-high 17 rebounds, giving her the 10th double-double of the season and making her MSU’s career leader with 1,020 rebounds.

Brittany Gutierrez added five points and five rebounds for ENMU.