ENMU women stand 12th in LSC after loss to WT

CANYON — Eastern New Mexico University’s women are still in control of their Lone Star Conference tournament destiny, but the Greyhounds may need another win to be sure.

On Saturday, West Texas A&M held ENMU to 25 percent from the floor (17-for-69) and cruised to a 75-51 victory.

The Hounds (9-11, 5-9 LSC) fell into 12th place in the 17-team circuit, the last tournament spot. They hold a one-game lead plus a tie-breaker over St. Edward’s (11-14, 4-10), so a win in one of their final two conference games would do the trick.

If the Hounds lose twice and the Hilltoppers can manage to beat Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas-Tyler on the road, ENMU would need some help from other sources.

They led briefly in the early going, but WT (16-9, 9-2) went on a 15-4 run to close the opening frame with a 25-13 cushion. Then the Lady Buffs, coached by former ENMU coach Josh Prock, put the game totally out of reach early in the third stanza with an 11-0 burst for a 52-30 advantage.

Ten players scored for WT, including nine with at least six points, led by junior guard Haylei Janssens with 14 points and freshman forward Jayla Burgess with 11. The Lady Buffs share the lead with Commerce (16-6, 9-2), while six other teams are within 1 1/2 games of the top.

ENMU got 13 points from sophomore guard Natalie Stice and 11 from junior forward Kamirah Decker. WT leads the all-time series 79-16.

WT 86, ENMU men 66 — Two nights after suffering at heartbreaking one-point loss at Cameron, the Hounds were taken out of this one early in losing their ninth in a row and falling into last place in the LSC.

ENMU (6-15, 2-10) led 4-3 on a basket by senior forward Yosnier Cobas just over four minutes in, but WT countered with 21 unanswered points. A layup by sophomore forward Jared Perry ended a 6 1/2-minute scoreless stretch for the Hounds and made it 24-6 with 9:20 left in the half.

Later in the frame, the Buffaloes (20-6, 7-5) stretched their lead to 31 with a 15-7 blitz. They led 49-19 at the intermission.

ENNU used a pair of 8-0 runs in the second half to make it a bit more respectable, but never got closer than 19 points. The Buffs now lead the all-time series with ENMU 92-20.

WT put four players in double digits — junior guard Julias Brown with 20 points, sophomore guards Zach Toussaint with 16 and Larry Wise with 15, and freshman guard Jesse Iweze with 10.

Meantime, Perry was the lone ENMU player in double figures, scoring a season-best 16 points on 8-for-8 shooting from the floor.

ENMU squads face Lubbock Christian in home-and-home doubleheaders — Thursday at Greyhound Arena (non-conference) and next Tuesday in Lubbock. They finish the regular season at home against Western New Mexico on Feb. 26.