Freshman shoots ENMU women past UTPB

ODESSA, Texas – When Eastern New Mexico University’s Corin Camara comes into the game, you know you’ll almost surely see at least one 3-point attempt going up.

Sometimes she’s on, sometimes not. Saturday, the freshman guard from Hanford, Calif. helped dig Eastern New Mexico University’s women out of an early 8-2 hole and the Greyhounds went on to a 63-50 Lone Star Conference victory over Texas-Permian Basin.

Camara hit three consecutive 3s to push the Hounds in front 11-8. She went 5-of-12 for the contest from distance, matching her season scoring high with 15 points.

All 66 of Camara’s tallies this season have come from long range. She’s 0-for-3 inside the arc and 0-for-3 from the foul line.

Senior forward Edecia Beck went 7-for-8 from the floor en route to 16 points. Down 13-11 at the quarter, the Hounds (9-10, 6-8 LSC) started the second stanza with the first nine points and never trailed again.

Leading 45-41 early in the fourth, two layups from Beck, two 3s from sophomore guard Bella Stone and another trifecta from Camara sparked a 17-5 run that put the contest out of reach.

Freshman guard/forward KiKi Roberts led the Hounds to a 36-31 rebounding advantage with 12 caroms.

“It takes toughness to win on the road and (we) showed it today,” ENMU women’s coach Meghan De los Reyes said. “Winning the rebound battle was a major key to our success and KiKi was a huge contributor on both ends. Our fourth-quarter run was fueled by decisive ball movement and finding teammates for open shots.”

Stone, scoreless for three quarters, wasn’t too far away from a triple double, finishing with seven points, six rebounds and a personal-best eight assists.

Sophomore forward Morgan Helgesen tied a season best with 17 points for UTPB (10-11, 7-8), but the Falcons shots just 26 percent from the field (15-of-59).

It was ENMU’s fourth consecutive win in the series and seventh in the last eight meetings, and gives the Hounds a 10-3 all-time edge overall against the Falcons.

UTPB 74, ENMU 72 (men) – Senior guard DaJuan Jones scored a season-high 27 points, including two free throws with five seconds left, and dished out seven assists as the Falcons escaped with the victory.

ENMU (12-8, 7-7) posted a late 8-0 run to tie the game with 27 seconds left after freshman Junior Hodnett stole the ball and found junior guard Greg Johnson for a layup to go before Jones’ free throws were decisive. The Hounds were unable to get off a shot in the remaining time.

The Falcons (11-13, 5-10) were in control much of the way, stretching a 38-29 lead at halftime to 54-38 with just over 13 minutes remaining.

Johnson, coming off the bench, led the Hounds with 20 points while junior forward Jahcoree Ealy added 17. Sophomore forward Errol White just missed his seventh double-double of the campaign with 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Hounds dropped the two games on this road trip by a combined five points, falling at Angelo State 73-70 on Thursday.

“In back-to-back games, we fought out of a deep hole, and I’m proud of (that),” ENMU men’s coach Brent Owen said. “It was a very disappointing weekend, (but) we have to learn from it.”

Junior guard Kevin Craddock added 18 points for UTPB, which went 11-of-22 from long range to 5-of-21 for the Hounds.

ENMU squads begin four-game homestands on Thursday night against Midwestern State at Greyhound Arena, then host Cameron on Saturday afternoon.