Hounds top Mountain Lions with late surge

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Senior guard/forward Deja Adrian scored seven of her team-high 11 points in the fourth quarter and Eastern New Mexico University’s women pulled away to a 57-48 victory over Colorado-Colorado Springs on Saturday night.

The result gave the Greyhounds (4-2) their second consecutive two-game split in Colorado, and put the wraps on the team’s non-conference schedule.

Leading 40-39 entering the final canto, ENMU outscored the Mountain Lions 17-9 to nail down the victory. Adrian tallied the Hounds’ first five points of the session, and the team went 7-for-8 from the foul line in the period while limiting UCCS (3-3) to just two field goals.

Senior guards Tatiana Hodges-Johnson and Ashley Shipley added 10 and nine points, respectively, with Shipley converting 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Both teams got more points from their reserves (30-29 ENMU) than their starters in the defensive battle.

Junior guard Krystina Hagood had a pair of 3s and shot 6-of-11 overall to lead all scorers with 14 points off the bench for the Mountain Lions, while junior forward Maison White added 10 points. There were five ties and eight lead changes in the contest.

“(I’m) really proud of the connectivity we had as a group tonight,” first-year ENMU coach Blake Huber said. “It was a total team effort. We talked about playing with joy and for each other today at shootaround, and it starts with me as a coach.”

ENMU got scoring from nine players and shot 43 percent from the field, including 13-of-24 after halftime, while also connecting on 14-of-17 foul shots.

Meantime, the Hounds limited UCCS to 34 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Mountain Lions 47-37, topped by seven caroms from senior guard Jamila Nansikombi-Gunter. She added eight points and a pair of blocked shots in the matchup.

ENMU opened a 7-2 lead out of the gate, but UCCS scored the final eight points of the quarter to pull ahead 14-13. Each team managed just three field goals in the second frame and went into halftime tied 22-22.

The Mountain Lions built their biggest lead of the night with the first four points of the third period before the Hounds rallied back. Both teams warmed up from the floor in the frame, with ENMU going 8-of-15 and UCCS shooting 7-of-11.

The Hounds went 5-of-9 from the field in the final stanza en route to securing the win. Two free throws by Adrian, a jumper by freshman guard Jaz Salon and a pair of charity tosses by junior forward Adamari Waddell pushed the margin to 12 points with under a minute left before Hagood closed the scoring with a 3-point basket.

ENMU is now 2-2 all-time against the Mountain Lions, with both of the Hounds’ wins coming in Colorado Springs.

This week, ENMU begins Lone Star Conference action with a pair of games at Greyhound Arena, welcoming St. Edward’s (1-3) for a 5 p.m. tipoff on Thursday before entertaining St. Mary’s (0-4) in a 1 p.m. start on Saturday.

“I’m excited to get back to Greyhound Arena on Thursday to start LSC play,” Huber said.