Lady T-Birds handle Frank Phillips

Article Written by: Jason Farmer NEWS-SUN

Photo Taken by: Tony Baker NMTXsports.com

The New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team picked up another Wester Junior College Athletic Conference win Thursday night, beating Frank Phillips College 94-63.

"New Mexico controlled the game, most of the game," NMJC coach Drew Sanders said. "We led by double digits most of the game. We were never really able to completely separate. With five minutes to go it was a 16-point game. We just in the last five minutes were able to go from 16 points on up to the 30 point final margin."

The Lady Thunderbirds built up a 10-point lead in the first quarter, jumping out to a 21-11lead. In the second quarter, NMJC scored 27 points while Frank Phillips had 14, taking a 48-25 lead into the break.

In the second half, scoring was closer as Frank Phillips kept it close. Still, the Lady Thunderbirds were able to increase their lead to 73-47. Over the final 10 minutes of action, NMJC outscored Frank Phillips 21-16.

Frank Phillips did its best to stay in the game and keep it close, sinking 13 three-points. "I was very disappointed in our defense," Sanders said. "We have got to play a lot better than that on the road if we are going to win close games."

Dezirae Hampton led in scoring, finishing with 21 points. Daiane Machado chipped in 19 points and Ni'Asia McIntosh finished with 16. Keonna Watson and Ekaterina Zhibareva each had nine points while Alarie Mayze had seven.

With the win, NMJC improves to 16-4 for the season and 5-1 in WJCAC play. The Lady Thunderbirds will be back on their home court Monday when Howard College comes to town.

"We have a long way to go as far as getiing highlty competitive with the highly competitive teams," Sanders said.