Lady Thunderbirds win third straight

Hobbs News Sun   November 11, 2018

The New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team had a battle in the first half, but pulled away in the second half as it beat Grayson Community College convincingly Saturday. The 86-65 win gave the Lady Thunderbirds their third straight victory.

"I am very proud of the girls," NMJC coach Drew Sanders said. "Their effort was good. Their response in the third when we let them gain momentum in the second, was really good. I feel like they are maturing and getting stronger as a team."

Early on the game was close. The Lady T-Birds led by only three points, 23-20, at the end of the first period. NMJC started to pull away in the second quarter, but couldn't maintain the lead and by the end of the half, the Lady T-Birds led 42-40.

"It was a two-point game at halftime," Sanders said. "We led most of the half and extended the lead to as much as 10 at one point, but they made a run right before half that closed it to two."

In the second half, the Lady T-Birds pulled away. NMJC outscored Grayson by more than two-to-one. At the end of the third, NMJC had pushed its lead to 65-50.

"We came out in the third period and took control of the game," Sanders said. "We outscored them 23 to 10."

Eternati Willock led the Lady T-Birds with 25 points. Laci Hawthorne had 12 while Thamires Andrade chipped in 11 and Mayra Caicedo contributed 10. Syd-nee Wynn, Jurnee President, and Bryana Langford each had eight points.

New Mexico Junior College improves to 4-1 with the win and will now head to Snyder, Texas where it will play at the Western Texas Classic on Friday. The Lady T-Birds will go up against Western Oklahoma.