Lady T-Birds Fall In Overtime

Lady T-Birds fall in OT

The New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team lost to South Plains College Monday night, falling 65-58 in overtime.

The Lady Thunderbirds trailed most of the game. The were down two points, 16-14, after the first quarter, and fell further behind in the second when South Plains outscored them 15-9. NMJC went into the break facing a 31-23 deficit.

The Lady T-Birds started to claw their way back into the game in the third quarter as they outscored South Plains College 20-15, but still trailed 46-43. Down by three points in the final 10 minutes, NMJC continued to battle, even taking a 52-21 lead with 5:52 to play, but couldn't hold it. NMJC scored 10 points to South Plains' seven as the teams finished regulation knotted at 53.

In overtime, the Lady T-Birds couldn't match South Plains. NMJC was outscored 12-5 and suffered its first Western Junior College Athletic Conference loss of the season.

Zaria Dorsey was one of two Lady T-Birds to record a double-double. She led NMJC with a game-high 17 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds. Dawnyel Lair also had a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game-high 12 boards. Hobbs graduate Amaya Lewis had 11 points, three rebounds, three assists, and one steal.

With the loss, NMJC slips to 12-5 on the season and 3-1 in WJCAC play. Next up for the Lady T-Birds is a home game against Clarendon College on Thursday. Tipoff is set for 5:45 p.m. in Caster Activity Center.