Lady T-Birds scorch Lady Bulldogs
Lady T-Birds scorch Lady Bulldogs
EDUARDO MIRANDA NEWS-SUN
January 17 2020
EDUARDO MIRANDA/NEWS-SUN NMJC's Brenda Costa hits a jumper in the first quarter against Clarendon College Thursday night at Caster Activity Center. The Lady T-Birds defeated the Lady Bulldogs 94-41.
Coming off a loss on the road Monday night, the New Mexico Junior College women's basketball returned to Caster Activity Center with a chip on its shoulder Thursday night. The Lady Thunderbirds came out to play against the visiting Lady Bulldogs of Clarendon College, and beat the visiting team 94-41.
"We played well on Monday and should have won," NMJC head coach Drew Sanders said. "But tonight it was really, really good because we got to play our kids on the bench. They had some success and got some confidence and that is really going to help practice."
The Lady Thunderbirds second unit outplayed the Lady Bulldogs as a team scoring 57 points. Caliana Fenceroy led the team in scoring with a game high 20 points with all coming in the second half. She proved to be a spark in the third quarter where NMJC outscored Clarendon College 36-10. Brenda Costa had 18 points and Ebony Horton chipped in with 10 points. Dawnyel Liar and Eliana Cabral each scored 12 points as starters.
The Lady Thunderbirds came out with the intention of using a high press against Clarendon College. The tactic proved to be the winner for the home team as it forced Clarendon to commit 39 turnovers that resulted in 45 points for NMJC. The Lady Thunderbirds had 28 steals, with guard Mayra Caicedo getting 10, allowing the home team to dictate the tempo of the game. NMJC used its speed to trap the Lady Bulldogs and forced errant passes or the 10-second violation. The speed of the press by the home team made it difficult for the visitors to get any open shot and held them to under 29 percent shooting for most of the game.
The second unit got plenty of minutes in the second half played with the same intensity as the first unit and even intensified it. The high minutes came in a game where the second unit got to play and show Sanders what they can bring as conference play continues and a possible playoff run. Sanders used the game to see how he can employ players off the bench to break zone defenses. His starting unit has struggled against a zone defense, especially when they are unable to hit any shots from beyond the arc. His starters finished 0 for 12 from the three-point line, and many of those shoots where good open looks. The second unit showed him he has players who can break the zone with its shooting, the second unit went 8 for 24, and he knows that will be vital as the season goes on.
Throughout the game NMJC played strong defense holding the Lady Bulldogs to six points in the first, 13 in the second, 10 in third and 12 in the fourth. The Lady Thunderbirds used the press to force turnovers, but when the Lady Bulldogs did break the press, NMJC recovered well to get into its half court defense. They controlled the board and limited the visitors on second chances and offensive boards.
The Lady Thunderbirds improve to 12-5 overall and 3-1 in conference play. They return to action Monday at Caster Activity Center against Frank Phillips College. Tip off is set for 5:45 p.m.