No. 4 Lady T-Birds survive Western Texas, 65-53

SNYDER, Texas — The fourth-ranked New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team's 10-game winning streak and flawless Western Junior College Athletic Conference record appeared in jeopardy when the Lady Thunderbirds entered the half down 38-30 to Western Texas on Thursday.

But a stout defensive effort and the post combination of Angelica de Paulo and Antoina Robinson against an undersized Lady Westerner front line led NMJC to a comeback 65-53 victory.

The Lady T-Birds (22-1, 9-0) held Western Texas (10-12, 2-7) to 15 points and 20.7 percent shooting in the second half while de Paulo and Robinson scored 21 of their combined 40 points in the final 20 minutes.

"The real difference in the game was our intensity and focus in the second half," NMJC coach Drew Sanders said. "… For the first six or seven minutes of the second half we played hard, but we were playing just a little too fast. We finally settled down around the 10-minute mark and got things going."

The Lady T-Birds' rally started six minutes into the second half as an Alana de Silva bucket at the 13:49 mark sparked a 7-0 run to tie the game 42-42 with 11:25 left in the contest.

Western Texas took the lead for a final time on a bucket by Jasmine Richardson, but baskets by Robinson and de Paulo followed by a trio of free throws from Kelsey Criner gave NMJC a 49-44 lead and the Lady Westerners wouldn't get closer than three points the rest of the contest.

The 6-foot-1 de Paulo finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and two steals while the 6-foot-2 Robinson had 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

"(Western Texas) didn't have a lot of team height so we felt like we could really work the inside," Sanders said. "The kids did a good job of getting the ball into them on the inside."

Criner added eight points, five steals and four assists for NMJC while Nycolle Smith had seven points and de Silva had six.

Richardson and Brechelle Beachum led Western Texas with 15 points apiece while Jasmine Green had 11. Lovington graduate Jocelyn Jeffrey started for Western Texas, but didn't score in the game.

NMJC hosts South Plains 5:45 p.m. Monday.