Lady Thunderbirds use huge third quarter to rout Otero JC

Jason Farmer

News-Sun

     New Mexico Junior College led visiting Otero Junior College by eight points at the break and the Lady Thunderbirds coach was not happy aboutt it.  He made sure his team knew the break and when play resumed in the second half, it showed, as NMJC demolished Otero 80-38 Tuesday night.

     "I didn't want another Central Arizona where we are up 19 and we struggled to win," NMJC coach Drew Sanders said.  "It is about intensity and focus.  We are struggling right now with leadership and that leadership, like it or not, has to come through me.  I am hoping that changes as the year progresses, but at halftime I got on them pretty good."

    Halfway through the second quarter, NMJC led by 16.  But according to Sanders, the intensity dropped and that allowed Otero to climb back into the game, cutting the Lady THurndebirds' lead in half.

     "I wasn't happy in the second qauarter because we dropped intensity," Sanders said.  "We dropped focus and started doing things like we did against Central Arizona to let them back in the game in the second half.  That is the lesson these kids need to learn, otherwise it is going to bite us later and cost us some games."

     That eight-point margin was as close as Otero would get though.  When play resumed in the third quarter, NMJC dominated.  The Lady Thunderbirds opened the half with a 15-0 run before Otero nailed a free throw with 4:27 left in the quarter. That was all the Lady Rattlers would get though as NMJC closed out the quarter and started the fourth on another run, this time 11-0 run.

     "Everyone , when they play us, we are kind of a measuring stick," Sanders said.  "People bring their A-game.  In that first half, they played as hard as they could play and that is a tribute to them.  Our kids have to understand that people are going to do that and we have to play our A-game as well and then those games don't stay close early."

     The Lady Thunderbirds nearly matched their first half scoring in the third quarter's 10-minute span.  NMJC dropped in 24 points to take control of the game.

     New Mexico Junior College's Ekaterina Zhibareva said the change in the attitude came after lit into the team during the break.

     "He was angry at us because we weren't playing how we were supposed to be playing," Zhibareva said.  "We changed after that.  We had more energy and played better."

     After watching his team struggle in the second quarter, Sanders was pleased with the team's defensive play in the third.

     "I am concerned with how we played," Sanders said.  "I felt like the second half our defense has been very, very suspect up to now.  In the third quarter, we played some defense and now the question is getting us to do that on a regular basis for 40 minutes."

     Entering the final quarter of play, NMJC led 53-22.  The Lady Thunderbirds poured in another 27 points in the fourth.  Otero got on somewhat of an offensive rhythm as well, scoring 16 points.

     "Everbody was ready to play," Zhibareva said.  "We played how we were supposed to play because in the first half we played horrible."

     Dezirae Hampton and Zhibareva were the only Lady Thnderbirds to score in double figures.  Hampton led the Lady Thunderbirds with 13 points while Zhibareva chipped in 12.  Additionally, Zhibareva pulled down seven rebounds while Daiane Machado had a game-high eight.

     While NMJC (4-0) only had two players in double figures, the Lady Thunderbirds still got plenty of scoring as every member of the team put points on the board.  Maddison Glass and Laurynn McGowen each had eight points, Keonna Watson contributed seven, and Alarie Mayze had scored seven. 

     "When you are deep like that, it means if one group or one player is not playing well, you can go to the next one," Sanders said.  "Somewhere in there you should be able to find intensity and find what you need.  Another thing is, when you are deep like that, it makes your practices stronger too."

     Otero's Savannah Madrid-Andr led all scorers with 14 points, while coming in off the bench.  The Lady Rattlers (0-3) only got 11 points out of their starting five.  The rest of Otero's scoring, 27 points, came from the bench.  On the flip side, NMJC had 41 points from its starting five and 39 from the bench.

     Defensively, the Lady Thunderbirds had more steals (23) than Otero had rebounds (20).  NMJC nearly doubled up Otero in rebounds, pulling down 37 as a team.

     "That is the difference in athleticism,"  Sanders said.  "Physically they begin to wear down because of the depth and how hard (Otero) played in the first half."