Lady Saints Remain Unbeaten, Knock Off Previously Unbeaten New Mexico
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
New Mexico Junior College (12-1) | 37 | 26 | 63 |
|
Seward County Community College (9-0) | 31 | 37 | 68 |
In an exciting end of November clash of NJCAA titans, the Seward County Lady Saints emerged victorious Saturday afternoon in Garden City, knocking off previously unbeaten New Mexico 68-63 thanks to a late rally to move to a perfect 9-0 on the season.
It was 8-0 Seward County and 12-0 New Mexico in the matinee matchup Saturday afternoon in Garden City's Pepsi Classic in the Perryman Center. Something had to give between the 20th ranked Lady Saints and 22nd ranked Lady T-Birds. Coming into the game the Lady Saints knew that New Mexico was going to come at them hard early on with their physicality and athleticism and that the T-Birds did, forcing six Seward turnovers in the first five minutes of the game to take an early 8-5 lead. A 7-0 New Mexico run put the Lady Saints in a 15-6 hole and the T-Birds continued to extend their advantage, going on top 25-13 with 9:03 remaining in the first half. Seward slowly chipped away, getting back to within six on a three from Daniela Galindo and had the New Mexico lead down to three with time winding down in the half before a T-Bird three pointer swished through the hoop to make it a 37-31 game at the break.
A little bit of regrouping in the locker room at halftime did the Lady Saints well and it took them just four minutes to erase the New Mexico lead and grab their first lead of the game at 42-41. The two heavyweights went back and forth, taking turns with the lead until they were deadlocked at 56 with just under 9:00 to go in the contest. The T-Birds took the lead back at 63-60 with 6:13 left but the Lady Saints kept kicking, getting to within one before Rebekah Hatchard drove to the basket and scored to put Seward back on top 64-63 with 3:14 left. Both teams went cold down the stretch and the score remained 64-63 with under a minute to go when Brooklyn Artis nailed a huge three from the wing to give the Lady Saints a 67-63 lead. Seward held tough on defense and made a free throw in clutch time to hand New Mexico their first loss of the year 68-63.
The Lady Saints held New Mexico to just 36% shooting in the game and were deadly themselves from the outside in the win, hitting 7 of 14 three point attempts while shooting 43% from the field overall. The Lady Saints top two scorers came from their bench as Artis scored a game high 21 including 8 of 9 from the free throw line while Galindo pitched in 17, drilling 5 of 6 three point attempts on the afternoon.
#20 Seward improves to 9-0 on the year while #22 New Mexico drops their first game of the season, falling to 12-1.
The Lady Saints schedule lightens considerably this weekend as they host the Pizza Hut Classic in the Greenhouse. Friday Seward will take on a veteran Fort Carson team while Saturday they will play Northwest Kansas Tech. Saturday night the Lady Saints will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Night in the Greenhouse, donning 'Los Santos' jerseys while many other events will take place during the night focused around the Hispanic culture.