SILVER CITY, N.M. – Tied at 59-59 with seven seconds remaining, the Western New Mexico University Women's Basketball team drained a three-pointer as time expired to win the Lone Star Conference opener over the visiting St. Mary's University team and break the hearts of Rattler fans everywhere.
The Rattlers (0-5, 0-1 Lone Star) jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first seven points of the contest, leading by as many as nine (25-16) with 5:12 remaining in the second quarter. The Mustangs (5-0) scored nine straight over the next 2:04 to knot the score at 25-25. The teams went back-and-forth the remainder of the game with neither team leading by more than five.
St. Mary's turned the ball over only 10 times in the game, committing only three miscues in the first half. The difference in the game, however, came on the boards as WNMU out-rebounded StMU 37-to-22.
Freshman
Taylor Haggan (Parker, Texas) once again led the team in scoring with 14, despite spending large amounts of time on the bench in foul trouble. Senior guard
Teanna Huggins (San Antonio) scored 13 and led the team with seven rebounds and senior
Natalia Ryng (Gdynia, Poland) chipped in a season-high 11 points and all five of her rebounds were on the offensive end of the floor.
Senior
Ariah Powell (Detroit, Mich.), starting for the first time this season, led the team with three assists and she and freshman
Ramsey Robledo, also in the starting lineup for the first time in her career, each had two steals.
WNMU was led by Sydney Wright with 16 points, while Diamond Moore had 12 rebounds and Brooke Rodgers had six assists.
The Rattlers remain in New Mexico, playing at Eastern New Mexico on Saturday at 1 p.m. (MT)/2 p.m. (CT).
