Bryant's Sixth Double-Double of Season Leads Zias to 71-62 Win over TAMU-Kingsville
Senior Scores 21 Points, Earns Career-High 17 Boards

Box Score

PORTALES, N.M. — Tiana Bryant (Sr., Post, Roswell, NM/University of New Mexico) scored a game-high 21 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, as she was instrumental in Eastern New Mexico University’s 71-62 Lone Star Conference South Division win over Texas A&M University-Kingsville, on Feb. 2 at Greyhound Arena. The Zias, playing in their sixth LSC South game, recorded their first conference victory and improved their overall record to 9-11. The Javelinas remained winless in seven LSC South games and dropped to 4-16 overall.

ENMU had built a seemingly insurmountable 23-point lead, 54-31, with 12:31 to play, but suddenly faced an inability to convert offensively or make defensive stops. TAMU Kingsville took advantage of Eastern's struggles to go on a 31-12 run over the ensuing 12 minutes, to get to within four points, 66-62, with 32 seconds remaining on the clock.

The Javelinas’ desperation attempts would not fall the rest of the way. Eastern scored the final five points on a free throw by Megan Ratliff (Jr., G, Farmington, NM/Cochise College), a layup by Missy Kirkland (Jr., G, Arlington, TX/Hill College) and a jumper by Bryant at the buzzer.

Bryant recorded her sixth double-double of the season. She has scored in double figures in 19 of 20 games, while taking on the scoring burden for the injury-depleted Zias this year. She recorded a career-high 17 rebounds against TAMUK to surpass her previous best, 16 boards, established on Nov. 16, 2005 against Fort Lewis College.

Nine of Bryant’s 10 second-half rebounds came on the defensive boards to prevent the Javelinas from having too many second opportunities on offense. Bryant is third in the LSC in scoring (17.9 points per game), sixth in rebounding (third in defensive boards) with 8.9 boards per game and fourth in blocks (1.3 per game).

The Zias began to take command early in the game, as they opened with an 11-4 run in the first 4:06, led by five points from Erika Cook (So., G, Portales, NM/Portales HS) and four points by Kirkland. Bryant didn’t get on the scorecard until over seven minutes into the game, when she recorded eight points altogether in a 12-2 run gave the Zias a 23-8 advantage.

TAMU-Kingsville was able to cut the lead to seven, but Eastern closed out the half with an 11-5 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Heather Brown (Jr., G, Hereford, TX/Hereford HS). The Zias held a 36-23 lead at the break.

The teams opened the second half trading baskets in the first couple minutes of play. Cook scored seven consecutive points in a 1:09 span to increase the Zia lead to 20 points, 47-27, at the 16:26 mark. The Javelinas began their comeback on a 9-0 run, with the scoring spread out among four players.

Two consecutive layups by Bryant put the lead back at 18 points, 58-40, with just under nine minutes left. Once again, Kingsville scored nine answered points, the final six by Angela Trotter, to get to within nine, 58-49, at the 7:01 mark. After a Brown jumper, Latasha Davis hit two consecutive 3-pointers to cut the deficit to only five points, 60-55, at the 5:05 mark.

A Kirkland layup, followed by a Brown jumper made it 64-55 with just over three minutes left. Kingsville made one last effort, outscoring the Zias 7-2 and pulling within 66-62 on another 3-pointer by Davis, before the Zias shut out the Javelinas in the final 30 seconds.

Cook scored 12 points to finish in double digits for the sixth time this season. Her nine rebounds equaled a career high set in her first start on Jan. 27 last season against Texas Woman’s University. Brown finished with 15 points and Kirkland scored in double figures for the second consecutive game, with 14 points. Kirkland also added a strong defensive presence with a team-high three steals.

A trio of Javelinas, including Nahogany Brown, Kaipresha Price and Trotter, finished with a dozen points each. Davis was the fourth Javelina to record double digits in scoring, as she poured in 10 points off three 3-pointers and a free throw.

Both teams grabbed 46 rebounds. Eastern’s success came on defense as it forced TAMUK into committing 19 turnovers. The Zias outshot Kingsville by converting 40.6% of their field goal attempts, while holding the Javelinas to only 34.3%. ENMU also claimed an edge at the charity stripe by connecting on 80.0% of its free throw shots (12 of 15).

Eastern will continue its longest homestand of the season (5 games) with a Saturday, Feb. 4 match-up against Texas Woman’s University. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. MST tip-off. The Zias will conclude the homestand on Monday, Feb. 6 at 5:30 p.m. against arch rival West Texas A&M University.