Brown and Bryant Lead Zias to 75-72 Win over Southeastern Oklahoma
ENMU Overcomes 15 Three-Pointers by Lady Savages

Box Score

PORTALES, N.M. — Eastern New Mexico University won its second consecutive game behind 21 points by Heather Brown (Jr., G, Hereford, TX/Hereford HS) and 20 points from Tiana Bryant (Sr., Post, Roswell, NM/University of New Mexico), as the Zias claimed a 75-72 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Saturday, Jan. 14, at Greyhound Arena. The Lone Star Conference crossover victory moved the Zias over .500 for the season with an 8-7 overall record. The Lady Savages fell to 6-9 after suffering their third loss in four games.

SE Oklahoma trailed by eight points, 72-64, with 2:14 to play, but rallied within one point of the Zias, 73-72, following two free throws by Jessica Hocker with 37 seconds remaining. After Bryant missed a jumper and Sami Jo Cotton-Black rebounded for SOSU with 13 seconds left, the Lady Savages called time-out.

On the in-bounds play, SE Oklahoma was able to get the ball to Cotton-Black, the team’s leading scorer, but Bryant stole the ball and was fouled. Bryant converted both free throws to put Eastern up 75-72 with six seconds on the clock. A desperation three-point attempt by Cassie Watson of SOSU was off target as the game ended.

The Zias won their second game in a row for the first time since back-to-back victories over Cameron University and Texas A&M University-Commerce in the first week of December. ENMU is now 4-1 at home this season.

Eastern looked sluggish for much of the first half and the Zias trailed 11-3 just over six minutes into the game. The Zias went on a 6-0 run to get within two points, but SOSU followed with a 10-6 run to claim a 19-15 advantage. Eastern continued to face a deficit throughout the remainder of the first half.

Even so, the Zias were within a single point, 25-24, with 5:10 left in the stanza. The Zias trailed by just three points, 33-30, at the 1:34 mark, but SOSU’s Cotton-Black scored the final four points of the period to give the Lady Savages a 37-30 lead at the intermission.

The Zias began the second half with a 10-2 run to take their first lead of the game, 40-39, with 17:01 to play. Brown, who scored 12 second-half points, increased the lead to 42-39 with a jumper, before the Lady Savages answered with an 11-2 run. SOSU led 50-44 with just under 14 minutes remaining.

A layup by Megan Ratliff (Jr., G, Farmington, NM/Cochise College) of ENMU tied the game at 54-54 with 11:24 on the clock. Eastern retook the lead, 57-54, with 10:46 to go, when Brown hit one of her four three-pointers during the game.

ENMU led by as many as nine points on two occasions later in the game. The first nine-point lead came after another Brown three-pointer with 8:26 left and the second occurred at the 5:20 mark, following a jumper by Missy Kirkland (Jr., G, Arlington, TX/Hill College) for a 67-58 advantage. SOSU waited until the final two minutes to make the game interesting, but the rally by the Lady Savages wasn’t quite enough to catch the Zias.

Brown was the only Zia to shoot over 50% from the field (8-11), including a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc. Bryant was 8 of 19 shooting and led Eastern with nine rebounds. Rosalyn Elliott (So., G, Stanley, NM/Lubbock Christian University) recorded a game-high and career-high five assists to go with five points.

Ashley Sutton (Jr., G, Italy, TX/Tyler JC) scored eight points for the Zias, including two three-pointers, and Brittney Gillespie (So., Post, Aztec, NM/Aztec HS) provided seven points and a strong presence under the basket with eight rebounds. The Zias shot a solid 48.5% in the second half (16 of 33), after hitting 36.4% (12 of 33) in the first half.

SOSU was led by Cotton-Black’s 19 points, which included hitting 5 of 10 three-pointers. Three other Lady Savages finished in double-figures, with Staci Willis at 13 points, Watson at 11 points and Hocker with 10 points. Southeastern connected for 15 three pointers at a 39.5% rate (38 attempts), but shot only 33.3% (10 of 30) from inside the arc.

ENMU will be back on the road on Thursday, Jan. 19 for an LSC South game against Angelo State University at 5 p.m. MST. The Zias will continue conference play at Abilene Christian University on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 1 p.m. MST. Eastern returns to Greyhound Arena to start a five-game homestand on Wednesday, Jan. 25 against Tarleton State University at 5:30 p.m. MST.