SILVER CITY, N.M. – With just one game left in the regular season, the Western New Mexico University women’s basketball team still has a strong shot to make the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament as they host New Mexico Highlands University this Saturday at 2 p.m. It will also be senior day for the seven seniors on the team (RaTanya Newsome (Tucson, AZ/Tucson High School), Ashley Witherspoon (San Marcos, CA/Mission Hills High School), Desiree Young (North Ogden, UT/Weber High School), Stephanie Douthit (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Mountain ), Ashley Mitchell (Fort Defiance, AZ/Window Rock High School), Nalani Hernandez (Tucson, AZ/Tucson High School) and Stephanie Moore (Anton, TX/Anton High School)).
WNMU is 13-12 overall and 10-11 in RMAC play which leaves them in ninth, just a game back of MSU Denver for eighth. WNMU holds the tiebreaker against the Lady Roadrunners, as MSU Denver still has a shot to claim the last spot with two games remaining. They will face Colorado State University-Pueblo and UC-Colorado Springs this weekend. There is also a chance that Regis, currently in seventh with an 11-9 conference record, could end up in a three-way tie with MSU Denver and WNMU. Then it would come down to the point system to see which two teams would end up making the field.
Mitchell continues to lead the offense pouring in 13.4 points per game. She also leads the team in three-pointers with 41. She adds 4.7 rebounds, along with 70 assists and 34 steals. Newsome and Moore average 9.4 per game as Newsome leads the team in assists (141) and steals (59). Moore adds 4.3 rebounds per contest. WNMU averages 62.9 points per game while allowing 59.9 per contest. They made 38.5 percent from the floor while opponents are right near that clip at 38.4.
In terms of national rankings, WNMU remains the NCAA leader in three-point defense holding teams to a 24.5 percent clip. They also rank high in terms of turnover margin (3.68) good for 28th in the NCAA and second in the conference, 33rd in turnovers per game (14) good for 33rd in the NCAA and leads the conference, 40th in scoring defense (59.9) which is fourth in the conference and 48th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.99) which is second in the conference.
Individually, Newsome is 13th in the NCAA in assists per game (5.6) and leads the RMAC. She also leads the conference in steals per game (2.36), which is good for 48th in the NCAA. Other individuals ranking high in terms of RMAC only include Mitchell 10th in points per game, Moore fourth in field goal percentage (51.6), Mitchell ninth in assists per game (2.8), Newsome third in three-point percentage (43.1), seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3) and 10th in minutes played per game (32.1).
WNMU took the earlier meeting at home against the Cowgirls in Las Vegas, 72-59.
NMHU (6-19, 5-16 RMAC) has yet to win on the road this season going 0-12. Anngelina Sanchez and Jenny Johnson lead the team in scoring with Sanchez tallying 12.6 and Johnson at 12.2. Claudia Meneses leads in rebounds at 5.3 per contest. The Cowgirls average 62 points per game while allowing 72.5. They make 37.8 percent from the field, while allowing a 41.6 percent effort.
WNMU and NMHU will play at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Live stats and video will be available.
