Saturday, November 15, 2014
                                                                                      
GOLDEN, COLO. — Senior forward Tori Tucker (Portales, N.M./Floyd HS/Howard College) poured in 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists, but the Eastern New Mexico University women's basketball team (0-2) dropped a 62-59 heartbreaker to University Colorado-Colorado Springs (2-0) on the second day of the Tony Corbetta Classic. Shayla Williams (Jr., PG, Oklahoma City, Okla./Butler CC) and Jordyn Cooper (Jr., G, Texico, N.M./Texico HS) both contributed 12 points.
 
After an early exchange of baskets, UCCS' Brittany Hernandez connected on back-to-back layups, to give the Mountain Lions an early 8-4 lead. Tucker drained consecutive three-point buckets, followed by a Jaylyn Cooper (Jr., G, Texico, N.M./Texico HS) trey, as the Zias quickly surged to a 13-8 lead. The nine consecutive points stretched into a 24-6 run, which spanned 12:32 and gave Eastern a 28-14 lead with 2:57 left in the opening half. After an exchange of baskets, the Zias took a 30-18 lead into the locker room.
 
Eastern maintained a double-digit lead in the second half until Shanah Leaf's layup with 14:47 left pulled UCCS to within nine at 37-28. Neither team could sustain momentum and Eastern took its last double-digit lead at 48-37 with 9:06 left on Dominique Carpenter's (Fr., PG, Albuquerque, N.M./Cibola HS) jumper. The Mountain Lions scored the next 10 points and pulled to within 47-47 on Jessika Kienitz's jumper with 6:53 left. Eastern built a five-point lead, but UCCS closed the game on a 12-4 lead and snapped a 59-all tie on Abby Kirchoff's short jumper with six seconds left.
 
The Zias held a 45.1-39.1 edge in shooting percentage and a 36.4-20 percent lead from three-point range. Eastern's bench outscored UCCS' reserves by a 21-11 margin, but the Mountain Lions held a 34-20 edge in the paint. Tucker's five assists was a career-high. Williams added three steals, while Jasmine Johnson (Sr., P, DeSoto, Texas/DeSoto HS) finished with four points and six boards. Hernandez paced UC-Colorado Springs with 22 points, 10 rebounds, two blocked shots and three steals.
 
The Eastern New Mexico University women's basketball team will return to action next Saturday, to take on cross-state rival Western New Mexico University. The game will be played at The Pit (University of New Mexico in Albuquerque), with a 4 p.m. MT tipoff.