The Western New Mexico University women’s basketball team gave Division I Texas A&M-Corpus Christi all they could handle Monday night. The Lady Mustangs had a lead after the first quarter and were down just two at halftime before the Islanders came back to take the 57-42 victory in exhibition action.
Jade Botelho gave WNMU their first lead of the night at 4-2 two minutes in with a jumper. TAMCC held a 12-8 lead later in the first quarter when the Lady Mustangs responded with a 6-0 run to close the quarter with Desiree Smith tallying four points and the other two by Cristiana Yepa to give WNMU a 14-12 lead after one.
Jordan Gutierrez and Jada Grady continued the run at the start of the second quarter as Gutierrez drilled a three and Grady a jumper to make it an 11-0 run and move WNMU in front, 19-12.
The Islanders rallied to take the lead, but the Lady Mustangs went back up by a point at 23-22 on a Gutierrez jumper late in the half. TAMCC scored the final two points of the half to cling to a slim 24-23 lead at halftime.
WNMU kept coming in the second half with Myla Woods-Brown and Smith posting back-to-back buckets to move the Lady Mustangs in front, 29-28, midway through the third quarter.
Following a small run by the Islanders, Grady hit a trey and Deandra Williams added a layup at the 2:28 mark that had WNMU back in front at 35-34.
The Islanders closed on a 5-0 run to take a 39-35 lead into the fourth quarter. Botelho ended an 8-0 run two minutes into the final frame with a jump shot leaving TAMCC with a 42-37 advantage.
That would be as close as the Lady Mustangs would get the rest of the way with the Islanders taking the 57-42 win.
Smith led WNMU with 12 points and also added five rebounds, three assists and a block. Botelho posted nine points and Grady collected eight points. Williams led the team in rebounds with 10 and also added four points.
Brittany Mbamalu led the Islanders with 16 points, while Shay Weaver added 15 points.
WNMU made 17-58 from the field (29.3), while TAMCC hit on 23-60 (38.3). The Islanders made four more three-pointers (7-3) and the Lady Mustangs made one more free throw (5-4), as there were only 16 total free throw attempts.
The Lady Mustangs will return to action at home next Monday, Nov. 30 against Eastern New Mexico University with tip set for 6 p.m. inside Drag’s Court.