FPC presents no challenge for Lady T-Birds
JASON FARMER
January 21, 2020
JASON FARMER/NEWS-SUN Hobbs High School graduate and NMJC sophomore Amaya Lewis takes a shot for the Lady Thunderbirds during the first quarter of a WJCAC game in Caster Activity Center Monday night during NMJC's home win over Frank Phillips College
The New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team won big Monday night, routing the visiting Frank Phillips College Lady Plainsmen 93-45 in Caster Activity Center.
Despite playing with a short bench, Frank Phillips had only three reserves, the Lady Plainsmen put up a valiant fight. Frank Phillips even had an early lead over NMJC as the Lady Plainsmen were up 9-7 with 4:42 left in the first quarter.
But the Lady T-Birds didn't trail long. Following a timeout, NMJC went on a 13-3 run to take a 22-12 lead. By the end of the first quarter, the Lady T-Birds led 24-14.
Frank Phillips didn't quit though. Just over halfway through the second quarter, after NMJC took a 21-point lead, the Lady Plainsmen climbed back into the game behind a 10-0 run. After three minutes without scoring, NMJC finally ended the run when scoring drought when Dawnyel Lair hit a layup with one minute left in the half.
"We could have stretched it out, but we got sloppy at the end of the second quarter," NMJC coach Drew Sanders said. "They hit a couple of threes and got the lead down."
The Lady T-Birds took a 44-31 lead into the break.
New Mexico opened the second half with a 10-2 run, and dominated the second half, outscoring Frank Phillips 49-14.
"We executed much better," Sanders said. "We got the ball inside some, which we failed to do in the first half. We played much better in the second half. Much more solid and we didn't turn the ball over as much."
With just over seven minutes left in the game, NMJC pushed its lead back to 20 points at 54-34. The Lady T-Birds pulled away in the third, outscoring Frank Phillips 25-10 and taking a 69-41 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.
The one are Frank Phillips outdid NMJC in was free throws. The Lady Plainsmen were 10-of-12 at the charity stripe while the Lady T-Birds were a dismal 7-of-14.
"That has kind of been our achilles all year for us," Sanders said. "We are probably at 55 percent on the year."
The Lady T-Birds had five players in double figures and all but one player who saw action, scored for NMJC.
Lair, Amaya Lewis, Eliana Cabral, Zaria Dorsey, and Ebony Horton. Lair was just shy of a triple-double. She led the Lady T-Birds with 19 points while also dishing out nine assists, grabbing eight rebounds, and six steals.
"She is definitely becoming the face of our team," Sanders said of Lair. "She usually runs the front on the press and she is our leading rebounder. She is becoming our most consistent scorer. Her and Amaya (Lewis) have been our most consistent scorers over the year."
Lewis, a 2018 Hobbs High School graduate chipped in 13 points with three boards, two assists, and two steals while Cabral had 10 points and six assists. Playing of the bench, Horton and Dorsey each had 11 points.
Mayra Caicedo and Brenda Costa each finished with seven points while Selina Dockery had six. Caliana Fanceroy chipped in five and Maria Cecelia Dos Sa added four. Tania' Mir, the only Lady T-Bird not to score, did pickup a rebound and an assist in six minutes of play.
"We tried (to get her a chance to score)," Sanders said of Mir. "Our schedule has been so tough that some of those kids haven't gotten a chance to play a lot.
With the win, NMJC improves to 14-5 on the season and 5-1 in Western Junior College Athletic Conference play while Frank Phillips College falls to 10-10 and 2-4. The Lady T-Birds will be off the rest of the week before heading to Midland on Monday where NMJC will play the Lady Chaparrals. Tipoff is set for 5:45 p.m. (CST).
"We have to play them down there and that is going to be a really, really tough matchup," Sanders said. "We really, really need that game since we dropped one to South Plains so that we can stay in the race with South Plains."
Dawnyel Lair takes a shot for the Lady Thunderbirds Monday night during NMJC's 93-45 win over Frank Phillips College. Lair had 19 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, and 6 steals for the Lady T-Birds.