Second-Half Surge Propels NMJC to 14-0

The Thunderbirds survived a first half scare against Salt Lake to win 71-56.

"If that's the 19th ranked team, I'd love to see the 18 in front of them," NMJC women's basketball head coach Austin Mefford said. "Defensively they got out and pressured us more than any team has all year."  

NMJC trailed by eight points in the first half of Sunday morning's game against the Bears. The deficit was the one point behind their largest deficit of the season which was nine points against Dodge City in the third game of the season. 

The T-Birds went bucket for bucket in the first quarter. Forward Emma Najjuma's layup with 17 seconds in the quarter gave NMJC a 15-14 lead after one quarter of play.

The Thunderbirds were behind 29-21 with under 5:30 remaining in the half. Forward Amyah Sutton hit back-to-back 3-pointers, Pania Davis added a layup and Jada Graves converted a three-point play to give the T-Birds a 32-29 lead with 3:17 left in the half. The 11-0 run put NMJC in front for the first time since the 8:33 mark in the second quarter. The first half featured 11 lead changes and four ties.

NMJC was still punch for punch in the second half as the Bears were within one point, 49-48 with 2:33 to go in the quarter. The T-Birds ended the final 2:30 on 5-0 run to hold onto a 54-48 lead.   

The Thunderbirds pulled away in the final quarter outscoring the Bears 17-8.

Amyah Sutton poured in a team-high 15 points. Jada Graves scored eight points, grabbed seven boards, and added three assists.

"They did an excellent job of trying to limit Cacia's touches bringing the ball up the court," Coach Mefford said. "That was their gameplan; to make Jada the primary ball handler and Jada did a tremendous job… she just creates for us."

Cacia Antonio finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, five of which were offensive. The Thunderbirds ran with a seven-man rotation tonight which was the smallest lineup featured all season. Antonio played all 40 minutes in the game for NMJC.  

Pania Davis recorded 12 points, 16 rebounds, and five blocks. Kaycee Steinke tied a career high with 11 points and recorded a career-high four assists. 

"Everybody that played tonight contributed," Coach Mefford said. "The energy we had from our bench this afternoon was incredible." 

The T-Birds shot 22-for-58 (37.9%) from the field, 6-for-15 (40%) from the 3-point line, and 21-of-29 (72.4%) from the charity stripe. The Thunderbirds forced just 14 turnovers and held the Bears to 34.5% from the field and 13% from the three-point land. The Thunderbirds outrebounded the Bears 39-26 in the game.

The No. 3 Thunderbirds move to 14-0 and will face Cochise College on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 11 a.m. MST in Hobbs, NM.

"Cochise beat South Plains. They are South Plains only loss and it was on South Plains home court," Mefford said. "We have got to be ready and have no let downs before Christmas and not look ahead."

The T-Birds are chasing history this season. The best start in program history was 20 games in a row during the 2017-18. The most wins in a row were 28 victories during the 2015-16 season.