The four-game losing streak is no more.
On Monday afternoon, the Sul Ross State women's basketball team put together a solid win over the Concordia University (Texas) Tornados, 74-69, at the Pete P. Gallego Center.
>> HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Lobos were down 8-0 with 7:47 in the first quarter before
Marley Rokas scored the first bucket with a layup.
Sul Ross State trailed by as much as nine before surmounting the comeback using a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to four.
Cheyanne Bonilla highlighted the run by grabbing a steal and finishing with a layup.
Concordia hit two 3-pointers late in the quarter to increase its lead to 11 points.
Bonilla cut the deficit to six with a three at the 9:43 mark in the second quarter.
With five quick points from
Victoria Aguayo, the Lobos were down by four before Concordia surged to a 14-point lead with 4:25 to go until halftime.
The Lobos closed out the second quarter on a 7-0 run, which had points in the paint from Rokas,
Kayley Diaz and
Emily Bunger.
Down by nine in the third quarter, Aguayo landed a clutch three-pointer to start up another 7-0 run that gave the Lobos a one-point lead with 2:08 to go in the quarter.
Concordia then scored five unanswered points before Bonilla hit a jumper in the paint to put the Lobos behind by four at the end of three.
Using a momentum-changing 12-0 run, the Lobos went up by eight. Aguayo scored five points during the run as she made another three-pointer.
Concordia cut the deficit to one with 4:16 to go, but
Ariana Escalante stepped up and hit a clutch three to fuel a 5-0 run that put the Lobos ahead by six.
The Lobos were bent towards the final seconds of the contest, but they didn't break as they made some key free throws down the stretch to pull out the win.
>> RECORDS: Sul Ross State (4-7); Concordia (2-9)
>> POSTGAME INTERVIEWS:
"I was very proud of Victoria. During crunch time, when we needed the shot, she made it. So did Cheyanne and then Ariana hit the boards hard. That was awesome. That's what I told our players. When your shot is not falling, attack. We need to play smart, not just play hard. We played much smarter today. I always praise Marley. No matter what, Marley is going to compete. Today, everybody was with Marley. Cheyanne's leadership — I saw some bright sides of our team." —
Head coach E.J. Lee Smith
"We played together really well. It was a good team win. Our first half wasn't that good, but Marley carried us. She helped us, she was pushing through. I wasn't having a good first half, so to have teammates that can have your back and then help me out in the second half really helps. I think this game we really wanted to play together. We just need to play together, have our bench, have energy and support each other." —
Victoria Aguayo
>> GAME NOTES:
- Aguayo matched her season-high mark of 21 points as she also tallied three rebounds, two assists and four steals.
- Rokas added with 18 points, two assists, two steals and four rebounds.
- Bonilla had 13 points, a season-high six steals and five rebounds.
- Escalante tallied a game-high 10 points while she grabbed eight rebounds and recorded four steals and three assists.
- Diaz recorded six points, three assists and four rebounds.
- Bunger grabbed four rebounds and scored five points.
- The Lobos had 17 steals, 15 assists and 37 rebounds.
- Sul Ross State scored 32 points off of Concordia's 27 turnovers.
- The Lobos shot 21 of 24 from the free throw line while they made five 3-pointers. Aguayo landed three 3-pointers.
>> UP NEXT: The Lobos host Northern New Mexico College at 1 p.m. CST on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
