da Silva's 22 leads No. 10 NMJC past Western Texas

HOBBS, N.M. — A strong second half helped the 10th-ranked New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team move to 2-0 in Western Junior College Athletic Conference play with a 74-52 victory over Western Texas College on Thursday at Caster Activity Center.

The Lady Thunderbirds (14-1 overall, 2-0 WJCAC) needed a late push in the first half to take a 33-30 lead at the break before outscoring Western Texas 41-22 in the second half.

"In the first half we played with no energy and were very flat," NMJC coach Drew Sanders said of the first 20 minutes. "We gave up 14 offensive rebounds. And if we do that against some of our other conference opponents, we're going to lose. The lack of energy contributed to our failed offensive rhythm."

Freshman point guard Alana da Silva paced NMJC with 22 points to go along with four steals and four assists as she was the catalyst for the second-half turnaround.

Viktoriia Kotilevskaia added 12 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals while Malaik Muhammad had 11 points off the bench – including a trio of 3-pointers.

Diamond Bradley led Western Texas (8-7, 0-2) with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

NMJC returns to action Saturday when it travels to play South Plains College (5-9, 2-0) in Levelland, Texas.