No. 9 Lady Thunderbirds hold off Midland

HOBBS, N.M. — While the ninth-ranked New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team didn't trail in the final 35 minutes of the game, it was far from an easy win as the Lady Thunderbirds held off several Midland comeback attempts during a 58-53 victory Thursday at Caster Activity Center.

NMJC (18-1, 5-0) finally could breathe easy when Camille Mills jumped into the passing lane, got a steal and cruised for a layup to give the Lady T-Birds a 58-51 advantage with 43.1 seconds remaining.

"That was big for us, particularly since it was a transition basket because at that point we were struggling with their length," NMJC coach Drew Sanders said. "Plus Angelica (de Paulo) stepped up and hit both those free throws down the stretch."

NMJC looked like it was going to pull away early in the second half as a Nycolle Smith bucket with 16:33 left made it 34-25 Lady T-Birds over Midland (11-8, 3-2).

But a 9-0 run by the Lady Chaps capped by a Tajanay Veiga jumper tied the game at 34 with 14:23 left.

However a bucket by Viktoriia Kotilevskaia with 13:08 left gave NMJC the lead and the Lady T-Birds wouldn't relinquish it the rest of the game – but also never led by more than seven points.

A 3-pointer by Veiga with 1:28 left cut the Lady T-Bird advantage to a possession game at 54-51.

But de Paulo hit the third and fourth of four consecutive foul shots made by the sophomore to help ice the game.

NMJC was hampered with foul trouble throughout, forcing Sanders to use something he rarely implements – a zone.

"It was a situation where fouls were dictating how we had to play," Sanders said. "We probably played more zone tonight then we have the entire time that we've been here. Surprisingly  – and credit our players – we did a pretty good job at it."

de Paulo led NMJC with 17 points and nine rebounds while Kelsey Criner had 12 points, five steals and five assists as the sophomore guard came up with several key steals to give the Lady T-Birds extra possessions.

Mills finished with nine points while Antoina Robinson, despite playing only 9 minutes, 53 seconds, due to foul trouble and eventually fouling out early in the second half, had eight points.

Veiga and Marielka Garate each had 11 points to lead Midland.

The Lady T-Birds are off until traveling to take on Howard College on Thursday in Big Spring, Texas.