Second-half surge pushes No. 7 NMJC past Clarendon

HOBBS, N.M. — A slew of first-half turnovers by the seventh-ranked New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team allowed Clarendon College to not only hang around, but also take a 34-33 lead at the break.

But the Lady Thunderbirds used a 17-2 run early in the second half to pull away for a 76-49 victory Monday at Caster Activity Center – NMJC's ninth-straight victory.

The win closed out a perfect 7-0 mark for the Lady T-Birds (20-1) through the first half of the Western Junior College Athletic Conference as NMJC holds a two-game advantage over second-place Odessa and Midland.

However, it was far from easy for NMJC on Monday as a first half with 13 turnovers and 17 fouls committed – leading to 22 Clarendon free-throw attempts (14 makes) – led to a one-point halftime deficit for the Lady T-Birds.

"All that in the first half was just a poor mental approach," NMJC coach Drew Sanders said. "We were flat and just playing very uninspired basketball. I don't think we were overlooking our opponent more than we just weren't focused. We had no patience on offense and our execution was very poor."

After a 3-pointer by Clarendon's Amy Alfeld early in the second half made it 37-33 Lady Bulldogs (13-10, 3-4), NMJC's Antoina Robinson scored with 17:49 remaining to ignite NMJC's game-changing run.

A catalyst during the 17-2 run was Nycolle Smith as the freshman from Lawton, Okla., had eight points during that stretch – capped by a fast-break bucket on a nice assist from Alana da Silva to make it 50-39 with 14:35 remaining.

"She definitely sparked us," Sanders said of Smith. "She was posting up really hard, but she was also fighting to get some putbacks for us. She also got a steal or two that got us out in transition and got us some easy baskets to give us a little separation."

Clarendon trailed by 11 with 7:58 remaining before a Camille Mills bucket sparked a 9-0 run that included five points from Angelica de Paulo to make it 66-46 with 4:20 left.

The 6-foot-1 sophomore de Paulo led NMJC with 19 points to go along with six rebounds. Kelsey Criner had 13 points and a pair of steals, Smith finished with 12 points and four rebounds while da Silva had two points, eight assists and three steals.

Ja'lee Carver led Clarendon with 16 points.

NMJC hosts Frank Phillips 5:45 p.m. Thursday.