Defense of WJCAC title begins with road win at No. 14 Odessa

Odessa, TEXAS (November 2, 2015)

The defense of the Western Junior College Athletic Conference title began with the No. 9 New Mexico Junior College Women's Basketball team picking up a huge road win by defeating the No. 14 Odessa College Wranglers 65-63.

Freshman Ekatarina Zhibareva came off the bench and led four Thunderbirds in scoring with 17 points. Blair Richmond and Shannon Powell each pumped in 15 points and Camille Mills added 10. Richmond stayed hot from 3-point land as she connected on 4-of-8, none more important than back-to-back 3's, late in the fourth quarter to get the Thunderbirds the lead for good.

The Thunderbirds out rebounded the Wranglers 38-33 led by Powell who collected a career and game high eight rebounds from her point guard position followed by Zhibareva with seven.

NMJC shot 51% for the game and held the Wranglers to 38%.  The Thunderbirds also outscored Odesaa 26-20 in the paint.

The brutal 12 game road trip is over for the Thunderbirds as they finished 11-1 on the road. Next up for the Thunderbirds is their first home game in over a month as they host the Western Texas Westerners at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday.