NMJC women, men take down Western Texas

EDUARDO MIRANDA NEWS-SUN
December 5, 2019

EDUARDO MIRANDA/NEWS-SUN New Mexico Junior College's Amaya Lewis gets into the paint and hits a jumper against Western Texas College in the Lady Thunderbirds' WJCAC opener Wednesday night in Snyder, Texas. The win snapped a two game losing streak for the Lady Thunderbirds.

SNYDER, TEXAS – The 2018-19 NJCAA runner up New Mexico Junior College women's basketball team opened its Western Junior College Athletic Conference with a win on the road Wednesday. The Lady Thunderbirds (7-4) went into the Coliseum against Western Texas College (4-5) and snapped a two game losing streak from the Reiver Classic in Iowa, giving the Lady T-Birds a 1-0 mark in conference action.

The Lady T-Birds survived the road match, getting out with a 67-60 win over the Lady Westerns, in an ugly game by both teams. Despite snapping their losing skid, the Lady T-Birds were unconvincing in the win. They were able to do just enough to overcome their deficiencies and hold on for the victory.

After the win, NMJC head coach Drew Sanders was not happy with his team's performance and wants to see an improvement in every aspect of the game.

"We have been playing awful for two weeks now," he said. "Focus is not there, intensity is not there, our desire is not there. This team is trying really, really hard to go to the bottom of the league."

Sanders put it plainly and said the only good thing on the night was the win. NMJC shot 41 percent from the field, 11 percent from the three-point line, and 61 percent from the free throw line. The Lady T-Birds were outplayed in almost every category. The Lady Westerners outrebounded them 43-41, outassisted 17-16, and hit seven threes to two from NMJC. Sanders said his team did not play Lady T-Bird basketball.

'We are an undisciplined team," Sanders said. "I am very, very discouraged by this team and they have a long way to go. I'm hoping I can get it turned around, but they have to make up their mind that they want to get better."

He believes when his team shows up to practice to work hard and get better, then his team will improve. Sanders said, "you don't win games on Saturday. You win them on Thursday and Friday before you play."

The Lady T-Birds will be back in action on Saturday when NMJC hosts Odessa College in Caster Activity Center.