Women’s Basketball 3/6/2020 1:00:00 PM Ryan Shumaker

Women’s Basketball Ready for LSC Semifinals Against Texas A&M-Commerce

Following a comeback victory over Tarleton State in Thursday night’s quarterfinal, Eastern New Mexico women’s basketball will now turn its attention to the top seed Texas A&M-Commerce. The Hounds will face off against the Lions on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. inside Comerica Center.

LAST TIME OUT
The Greyhounds pulled off the first upset of the 2020 Lone Star Conference Women’s Basketball Championship after knocking off the No. 4 seed Tarleton State Thursday night by a final score of 66-62. The victory marks the first time ENMU has made it past the second round of the LSC tournament since the 1992-93 squad made it to the championship game. Entering the final quarter of play, the Greyhounds faced a seven point deficit and quickly trimmed that to a single point as they mounted a six-point rally, capped off by a fast break layup from sophomore Zamorye Cox. Cox finished the game with 24 points and dished out seven assists while also getting after it defensively, swiping a game-high five steals. Trailing 60-57 with less than four minutes remaining, the Green and Silver were able to rattle off eight unanswered points with the Greyhounds best playmakers coming up with huge shots during crunch time. Junior forward Alivia Lewis took the ball from the left corner and drove baseline before sinking the layup through contact to give Eastern its first lead since the 7:43 mark of the third quarter. Another bucket from senior Natalie DeLonge helped increase the Greyhound lead before Cox picked up a huge steal that led to a layup and iced the game in the final eight seconds of play.

HEATING UP
The Green and Silver are in the midst of a five-game winning streak and they picked the perfect time to get hot as they prepare for what should be a tightly contested semifinal matchup with the top seed Texas A&M-Commerce. Eastern has outscored its opponents by an average of 18.6 points per game over those contests while holding its opposition to a 31.8 field goal percentage (107-for-337).

DELONGE ON FIRE
A major contributor to Eastern’s recent success has been the play of senior center Natalie DeLonge. The Second Team All-LSC selection has been averaging an impressive 18.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in the last five contests.

POINT GUARD POWER
Sophomore point guard Zamorye Cox has been a pivotal piece of this Greyhound squad and has contributed in lots of different areas. Cox leads the team with 12.8 points per game and dishes out a 4.7 assists per game, the second-best mark in the league. The Portales, N.M. native also takes care of the basketball with extreme effectiveness and has posted an assist/turnover ratio of 1.6. Defensively, Cox leads all conference competitors with 79 steals which ranks as the second-highest total in the program’s single-season record book.

BLOCK PARTY
In the quarterfinal game against Tarleton, DeLonge teamed up with fellow Second Team All-LSC honoree Alivia Lewis and the pair did a terrific job of protecting the rim. The frontcourt duo was responsible for all ten of ENMU’s blocks as they each tallied five blocks apiece while altering many other shots with their size and athleticism in the paint.

CHAIRWOMAN OF THE BOARDS
The Hounds have established themselves as one of the best rebounding teams in the LSC and have rewritten the single-season program record books by registering a program best 1,347 rebounds this season. Eastern also paces the league with 44.9 boards per game and ranks third in the conference with a 8.7 rebounding margin. The Green and Silver also boast some of the best individual rebounders in the conference as Lewis ranks second in the LSC with 8.4 rebounds while senior forward Jasmine Williams has been 7.8 boards per contest which is good enough for fifth in the conference.