James Williams
The Paw Print
The Adams State College women’s basketball team matched their NCAA Division II era school record for wins in a season with a dominant 70-53 conference win over the visiting New Mexico Highlands University Cowgirls on Friday night at Plachy Hall.
The regionally-ranked Grizzlies received double-double efforts from sophomore forward Chloe Cable and junior forward Kendra Coveal, and dominated the glass to help overcome 31 turnovers to secure the victory.
Cable’s 19 points and 11 rebounds were good for her first career double-double, and Coveal recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Vera Jo Bustos added eight rebounds to help the Grizzlies take down 58 rebounds, one rebound short of a season-high, to just 22 rebounds for the Cowgirls. Bustos still finished the game with 13 points, with 12 of those points coming on 3-pointers in the first half.
The Grizzlies never trailed and jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead over the Cowgirls in the opening minutes of the game before the Cowgirls were able to get on the scoreboard. The Cowgirls stormed back to within one point on an 8-0 run that covered the next 3 minutes and 40 seconds.
The teams traded baskets for the next couple of possessions before Bustos knocked one in from beyond the arc to spark a 14-4 run that saw the Grizzlies take their largest lead of the first half at 25-14 with 4:37 remaining in the half. The Cowgirls were able to chip the lead back down to five points on a 3-pointer from freshman guard Katlyn Mary before Cable added a layup 26 seconds before the half to make the score 32-25 in favor of the Grizzlies heading into the break.
The Cowgirls opened the scoring the second half with a layup by senior guard Jessica Armijo, who had led the Cowgirls in scoring in the first half with 10 points. Armijo finished the game with 13 points.
The Grizzlies answered back with a 10-0 run to build the lead to 42-27 only 2:57 into the second half. That lead wouldn’t last though, as the turnovers began to mount for the Grizzlies. The Cowgirls capitalized on the turnovers and added some solid defense to hold the Grizzlies to only one field goal over the next eight minutes of play. As a result, the Cowgirls were able to cut the lead back down to six points with 8:54 remaining in the game.
Once again, the Grizzlies answered back, going on a 14-1 run that extended the lead to 20 points at 64-44 with only 3:10 left on the clock to put the game out of reach.
With the victory, the Grizzlies’ fourth straight win on the home floor, they improved to 14-3 overall and 8-2 in RMAC play for the season. The Cowgirls fell below the .500 mark to 8-9 overall and 3-7 in the RMAC. The Grizzlies came into the game ranked third in the NCAA Division II Central Regional Poll for the first time ever in the programs’ history.
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