PORTALES, N.M. - It certainly wasn't easy, but you couldn't say it wasn't entertaining Saturday night at Greyhound Arena.

The Mustangs got a great assist from its bench in the second half as MSU rattled off 16-straight points before holding off a furious Eastern New Mexico to claim a 64-59 Lone Star Conference South Division win.

Midwestern State snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 8-15 on the season and to 3-6 in division play while extending the Zias' losing streak to 11. ENMU fell to 9-18 on the season and 0-9 in the LSC South.

"I'm very proud of the way we responded from the letdown Wednesday night," MSU coach Noel Johnson said. "Hopefully, we can continue this as we close out February."

MSU starting forward Rosy Ofoegbu ignited the Mustangs' 16-0 run by scoring a layup off of a spin on the left block before connecting on a pair of free throws to give Mustangs a 44-43 lead with 12:34 to go.

From then on, MSU's reserves rattled off 10 of the next 12 points.

Michele Kenney hit an 8-foot runner in the lane before Regiane Araujo scored off of a nice feed from Ofoegbu.

Brittney Smith, who finished with a career-high seven points, converted a layup off of a steal then canned her first 3-pointer of the season from the right corner.

Karissa Lang followed with her first collegiate trey from the left wing to give the Mustangs their largest lead of the night at 56-43 with 8:09 to go.

"That's really exciting to have some young kids come in and have an impact not only with the basketball, but with their intensity," Johnson said.

But Eastern New Mexico was far from finished as the Zias recoiled with a 14-0 run of their own after Smith hit an 8-foot pull up in the lane to reestablish MSU's 13-point lead with 7:27 to go.

When Tori Northcutt hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key, ENMU was within 60-59 with 42.5 seconds to bo.

The Mustangs clamped down defensively as Ofoegbu converted a feed from Lang to push the lead back to three before Kenney hit a pair of free throws to salt away the game with 2.2 seconds remaining.

Araujo paced the Mustangs with 13 points and six rebounds while Ofoegbu closed with 10 points and seven rebounds. Freshman forward Cierra Thompson also pitched in 10 points.

Smith led the charge off of the bench with seven points and five rebounds while Patterson finished with just two points but had a career-high 11 rebounds.

"Jaz is just a warrior on the glass and did a great job tonight," Johnson said.

Lang, a freshman point guard from Fort Bragg, Calif., played a season-high 19 minutes while committing just one turnovers.

"She showed the consistency from the point guard position that we need," Johnson said. "I'm proud of her effort tonight."

Til-Lois Fifer paced the Zias with 13 points and eight rebounds while Cat Clay had 10 points and eight rebounds. Lace Clark scored 10 points and snagged six rebounds off of the bench.

The Mustangs battle Abilene Christian next Saturday at McMurry. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.