PORTALES, N.M. -- Midwestern State has won four of its last five games after defeating Western New Mexico, 73-61, on the first leg of its current road trip. The Mustangs visit Eastern New Mexico on Saturday afternoon to complete the road trip. Tip-off at Greyhound Arena is slated for 2 p.m. CST.

Zarria Carter logged her fifth consecutive and seventh double-double of the season, finishing with 25 points and 16 rebounds in the Mustangs win on Thursday. Fifth-year senior Makayla Coy logged her third double-double of the campaign, with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Nikki Green matched a season-high by making three 3-pointers on her way to 11 points. She is shooting 50 percent from the arc (10-for-20) over her last four games.

Midwestern State (4-10, 4-4) is 2-3 as the visiting team this season and has won its last two road games.

The Mustangs are scoring 65.4 points per game this season with a 67.5 scoring average in conference games.

Carter is fourth in the Lone Star Conference with 16.4 points per game, and Amos is sixth with 16.0 points per game.

Midwestern State is third in the LSC with 40 rebounds per game and leads the league with 16.8 offensive rebounds per game, which is 10th-most among NCAA Division II programs.

Carter is one of three Mustangs among the conference top-10 in rebounding. Carter is second with 11 rebounds per game. Makayla Coy is seventh in the league, grabbing 8.2 caroms per game, and Amos is ninth with 7.2 boards per contest.

Carter leads the conference with 5.1 offensive rebounds per game. Coy is third in the LSC with 3.5 offensive rebounds per game, and Amos is sixth with 2.9 per contest.

The Mustangs are taking care of the basketball this season with just 14.2 turnovers per game, which is the third-fewest in the LSC and is 44th in the nation.

Catalina Cortez, who is averaging 3.1 assists per game, is playing a team-high 31.6 minutes per game and is second in the conference with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.11.

Midwestern State is allowing opponents to score 75.8 points per game this season, but conference foes have been held to 68.57 points per game.

The Mustangs, who are averaging 8.2 steals per game, are forcing 17 turnovers a game, and are ninth in the conference in both categories. MSU is fourth in the league with a turnover margin of 2.77.

Amos is seventh in the league with 2.27 steals per game and has a total of 25 this season.

Midwestern State leads the all-time series with Eastern New Mexico, 31-24, but the Greyhounds won the last meeting, 80-55. Eastern New Mexico buried a season-high 13 3-pointers and used a pair of 9-0 runs in the first period to take control of the game at Greyhound Arena last season.

Six different Greyhounds connected on 3-pointers with ENMU finishing the game knocking down 13-of-30 for a 43.3 percentage from beyond the arc. Junior Ashley Shipley drilled four 3-pointers, while Julieta Ceja, Deja Adrian, Corin Camara, and Marley Freeman hit two 3-pointers each. All five women shot 50 percent from beyond the arc.

Eastern New Mexico (4-9, 0-7) has a seven-game losing streak following a 72-68 overtime loss to Cameron on Thursday night.

Ishuana Hunter turned in a double-double performance with 16 points and 13 rebounds, both team highs. Adrian was not far behind with 15 points and five rebounds, along with three steals. Shipley provided a team high five assists and four steals, along with 10 points and five rebounds.

Hunter is averaging 15 points and 8.3 rebounds to lead the Greyhounds, who are averaging 60.54 points per game. Three players are averaging double digits. Adrian is scoring 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Vanessa Oduah is scoring 10.9 points per game for the Greyhounds.

ENMU is forcing the second-most turnovers in the LSC with 21.08 per game, but the Greyhounds are 15th in the league with 20.6 turnovers per game.

Eastern New Mexico is sixth in the league with 10.1 steals per game. Jamila Nansikombi-Gunter is 11th in the league with 2.1 steals per game.

The Greyhounds are holding opponents to 63.3 points per game and is the sixth-best scoring defense in the LSC.

Blake Huber became the head coach at Eastern New Mexico University in June 2023.

Huber spent the 2022-23 season as the head coach at Texas A&M-Texarkana where he took the Eagles to a 29-2 (.935) mark, including an undefeated conference record, 20-0 (1.000). In his first season, he was named the Red River Conference Coach of the Year. He led the team to their first ever tournament appearance and victory, advancing to the second round of the NAIA national tournament with a win over Grand View.

Prior to his time in Texarkana, he spent two years as the assistant coach at Arkansas Tech where he served as the recruiting coordinator. With the Golden Suns, he helped the team earn the top seed in the east division of the Great American Conference in 2021 and advance to the South Central regional tournament. In 2021-22, the program went 16-13 and made it to the conference tournament championship game with a pair of postseason wins.

Brenita Jackson is in her first season leading Midwestern State and boasts a career record of 55-23 after two highly successful campaigns at Texas Wesleyan, where she won 80 percent of her games (52-13).

Jackson played collegiate basketball at Southeastern Louisiana helping the Lions to Southland Conference East Division title in 2006-07 earning all-conference and all-academic honors as a senior.

Midwestern State visits Eastern New Mexico on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off at Greyhound Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST.
 

--MSUMustangs.com--