DENTON, Texas (Jan. 5, 2016) – Texas Woman's University produced its largest margin of victory on the season with a 75-46 victory over Western New Mexico in a game controlled early on where the Pioneers jumped out to a 17-2 lead within the first four minutes of the contest Thursday night inside Kitty Magee Arena to give TWU its fifth win in a row.
Kenesha Saygo scored a team-high 16 points and moved up to become TWU's sixth all-time leading scorer with 1,019 points.
Grace Mitchell chipped in with 10 points, six rebounds and five steals. Thirteen of the 14 Pioneers scored in the game, and the team outrebounded the Mustangs by a season-best 14 and accumulated a season-high 18 steals.
The Pioneers (10-3, 3-2 LSC) applied backcourt pressure to force several WNMU turnovers and turned them into quick buckets for a 10-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest. A three-pointer by
Cienna Rodriguez from the left baseline upped the margin to 21-6 with 2:17 left in the first quarter.
Two free throws by WNMU (4-9, 0-6 LSC) cut the lead to 31-18 midway through the second period before Rodriguez and Saygo each drilled a three on the way to 14 straight Pioneer points to run the score up to 45-18 with less than a minute to play before the half.
WNMU struck first after the break with a score in the paint, but TWU gradually extended the gap to 56-26 on a pair of free throws by
Alexis Nezianya at the 4:46 mark of the third. Saygo knocked down four straight from the line to increase the gap to 65-30 heading into the final stanza.
A three from the wing by
Andrea Mapua handed the Pioneers their largest lead of the night at 70-34 two minutes into the fourth.
Ashley Bonugli added a point from the line to keep the lead over 30, while
Hailee Ashworth and Stastny each scored in the paint within the final minute.
The Pioneers host Eastern New Mexico Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Kitty Magee Arena. A free youth clinic will be held following the game for eighth graders and below. Go to
www.twuathletics.com/clinics for more information.
