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April 28, 2004

MUSTANGS INK TWO 

Silver City, NM--  Recruiting picked up for the Mustangs  as two players signed Letters of Intent to play at Western New Mexico University.  After losing starting point guard Elyza Schaffer and starting shooting guard Irene Falk, the Mustangs reloaded at the guard position.  Maria Jose Amador (Cochise College) looks to help the Mustangs at the point guard position, and Melanie Cleusix (Yavapai College) will try to fill the shooting guard spot.

January 3, 2004 

MUSTANGS SWEEP FAIRBANKS         

Silver City, NM – Western New Mexico University’s Women’s Basketball team continued its impressive surge Saturday as they knocked off Alaska-Fairbanks for the second consecutive night, at home. The 79-71 tally was WNMU’s sixth win in nine starts and moved the Mustangs to 7-7, after starting the season 0-4. Fairbanks lost their third-straight and fell to 6-4 (2-0, GNAC). The Mustangs knocked off the Nanooks 65-55 on Friday.

WNMU faced a fierce press in the early going, most likely because they had trouble handling it in Friday’s contest. The locals adjusted quickly however, and led 34-31 at the half. Fairbanks took a slim one-point lead at the five-minute mark, but turnovers took their toll, and WNMU nailed some key shots coming down the stretch to seal the victory -- their fifth win over a Great Northwest Conference member of the year.

It was senior night for WNMU as Irene Falk (Las Cruces, NM – Oñate HS), knocked in 19 points on the night, her second highest game total of the season. Tamara Goodliffe (Albuquerque, Cibola HS), making good on her first start of the year led the Stangs with a career high 18 points. Leading scorer Ivanna Stojkovic (Split, Croatia – NMSU) added 16 and an impressive 15 rebounds. The Nanooks were again led by Adrienne Taalak with 17 and also got double figure scoring nights from Karen Rabung (15) and Valerie Hartman (12).

The Mustangs will get their toughest test of the year in their next game as they host always tough Montana State-Billings on January 9.

***

MUSTANGS DEFEAT FAIRBANKS

Silver City, NM – Western New Mexico University’s Women’s Basketball team got revenge on the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Friday as the Mustangs took an impressive 68-58 win over the visiting Nanooks. Fairbanks beat WNMU 78-65 in Alaska, two weeks ago. WNMU improved its current mark to 6-7 will UAF fell to 6-3.

 Fairbanks dominated the game in the early going, leading by as many as 12 points midway through the first half -- but WNMU battled back to close to within one at the intermission. Neither team started the game well as far as turnovers go, with WNMU recording 12 and UAF notching 14 in the first stanza. Western righted the ship in the second half, finishing with just 14 total turnovers, while the Nanooks continued to bleed in the second half, eventually finishing with 23 for the game.

WNMU shot .385 from the field while Fairbanks could manage just .344.

WNMU’s senior Center Ivanna Stojkovic lead all scorers with a 20-point night, while Irene Falk added 10. The Nanooks were paced by Adrienne Taalak’s 14-point effort, while teammate Marsha Schirack chipped in 11.

The two teams will meet again Saturday (Jan. 3, 2003)

***

Mustangs Get Sweep Over NW Nazarene

Silver City, NM – Western New Mexico University’s Women’s Basketball team won its second-straight game over Northwest Nazarene Saturday in Silver City, but the second-time wasn’t as easy as the first. WNMU trailed by as many as 10 points for much of the second half before taking a 62-61 decision as the Crusaders last second shot was beat by the buzzer. WNMU improved to 3-4 while NNU slipped to 2-5.

Turnovers were the story in Friday’s easy win over of the Crusaders, but Saturday’s contest was more about shooting. NNU out-shot the hometown Mustangs 47% to 37% on a night that saw 10-straight Crusader shots find their mark. WNMU managed just 33% from the free throw line and was out-rebounded by 10, but the Crusaders had trouble again holding on to the basketball, turning it over 20 times.

WNMU’s Ivana Stojkovic again stole the show, scoring 26 points on 17 attempts. The 6’2’ Senior from Split, Croatia also accounted for 11 rebounds. Freshman Natalie Lara (El Paso, Tx – Burges HS) had 12 on the night will teammate Nichole Ruegsegger added 11.

The Crusaders had four players in double figures in a balanced scoring attack. Heidi Buehler had 14 points while Jenny Bedford couldn’t match her Friday night total of 24 and had 13. Danielle Pridgen and Katie Zellner added 11 and 10 points respectively.

WNMU heads for Anchorage Sunday for a Monday night battle with the Seawolves.  Northwest Nazarene returns home to Nampa, ID for a December 29 meeting with Albertson College.

***

Mustangs Knockoff NW Nazarene

Silver City, NM – Western New Mexico University’s Women’s Basketball team won their second-straight game of the season as the Mustangs overpowered Northwest Nazarene 83-68 in Silver City. WNMU improved to 2-4 while the Crusaders slipped to the same 2-4 mark.

 Both teams shooting and rebounding stats were almost identical in the game, but the Crusaders committed a devastating 26 turnovers to WNMU’s 11. That statistic told the story of the game in a contest with two very evenly matched teams. Western led at intermission 39-36.

Senior Guard Irene Falk (Las Cruces, NM – Oñate HS) led the way for the Mustangs, scoring a season high 20 points – with many of those coming on breakaway lay-ups.  Ivanna Stojkovic (NMSU-Split, Croatia) scored 19 points on the night. The 6’2” senior who got off to a chilly start in the second-half but found her rhythm as WNMU took command of the game in the second stanza.  Freshman Natalie Lara (El Paso, TX (Burges HS) chipped in 11 and Senior Elyza Schafer (Fruita, CO – Horizon HS) had 10.

The Crusaders got a strong performance from Jenny Binford, who knocked down 24 points on the night. Heidi Buehler was NNU’s only other double-figure scorer with 10.

The two teams meet again Saturday night (Dec. 20) at 7:30pm.

***

Mustangs Crush Highlands -- Get First Win

Silver City, (December 6, 2003) -- Western New Mexico University’s win streak over in-state rival New Mexico Highland remained in tact for the current school year as the Mustangs crushed the visiting Cowgirls, 96-48 Saturday night in Silver City. It was the first win of the season for WNMU (1-4), who saw their home floor for the first time in the intra-state battle. New Mexico Highlands slipped to 1-3.

 Both teams are coming back to the Land of Enchantment after tough road trips to the Northwest. Both teams came away empty handed after their visits to the West Coast, but there was no place like home for Western. The Mustangs dominated the game in every facet, out-shooting Highlands from the field 52% to 26 percent. WNMU took control early in the contest with red-hot shooting from the three-point line and stretched their lead to 26 before Highland’s press got the Mustang lead down to 20 at one point late in the first half. WNMU led 52-31 at the break. The Mustangs assumed control again in the second half and never looked back, drawing away to their 48-point winning margin. WNMU out-rebound the Cowgirls by a 55-44 margin.

 Senior guard Elyza Shafer (Fruita, CO - Monument HS) led the Mustangs with 22 points. Freshman Crystal Smith (El Paso, TX – Franklin HS) added 16 and Senior Ivanna Stojkavic (Las Cruces, NM – NMSU) chipped in 11 after sitting out nearly half the game. Twelve Mustangs scored in the game.

Tara Podah scored 13 for Highlands and Emily Kellett added 10.

 WNMU will entertain Norwest Nazarene December 12 and 13, while Highlands travels to the Air Force Academy on December 10.

Warriors Hand Mustangs Second Loss

TURLOCK (Nov. 22) — CSU-Stanislaus' Shavaki Jackson and Aprile Powell both had double-doubles as the Cal State Stanislaus women's basketball team overpowered Western New Mexico, 70-52, to open the 2003-04 season.

Jackson had 16 points and 11 rebounds, plus two blocks and two steals and Powell scored 15 and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Warriors. Jackson, who played at Cal two years ago, was 8 of 15 shooting from the field, but missed all four of her free throw attempts.The Warriors out-rebounded the Mustangs (0-2), 53-34.

Ivana Stojkovic led WNMU with 20 points and 11 rebounds. She also had eight steals.

Cal State Stanislaus was down seven halfway through the first half, then the Warriors went on an 6-1 run to tie the game at 21-21. An easy layup at 3:21 gave the Warriors a 23-21 lead they would never give up.The Warriors completely dominated the second half and held WNMU scoreless for six minutes at one point.