DURANGO, Colo.  Western Colorado rolled to a win over Northern New Mexico University on Friday afternoon, outscoring the Eagles by 27 in the second half to earn a 69-35 non-conference win in a neutral-site game at Whalen Gym on the campus of Fort Lewis College.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. Northern N.M., 69-35
Records: Western 3-2, Northern N.M. 5-6
Location: Whalen Gym, Durango, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountaineers broke free from an early 2-2 tie to finish the first quarter leading by nine, 13-4. But the Eagles played two points better than Western in the second quarter to enter the halftime break trailing only by seven (24-17).
• The play of Western's 'bigs' began to make a …. bigger difference in the game after the break, though.
• Rachel Cockman and Chloe Daniels were tough to defend for NNMU as the Mountaineers rackup 45 points in the second half while limiting the Eagles to just 18.
• The seven-point lead that was on the scoreboard at the start of the third grew to a 13-point margin at the frame's end. The fourth quarter, though, was Western's best quarter of the season, putting the game away for the Mountaineers.
• Western put up 30 points in the final period, outscoring even its entire first-half output. It would hit 10 of its 13 field goal attempts in the quarter, including dropping in 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point line.
• Cockman would finish the game with a double-double, leading all scorers with 18 points and ripping down a game-high 11 rebounds.
• Daniels was next on the scoresheet for Western, hitting for 12 points after scoring a total of 10 points through the first four games of the season. Her strong presence in the paint in the offensive end turned into Eagle fouls, putting Daniels on the line six times where she made four of those free tries.
• The Mountaineers dominated the Eagles on the inside. They scored 26 points in the paint, limiting NNMU to just 10, with 13 second-chance points to none, nada, zippo, zilch by the Eagles.
• Ten different players for Western pulled down at least one rebound – five with 5 or more – on a night when it would pile up a 49-18 rebounding advantage. Jayda Maves chipped in with seven boards and Alyssa Eckroth added six in Western's commanding night off the rim.
• The big second half allowed coach Adam Jacobson to get playing time for a lot of players, and in the end, the non-starters scored nearly half, 31, of Western's 69 points.
• Five players off the bench played at least 10 minutes in the game.

UP NEXT
Western will use the momentum from Friday's win and take it into its home opener on Monday, November 25 when it welcomes St. Edwards (Texas) University to Paul Wright Gym for a 6 p.m. non-conference matchup.