GUNNISON, Colo.  Both teams were held well below their season scoring average Saturday afternoon, but the only statistic that counted was the one on the scoreboard as host Western Colorado clawed out a 52-49 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win to stretch its conference win streak to four games.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. N.M. Highlands, 52-49
Records: Western 10-3 overall (5-1 RMAC), NMHU 5-7 (2-4)
Location: Paul Wright Gym, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountaineers entered the game averaging 64.3 points per game while the Cowgirls were scoring at a rate of 67.5 per game. Neither team would come close to those figures, in part due to a very cold night for each team's long-range shooters.
• Western would go 0-for-10 from behind the arc while NMHU would hit just 2 of 14 attempts from behind the line. That left the scoring up to the drivers and the inside players.
• Leading the way for Western was Ivey Schmidt with a game-high 20 points. Highlands' leading scorer coming into the game, Juliana Aragon, landed right at her average with 16 points.
• Western held the lead for the majority of the game, as a Jayda Maves driving layup at the 5:55 mark of the first quarter lifted the Mountaineers in front, 6-4, for an advantage that they would carry into the halftime break, ahead by one point at 25-24.
• Highlands came out of the break and grasped the lead with the first five points of the third quarter.
• Consecutive layups from Rachel Cockman and Schmidt drew Western within a point, 30-29, and after a Cowgirl jumper, Schmidt hit another layup and then a jumper from in the paint to give the team a lead, 35-32, that they would hold onto deep into the fourth quarter.
• The Cowgirls battled back from a 48-39 deficit halfway through the fourth to take the lead by one, 49-48, with 1:02 to play. But that would be Highlands' final points of the game as Natalie Jojola and Schmidt each dropped in pairs of free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds.
• Highlands had one last opportunity at the buzzer from a long 3-point attempt by Kapiolani Anitielu, but the shot was off the mark to preserve the win for Western.

COURT NOTES

• Western, with the absence of its outside game in a rare instance, pounded the inside, scoring 38 of its 52 points in the paint. That helped elevate its shooting average to 47% for the game.
• Along with Schmidt's success on running jumpers and layups, Cockman also had success in close, battling into double figures with 11 points.
• Chloe Daniels also had a solid game, contributing eight points from her post position for Western.
• The Mountaineers continue to lead the league in rebounding, ripping down 40 Saturday afternoon – their fourth consecutive game with 40 or more – to nearly double up NMHU, which had just 21 for the game.
• Nine different Mountaineer players grabbed at least one rebound, but Seymour and Schmidt led all players in the game with seven apiece, with Cockman chipping in with six.
• Western held the lead for a few ticks over 30 minutes, but turnovers (26 of them) prevented that count from being even greater.
• Cockman's 11-point night drew her closer to a career achievement as she raised her career total to 996 points, four shy of the 1,000-point plateau.

THEY SAID IT


UP NEXT

• Western will put its RMAC win streak on the line Tuesday night with a home matchup against Colorado Mesa University.
• The Mountaineers then go on the road for their next five games.