Third period leads to Lady Colt victory over Roswell High ‘C’

Tianna Tsosie puts up a jump shot from the free throw line during the second quarter of the Colts victory over Roswell High C team on Monday.
Tianna Tsosie puts up a jump shot from the free throw line during the second quarter of the Colts victory over Roswell High C team on Monday.

NMMI Sports Press


The Lady Colt basketball team will head into the holiday break with a perfect 2-0 record after downing Roswell High’s ‘C’ team, 51-35.

NMMI opened up the scoring with a shot from the top of the key by point guard Miranda Garcia, then made it 8-2 after forward Demitra Ulibarri when to the line to try and complete the ‘And-1’. She missed the free throw but got the rebound and put-back with just over four minutes to play in the first period.

The Coyotes’ full-court press helped them make a come-back, however, forcing several Colt turnovers resulting in easy lay-ups – just a three-point ballgame, 10-7, at the end of the first.

NMMI again started the scoring in the second period, this time on a jump-stop two-pointer by Tianna Tsosie.

After a six-point NMMI run, Roswell High’s Adrianna Carroll connected from long range, her first of two threes in the game, to make the score 16-10 with a little over six minutes left.

NMMI’s Garcia made a great inside pass by to forward Rilan Maloney after breaking the RHS half-court trap, to make it 20-11 at the 4:18 mark.

But that trap helped RHS to again catch up, with the Colts holding a slim three-point lead, 20-17, with 2:07 left to play in the half.

At the 1:36 mark, RHS center Maddie Francis - who tied Ana Albarez for top Coyote spot in scoring with eight- picked up her third foul and went to the bench. But her substitute, forward Lilly Mohr, made the final basket of the period to make it 22-19 at halftime.

NMMI owned the third period, outscoring RHS 15-3.

Ulibarri hit a short-range two to start the offensive onslaught, and was quickly followed by a coast-to-coast lay-in by Maloney to make it 26-19.

Lady Colts extended their lead to 15, 35-20, after back-to-back buckets by forward Kiara Knowles and Tsosie, then followed-up by a pair from the paint by Ulibarri.

After a Coyote field goal, Ulibarri sunk the buzzer-beater to end the period 37-22.

Roswell High’s Christian Ellenburg drove the lane for two to start fourth, 37-24, but NMMI again won the point total for the period, 14-13, to hang on for the win.

NMMI’s Ulibarri was the top scorer of the game with 28 points. Maloney had seven points for the Lady Colts, along with 11 rebounds.

“We’re very happy with the win, but we still have a lot of work to do,” said head NMMI coach Marisha Olesinski. “We had way too many turnovers in the first half – 12 alone in the first period. I told the girls at halftime that if we wanted to win, we had to cut down on the turnovers. And in the third, we took care of the ball and it showed.”

The next game for NMMI won’t happen until after the new year, with the Lady Colts playing their first game at home, versus Lake Arthur on Jan. 15 – tipoff set for 5:00 PM in the Godfrey Athletic Center gym.