NMMI Sports Press

Foul trouble sidelined the Lady Colts' effort to notch their second district win of the season, falling 43-35 to the visiting Warriors.

The Lady Colts start hot, running out to an 8-0 lead by breaking the Warrior full-court press and getting high-percentage shots.

That initial lead held all the way until the 5:00 minute mark of the fourth, taking the first period 14-5, up at halftime 26-17, and still up 30-25 at the end of the third.

NMMI was called for 22 fouls during the contest, resulting in restricted playing time for five different Lady Colt players, including the game's top scorer Kaytlyn Lackey with 12 points, who fouled out early in the final period of play.

Those fouls also sent Ruidoso to the line 12 times, resulting in 12 points from the charity stripe.

Other scorers for the Lady Colts were Paulina Sanchez with eight; Anastasia Ament with seven; four for Yasmeen Marrufo; and two each for Carolina Meza and Siany McGhan.

"We're not always going to get the calls we want," said NMMI head caoch Lawrence Hall, Jr. "But we've got to keep playing. There were other things we did that contributed to the loss, such as missed free throws and missed lay-ups. But overall, I was very proud of how the girls responded tonight. Last time we played Ruidoso, they really beat us up with the press. We really emphasised that in practice this week and moved the ball well."

With the loss, NMMI drops to 2-9 on the season and 1-3 in district. They've got two more games left in the regular season, both district match-ups at home next week in the Godfrey Athletic Center gym. First up will be Tucumcari on Tuesday, Feb. 20, then Dexter on Friday, Feb. 23; tipoffs scheduled for 5:00 pm MST.