ESPANOLA, NM - Northern women’s basketball opened up their 2011-2012 season with two wins in NNMC’s 2nd Annual Santa Claran Classic, hosted at Eagle Memorial Gymnasium. The squad is currently battling numerous injuries, however, that didn’t deter them from their goal of going 2-0 in the tournament.

Northern came out strong early, on Friday, and never looked back as they beat Oglala Lakota College 84-45. As a team, they shot 39% from the field and 42% from the arc. Total, the team recorded 17 steals and out rebounded their opponent by 4.

Leading the way was sophomore Nisa Duran, who continued where she left off from her stellar freshman season, pouring in 31 points, pulling down 6 rebounds, and recording 3 steals. Three other Lady Eagles finished the game in double digits. Junior Vera Begay added 14 points, shooting 50% from the 3-point arc. Freshman Sheka Lopez kicked off her college career scoring 11 points, also shooting 50% from the arc and grabbed 7 rebounds, 4 of them offensive boards. Sophomore Shannon Dez had a memorable first game, where she recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. She also led the team in steals with 6.

Saturday’s contest proved to be a tougher battle for Northern when they faced Haskell Indian Nations University. The game was full of lead changes. Northern saw themselves up 6 towards the end of the first-half, however, Haskell put a string of scores together and went into halftime with a 41-37 lead. Determined to protect their home court, Northern came out in the second half battling and played 20 minutes of full court man-to-man pressure, which seemed to rattle Haskell’s offensive flow. More lead changes were exchanged, but Northern made a few key runs to take the lead and hit their free throws in the last minutes to seal the 80-74 win.

Northern was led, again, by Nisa Duran, who recorded 23 points, 7 rebounds, and was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line. Junior Vera Begay shot 100% from the field, 3-point arc, and free throw line, scoring 15 points. She was 3-3 from the arc and 4-4 from the charity stripe. Junior point guard, Shaniqua Perkins, led the offense for the night, while also contributing 13 points and 3 assists. Freshman Sheka Lopez played a key role in the Eagles’ win, winning many hustle plays and igniting key runs with some big three-point plays. She ended the game with 12 points and 4 rebounds, all on the offensive boards. Senior Erica Williams was asked of a lot for this game, as she had to play inside for 40 minutes due to Northern’s center, Shannon Dez, being on the bench in foul trouble all game. Williams, a 5’6” guard, not only had to play inside offensively, but had to defend Haskell’s top threat, a 5’10” center. Williams ended the game with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

“I am extremely proud of our efforts this past weekend,” stated head coach Christina Jost. Jost continued, “The team came out with an energy and fire this weekend and battled hard. Both wins were true team efforts and we are looking forward to building on this success.”