ESPANOLA, NM - Northern women's basketball team finally was able to record another "W" in the win column this past weekend. The Lady Eagles traveled up to Denver for two conference battles at Johnson and Wales. Saturday afternoon was a neutral contest versus Arizona Christian University on JWU's court and Sunday they battled JWU on their home court.

Northern came out on Saturday with a goal to win the first 20 minutes of the contest and go into halftime with the lead, and they did just that. Leading scorer at halftime was freshman Michelle Montes, who was making her season debut, with 16 points, followed by sophomore Nisa Duran who had 11. The team had some struggles from the arc, shooting only 22%, however, capitalized on the high percentage shots and ended the half with a 40% field goal percentage.

In the second half, the Lady Eagles saw only one lead change, despite their continued shooting woes from the arc (ended the game at 16%), however, with the new presence of freshman forward Montes inside the paint, Northern was able to utilize her strength. Montes ended with a double-double, 28 points and 11 rebounds, shooting an astounding 61%. Head coach Christina Jost, "Michelle is a tremendous force inside and I knew getting her back on the court for us, would make us better on many different levels. She not only provides us with a presence in the paint, she works her tail off on the boards and has a natural leadership about her on the court. She is a very smart and unselfish player that makes those around her better."

Duran was the second leading scorer with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and was 6-7 from the free throw line. Senior guard, Erica Williams, followed with 11 points and a season high 11 assists. This proved to be a big win for Northern, as ACU was ranked 8th in the A.I.I. conference standings.

Sunday, the Lady Eagles faced off against A.I.I. 7th ranked Johnson and Wales. Northern could not find a flow offensively in the first half, shooting a dismal 20% from the field and was losing the battle of the boards being outrebounded 33-18. In the second half, Northern was able to find a little more rhythm offensively, however, JWU was too much on the boards for Northern, winning that category 59-38. Head coach Christina Jost, "This afternoon’s contest came down to the battle of the boards, and JWU crushed us in that category. Games are won with defense and rebounding, and we all didn’t do our part with our defensive assignments today. And collectively as a team, we did not rebound. On a positive note, we did shoot well from the free throw line and will have two more opportunities to face JWU at the end of the season on our home court."

Sophomore Nisa Duran led the squad in scoring with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Freshman Michelle Montes had 15 points and 9 rebounds, shooting well again from the field at 50%. Senior Erica Williams played all 40 minutes and was asked to stop JWU's second leading scorer, who was averaging 14 points per game. Williams held her to just 3 points in her 35 minutes of play, while totaling 7 steals. She also got it done on the offense end, finishing with 11 points, and 8 for 8 from the free throw line. Jost, "All season, Erica has proven to be our leader in so many different ways on the court. She has done everything I have asked of her from filling in our small forward spot to stopping our opponents' top offensive threats and has done so, with steady consistent play. She does all the "little things" out on the court that don’t show up on the stat sheet, but make a huge difference in our teams’ play. She is a true leader."

Northern will be back on the road this weekend, facing off against Black Hills State University and South Dakota School of Mines, two NAIA Division II opponents.