LAS VEGAS, N.M.—Freshman
Kaylee Carlsen came up big, scoring a career-high 26 points, and leading the Griffins to victory over New Mexico Highlands. Westminster improves to 12-6 in conference and 13-9 overall.
Carlsen made a 3-pointer to start the game and followed that up with a basket, initiating a 15-2 run. With 3:20 remaining, the Cowgirls scored their second basket of the game. The home side had cut Westminster's lead down to seven but a Carlsen 3-pointer to end the quarter pushed it to 10.
The Cowgirls took the lead from the Griffins in the second quarter, outscoring the Griffins, 25-3. Westminster went more than seven minutes without a basket in the quarter. A basket from Sydnee Taylor and a free throw by Hanna Anderl were the Griffin's only points.
The third quarter ended in a tie with both teams scoring 16 points and New Mexico Highlands leading by 12.
Westminster trailed by 14-points with 8:32 remaining in the game. Carlsen drained a three and started an 18-0 run to take a four-point lead with 3:23 remaining. Carlsen scored 13 points in the final quarter and was perfect from the field, making three 3-pointers, and from the free throw line.
"All the credit in the world to Highlands tonight. They got us rattled and we dug a pretty big hole," said Shelley Jarrard, head coach of Westminster. "Carlsen had another terrific shooting night and clutch free throws at the end. I'm proud of our resilience and our big plays in the 4th quarter."
Westminster shot 44.2 percent from the field and made 10-21 from beyond the arc. They were nearly perfect from the charity stripe, shooting 11-12.
Carlsen finished with a career-high 26 points. She was 6-9 from beyond the arc, 4-4 from the free throw line and 8-13 overall from the field. She pulled down four 4 rebounds, had two assists and one steal.
Taylor was Westminster's second-leading scorer with 15 points. She was 50.0 percent from the field and made 3-4 from three-point range. She led the team in rebounds with seven and tallied three assists and one steal.
Denise Gonzalez had five assists, three steals and blocked one shot. She scored 11 points and pulled down six rebounds.
The next game for the Griffins is at CSU-Pueblo. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on the RMAC Network and be available on live stats.
