Women's Basketball | 11/16/2019 12:48:00 AM

Box Score  
GOODWELL, Okla. – For the second consecutive game, the Oklahoma Panhandle State University women's basketball team put up some impressive number in its 98-49 win over Northern New Mexico College in the Aggie Classic at Anchor D Arena. In their last two game, the Aggies (2-1) have scored 202 points and shot a blistering 54 percent from the field, all while holding the opponent to an average of 40.5 points per game.
 
Entering the game with a team field goal shooting percentage of 50-percent from the field, OPSU hit 52 percent versus the Lady Eagles. Panhandle also dominated the glass by out-rebounding NNMC by a 46-34 margin. While limiting the Lady Eagles to a 32 percent (20-63) shooting night, the Aggies also took good care of the ball, making just six turnovers.
 
Panhandle State also showed why it has one of the stingiest three-point shooting defenses in the country - coming into the game ranked second in three-point defense – by holding NNMC to just 12 percent  (2-17) from long range.
 
No less than five Aggies scored in double figures versus the Lady Eagles, led by junior transfer Shaylynn Choate. Choate had a game-high 21 point effort, making good on 8-for-12 from the floor and 5-of-9 from long distance. She also had five rebounds and two steals to her credit.
 
"Without my teammates and without the coaches' support we wouldn't have been able to do what we did tonight," Choate said. "We had good energy in practice all week and it paid off in the end. I just stayed focused and, if I missed a shot, moved on to the next."
 
Choate's energy rubbed off on her teammates, especially from beyond the arc, as OPSU buried 16 three-point baskets. That matches the most it has made since February 7, 2019 when the team also netted 16 long distance baskets.
 
Freshman Shay Audrain, a Stratford, Texas product, had 15 points, with all four of her field goals coming from three-point country (in six attempts). Audrain had four rebounds, two assists and a block, as well.
 
Junior Naomi Rodriguez and senior Nadia Hayes booked 14 and 13 points, respectively. Rodriguez jumped on the three-point bandwagon as she made good on 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and was 5-for-9, overall, from the floor. She dished off four assists and made three steals.
 
Junior transfer Laura Moya Demures was the fifth double-figure scorer with 11. Moya Demures was 4-of-7 from the field in her 29 minutes on the court.
 
Sophomore returner Hannah Bennett led all players with 10 rebounds. Kaylee Morgan and Cassia McCaskill shared high honors for assists, with five "dimes" each. McCaskill chipped in seven points, and four rebounds. Redshirt freshman Vanessa Gonzales added eight points on a night where every player on head coach Victor Esparza's roster scored.
 
"Our thing is defensively," Esparza said in his post-game interview. "In the first half, we were really good defensively. We put up a lot of points, but our defense is what's going to make us really good throughout the year. Our biggest thing was to slow down (Haley Eaves) for them - she's their best player – and she got three points; we did a great job on her. It was a great team effort. We communicated really well today.
 
"I'm just proud of our performance tonight and we've just got to get ready for the next one."
 
OPSU face the University of the Southwest at 8 p.m. on Saturday evening at Anchor D Arena. The Mustangs were soundly defeated by the University of Science and Arts-Oklahoma, 102-57, in the tourney's opening game on Friday.