PHOENIX, Ariz. - Northern New Mexico College (5-10) scored the first 13 points of the second half and led by as many as 20 points en route to an 81-70 victory over Arizona Christian University (4-8) in collegiate women's basketball action at the Arizona Christian Classic II, Saturday, December 29, in Fultz Memorial Gym in Phoenix. 

In Saturday's first game at the Classic, Thompson Rivers University (Canada) defeated Rocky Mountain College (4-7) from Montana, 83-62. Thompson Rivers (10-3) and Northern New Mexico both recorded two wins this weekend at ACU. 

Arizona Christian, directed by second-year head coach Jerry Conner, opens Golden State Athletics Conference (GSAC) action, Tuesday, January 8, with a 5:30 p.m. game at Fultz Memorial Gym against Concordia University from Irvine, California. The ACU men's team takes on defending NAIA champion Concordia, at 7:30 p.m. The conference games will be the first GSAC action ever for ACU. 

In a close first half which featured 11 ties and seven lead changes, ACU led by four points, 27- 23, at the 6:16 mark, and Northern New Mexico went ahead by four points three times and led 37-35 at the halftime break. However, ACU came out of the break flat and went scoreless for the first 5:53 of the second half while NNMC scored 13 points and led 48-35 with 14:20 left in the game. Junior forward Aria Ham (Peoria, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain H.S./Arizona Western College) broke ACU's scoring drought with a lay-up at 14:07. 

After ACU sliced the Eagles' advantage to 58-49 with 9:58 to play, NNMC outscored ACU 13- 2, and built its widest margin of the game, 71-51, with 5:47 remaining. The Firestorm cut the lead again to nine points. 79-70, with 21 seconds left, but it was too little too late. 

Six of the seven players able to participate for Northern New Mexico scored 10 or more points and four recorded double-doubles, while three ACU players scored in double figures. NNMC guard Mel Vigil finished with 18 points, 4 three-pointers, four rebounds, seven assists and two steals, and forward Travana Johnson totaled 17 points, 15 rebounds and two steals. Guard Nisa Duran added 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals, and forward Andi Hammond finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Shaniqua Perkins added 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, and off the Eagles' bench, center Michelle Montes contributed 10 points, 11 rebounds and two assists. 

Ham and freshman guard Gabrielle Evans (Phoenix, Ariz./Arcadia H.S.) led ACU with 12 points each. Evans nailed 3 three-pointers and had three assists, one blocked shot Sophomore forward Sarah Beth Hock (Gilbert, Ariz./Perry H.S.), ACU's leading scorer and rebounder, finished with 10 points, eight in the first half, seven rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal, and freshman forward Cheyenne Huskey (Glendale, Ariz./Mountain Ridge H.S.) scored a season-high eight points on 4 of 5 shots and gathered three rebounds. Freshman guard Kiara White (Phoenix, Ariz./Washington H.S.) and senior guard Jessica Largo (Gallup, N.M./Rehoboth Christian School) scored six points each, and Largo contributed 2 three- pointers, three rebounds and two assists, while Evans passed two assists and had two steals.