Phoenix, AZ- After a back and forth first few minutes, Arizona Christian pulled away from NCAA DII Western New Mexico for an 87-59 win on Friday night.  Junior Courtney Christmas delivered 20 points with a big help from her seven steals.

Junior Makayla Enders scored three seconds into the contest after the opening tip was sent into the front court toward the basket which she ran down and scored.  Following a turnover by WNMU, Sophomore Toni Davis took a feed from Enders and ACU owned a 4-0 lead just 34 seconds into action.

The Mustangs (0-10) scored the next five points before Enders made the score 6-5.  Western New Mexico moved back ahead at 7-6 on their next possession.

However, the Firestorm (9-1) used a basket from Christmas to retake the top score and start a 9-0 run.  Christmas scored six of the nine points with Freshman Sierra Stephan connecting on a deep shot for the other three points.

ACU held WNMU to just two points the rest of the quarter.  The Firestorm held a 27-9 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.

By halftime, Arizona Christian extended out to a 48-25 lead.

Christmas recorded 13 of her points and five of her steals in the first 20 minutes.

When the final whistle sounded, Enders and Davis both finished with 13 points.  Sophomore Kelsey Miranda reached 12 points with three 3 pointers and a layup/free throw three point play.

Senior Suzie Castro-Larsen pulled in a game high eight rebounds though ironically ACU was outrebounded 32-30.

The seven steals for Christmas raised her NAIA leading steals per game to 4.9.

On Saturday, the Firestorm will host Rocky Mountain at 2:00 pm to close out their fourth hosted classic of the season.