Upset Bid Comes up Short in Overtime for Lady Saints at No. 11 New Mexico JC

HOBBS, N.M. – A back and forth fourth quarter that eventually pushed into overtime saw the Seward County Lady Saints fall 84-81 to the 11th ranked New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds for their first loss of the season on Friday evening in the Caster Activity Center.

Seward (4-1) has now played in two overtime games just five games into the 2025-26 season, splitting the two.

The three-point shot kept Seward in the game as they finished 14-31 (45.2%) from distance compared to NMJC's 5-19 (26.3%) mark.

After trailing 56-51 entering the fourth quarter, the Lady Saints outscored NMJC 25-20 to force overtime. They opened the final quarter outscoring the T-Birds 9-2 connecting on three triples, one each from Grace Posch, Kimora Fagan and RaMya Kennedy to snag their first lead of the second half, 60-58. A jump shot plus a foul from Avery Marchino put Seward ahead 65-60 midway through the quarter. NMJC ripped off three straight made baskets to go ahead 66-65 and later 68-67 but Marchino had an answer both times as her layup made it 69-68 Seward with two minutes to play. The final two minutes saw both teams trading baskets. Posch sunk a three with 1:26 to go to put Seward ahead 72-70 but NMJC's Jada Graves answered with a three of her own to put the T-Birds back ahead. Marchino buried a three out of a timeout with 37 seconds to make it 75-73 and the Lady Saints held that lead until Posch was fouled with seven seconds to go. She went 1-2 from the free throw line and NMJC called a timeout with four seconds left to draw up their final shot, trailing by three. Rekiah Bowen hit a three out of the timeout with two seconds left that sent the game to overtime.

Marchino opened the scoring in overtime with a pair of free throws and NMJC immediately answered with a layup from Bowen. Marchino proceeded to knock down a three but again, Bowen answered with a three of her own to tie it back up 81-81. An Addison Edwards layup plus a foul and made free throw gave NMJC an 84-81 lead. Seward missed its final two shots in the final minute and NMJC got out with the win.

Seward's Marchino and NMJC's Graves duked it out all game as both finished with career-high scoring outputs. Marchino finished with 33 points, seven rebounds and three assists shooting 10-22 from the field, 4-6 from three and 9-13 from the free throw line. Graves turned in a game-high 35 points to go with 10 rebounds and six assists as she shot 15-30 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line.

NMJC led by as much as 11 in the third quarter but the Lady Saints fought back, controlling much of the fourth quarter. Seward's biggest lead came in the first quarter at the 5:14 mark when Destiny Alexander hit the first three of her collegiate career to make it 13-6 Seward. The Lady Saints trailed 39-31 at halftime.

Seward shot 38.5% (25-65) from the field compared to NMJC's 47.2% (34-72). Seward put in just 58.6% of their foul shots (17-29) while NMJC shot 11-16 (68.8%) from the free throw line. The Lady Saints turned the ball over just eight times compared to the T-Birds 13 giveaways.

Fagan and Posch each finished with 14 points as Posch added six assists and four rebounds while Fagan pulled down five rebounds. Trinitee Holmes turned in eight points and a team-high eight rebounds. Alexander had seven points and five rebounds.

Bowen finished with 14 points off the bench for NMJC, 10 of them coming in the fourth quarter and overtime combined. Marchino had 10 in the fourth quarter and all five of Seward's points in overtime.