Above photo of Alexis Carmosino by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru
ALPINE, Texas- Back inside the Gallego Center, where she elevated the success of Sul Ross State women’s basketball as head coach from 2017-2022, UMHB head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir earned yet another victory in Alpine.
She saw her Crusaders pull away from Sul Ross State on Saturday afternoon for their ninth straight victory, a 74-55 result, as UMHB completed its second straight two-win week. And fittingly enough, Alexis Carmosino, who spent two seasons on Novak-Lenoir’s roster at SRSU before transferring to UMHB prior to this year, stepped up with a 15-point, nine-rebound effort against her former team.
Carmosino was one of three UMHB players who finished with double-digit scoring efforts–Arieona Rosborough (21 points) and Lauren Baker (17 points) being the others–as the Crusaders took control against the Lobos in the second half. A 22-15 third quarter was followed by a 25-18 fourth quarter, sealing UMHB’s win. The Cru held its opponent below 60 points for the fourth straight game.
“We need to put together complete games, but this was a tough road trip,” Novak-Lenoir noted. “It took a great group effort to come away with two wins.”
The Cru is now 9-1 overall, and ranked No. 25 in the nation by the WBCA. SRSU drops to 3-7 overall with the loss.
UMHB led 12-10 at the end of a low-scoring, defense-controlled first quarter, but soon faced a six-point deficit. A pair of free throws from Marley Rokas with 3:46 left in the second quarter put the Lobos in front, 20-14, as SRSU took charge just before halftime.
The momentum turned quickly, however. 32 seconds later, Josie Bruder came up with a steal and raced up court, before passing to Carmosino. After an initial miss, Carmosino pulled down an offensive rebound, turned, and scored off the glass. It ignited a 13-2 run that closed the quarter, as UMHB went into halftime leading 27-22. The Crusaders never looked back, and led for the remainder of the contest.
“It took us too long to get going again, similar to Thursday,” Novak-Lenoir said. “Once we started putting stops together, our offense could flow some more. Alexis really stepped up and was solid on both ends of the floor for us. And Josie gave us some really good energy off the bench.”
UMHB held SRSU to a shooting percentage of just 27.4 percent for the game, and the Lobos were just 1-of-15 from 3-point range. The Crusaders, who finished by shooting 9-of-19 from the field in the fourth quarter, were also a near-perfect 21-of-23 from the free-throw line. It marked the first game this season in which The Cru shot above 90 percent from the charity stripe.
Kaitlyn Kollmorgen pulled down a team-best 12 rebounds in the victory in her second-straight double-digit rebounding performance. Carmosino and Rosborough each tallied a team-high three assists, and Rosborough contributed with two blocks and two steals on the defensive end.
Cheyanne Bonilla, who played two seasons at UMHB from 2020-2022, led SRSU’s offensive effort, with 16 points.
The Crusaders now have a quick turnaround, taking the court against Berry College on Tuesday in New York City. The 12 p.m. CT matchup features UMHB against a Berry team that is 4-4 and has won its last two contests.
