ESPANOLA, NM---The Lady Mustang Basketball program kicked off their 2019-2020 season on Thursday night as they took on the Northern New Mexico Eagles. The Lady Mustangs fell just short in their season opener, losing 76-70. 

Head Coach Devonte Brewer was proud of his girls and the effort they exerted despite the loss. "It was  a great game to be apart of. Northern NM has a ton of size and it took us some time to adapt to them. This game was a tough one because we did everything we needed to do to win, and we came up 2 possessions short. The girls played hard and that's all I can ask for." The game was the first game for Head Coach Devonte Brewer, who spent last season as a Graduate Assistant with the Men's program. 

The Lady Mustangs were led by junior forward Harlei Haceesa who scored 17 points. The Shiprock, NM native was 6-17 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line. Haceesa grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 2 assists. 

Elisa Gonzalez had a strong USW debut with 13 points on 4-15 shooting including 4-5 from the charity stripe. The junior college transfer was able to ground 3 boards, dish out 1 assist and force 1 steal. 

Cherlee Collins led the team in rebounds with 12 on the evening to go with 4 assists. 

The Lady Mustangs are back in action on Friday as they take on the Southwestern Christian Eagles at 2:00 PM  MST.