The Magdalena Steers will venture away from home to challenge the Animas Panthers at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Magdalena is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 53.2 points per game this season.
Magdalena took a loss when they played away from home last Saturday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed last Tuesday. Everything went their way against Capitan as Magdalena made off with a 55-34 victory. The Steers have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won eight contests by 21 points or more this season.
Jorianne Mirabal was her usual excellent self, dropping a double-double on 25 points and ten boards. That makes it three consecutive games in which she has scored at least a third of Magdalena's points. Jema Ganadonegro was another key player, putting up 13 points and five steals.
Magdalena smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive rebounds in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Animas was just a bucket shy of victory on Saturday and fell 55-54 to Lordsburg.
Magdalena will have to keep a close watch on Camila Nevarez and Journey Sheehan, a pair of players who had a big impact on Animas' prior game. Nevarez posted 13 points along with five rebounds and four steals, while Sheehan dropped a double-double on 11 points and 11 boards. The dominant performance gave Nevarez a new career-high in rebounds. Another player making a difference was Laikyn Davenport, who had 13 points and seven boards.
Magdalena pushed their record up to 13-4 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 29.8 points. As for Animas, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 7-7.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Magdalena has been crashing the rebounds this season, having averaged 26.6 boards per game. However, it's not like Animas struggles in that department as they've been averaging 33.9 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Everything went Magdalena's way against Animas in their previous meeting back in February of 2024, as Magdalena made off with a 51-29 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Magdalena since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
