Nieto drops 33 as Broncbusters finish off Northwest Tech

Goodland, KS-Maya Nieto wouldn't mind seeing Northwest Tech a lot more.  

The freshman guard, who channeled her inner Steph Curry on Wednesday night (ironically, he is her favorite player), drilled seven 3-pointers and finished with a career-best 33 points as Garden City completed a season sweep of the Mavericks with an 80-68 victory at Max Jones Fieldhouse. Nieto has now made 11 triples in two games vs. the Northwest Tech this season. She finished just two triples shy of Kavita Akula's single-game mark. 

Garden City, which improved to 13-11 overall and 8-11 in conference play, won for the third time in their last four games. Sariah Conley had 11, and Sierra Driessen added 11 points, eight steals, and seven rebounds.  

But this was Nieto's show. 

The Missouri-native connected on back-to-back long balls midway through the first quarter to give the Broncbusters an 18-9 advantage. She scored 10 points in the opening period; then made two free throws halfway through the second to give Greg Franklin's team a 33-22 lead. They were up 11 at the break.  

The freshman though really got going in the third. 

After Northwest Tech trimmed the Broncbuster lead to four, Nieto rattled home a 3 to stretch it back to seven. Two possessions later, Nieto peeled left off a down screen and swished a 25-footer. She added another triple to push the lead to nine; then knocked down a midrange jumper to give Garden City an 11- point edge.  

The Broncbusters led by eight going to the fourth and were back up 11 once Nieto canned her seventh trey of the night, a 26-foot rainbow that touched nothing but net.  

The Mavericks never got any closer than seven the rest of the way. 

Stevi Yancy finished with six points, seven rebounds, and four assists for Garden City, which won the game despite shooting only 37 percent. They were 10-of-31 from deep (32 percent), and 20-of-27 from the line (74.1 percent). Antonicia Moultrie chipped in seven points, six rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.  

Jalynn Alexander had 26 points and 16 rebounds for Northwest Tech, which dropped to 2-20 overall and 1-17 in conference. Torrai Logan had 22.