Junior Gabby Garcia scored 21 points and the Portales defense smothered Lovington early en route to a 52-24 win Friday in a District 4-3A matchup.

Sophomore Macy Mitchell added 13 points as the Lady Rams (12-7, 3-0) remained unbeaten in district.

“I was really pleased with our defense starting out,” PHS coach Clay Stout said. “We talked about getting off to a good start defensively, and I thought the girls looked sharp.”

Portales forced turnovers early and made Lovington, a team comfortable playing at a 60-point pace, concentrate on ball movement and long possessions against a stifling defense.

“They are a 3-point shooting team and you’ve got to make sure when they take shots that your hand is in their face,” Stout said. “They’re going to make some shots, but they’re going to be worrying about that hand in their face.”

Sophomore Mystica Perez led Lovington (19-3, 1-1) with 18, but had little help.

“We couldn’t score,” Lovington coach Rick Black said. “We couldn’t get it into the hole. We had some clean looks, but just didn’t make any shots.”

Black said his hat was off to Portales.

“Their size and force put us in a hole,” he said, “and they did a good job.”

Portales Lady Rams hosts Dexter in a 7 p.m. Tuesday affair.