ALBUQUERQUE — The Pit didn’t change much about the Portales-Ruidoso rivalry, as the second-seeded Lady Rams cruised in their Class 3A quarterfinal rematch, 45-23.

Portales (18-9) faces No. 6 Shiprock in an 8 a.m. Thursday semifinal at The Pit. Ruidoso’s season ends at 16-11.

“The girls got some really good stops on defense,” Portales coach Clay Stout said. “We distributed the ball, moved the ball well.”

Portales got double-figure scoring efforts from Macy Mitchell with 11 and Gabby Garcia with 10, but also got nine from sophomore Jenna Sievers and eight from sophomore Hannah Cissell.

Cissell hit a 3-point late in final seconds of the third quarter to push the lead to 34-18.

“We had pretty good balance, we had four kids score in that quarter,” Stout said.

Brittney Vega scored nine for the seventh-seeded Lady Warriors.

A win Thursday would put Portales in its ninth Class 3A title game in the last 11 seasons.

The Lady Chieftains (21-7) have won 13 straight since losing to defending Class 4A champ Kirtland Central (27-1).

“They’re quick, they run, they press and really play an uptempo game,” Stout said of Shiprock.