SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team dominated San Diego State to claim a 64-45 road victory Tuesday night in Viejas Arena. New Mexico is now 15-13 on the season and 8-9 in the Mountain West. San Diego State drops to 11-17 overall and 6-11 in the MW.
It was the Lobos all the way from the get-go and they never stopped until the final buzzer went off.
In the first quarter, the Lobos started the game off with an 8-0 run that was surged by a jumper from senior Khadijah Shumpert and back-to-back threes from sophomore Cherise Beynon and senior Bryce Owens.
They went up 12-6 over the Aztecs with 5:40 left in the quarter but the Lobo offense went on a little bit of a scoring drought until Beynon sank her second three of the game at the 58 second mark. She finished the quarter off with two to lead the Aztecs 17-6.
San Diego State brought the game within seven at the 7:23 mark as the Lobos didn’t get a basket until the three and half minutes in to the second quarter. Owens hit a three-point play with 3:34 left in the half to go up 24-12.
Free throws were key in the final three minutes of the half, as they shot five in less than a minute to take a 28-14 lead. Junior Kianna Keller sank a two with 1:04 left in the half and that was it for both teams as the Lobos lead the Aztecs 32-18.
The Aztecs came out in the third with four quick points. The Lobos called for time to regroup. Beynon hit her fourth and final three of the game at the 4:48 mark to take a 44-26 lead. Shumpert hit four straight points for the Lobos to give the Lobos a 21-point lead with 3:53 left in the quarter.
Sophomore Kenya Pye came off the bench to finish off the third quarter scoring for the Lobos. She hit five straight points, including a three with 1:49 left in the quarter, which gave them their biggest lead of the night of 24. SDSU did get four points to finish out the quarter but UNM still led 53-33.
The Lobos continued to cruise to victory in the fourth. Sophomore Alex Lapeyrolerie contributed with a two at the 3:07 mark. Shumpert hit her final bucket of the game with 1:35 left to play to give the Lobos a 62-42 lead. Junior Whitney Johnson hit the final two for the Lobos with a minute to go.
Beynon led the Lobos with 20 points, shooting 8-for-14 from the field and 4-for-6 from the three. She also finished with five rebounds and two assists. Shumpert finished second with 15 points. She was 6-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. Owens picked up six points to go along with a season-high eight rebounds.
All players saw action in the game. The Lobos put together 18 points on the bench to SDSU’s four. Pye led the Lobos off the bench with five points.
Overall, the Lobos shot 47 percent from the field, 38 percent from the free throw line and 62 percent from the free throw line. SDSU shot 35 percent from the field, 10 percent from the three and 63 percent from the free throw line.
The Lobos will look to keep their momentum going before the Mountain West tournament next week as they host Nevada on Friday for Senior Night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MT and will stream live on the Mountain West Network. For tickets, call 925-LOBO or visit GoLobos.com.