Nunn better! Lobos upend No. 16 Marquette
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — As deafening as the 4,000-plus Lobo fans were throughout The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team’s intense battle with 16th-ranked Marquette, one could hear a pin drop as Jaisa Nunn toed the free-throw line with the score tied 87-87 with 1.8 seconds remaining.
The junior post already had wreaked havoc on the Golden Eagles, including grabbing a miss in the final seconds and putting it in as she was fouled to tie the game to give her a school-record 38 points.
Nunn went through her routine, and as she had done 10 out of 11 times before, swished the ball through the net to give the Lobos an 88-87 advantage. Marquette’s desperation heave at the buzzer was no good and celebration ensued as UNM defeated its first ranked opponent since 2010 (No. 25 SMU) and the highest ranked opponent since 2006 (No. 16 BYU).
“Honestly, I just kind of zoned it out because I just took it as another free throw,” Nunn said. “Take a couple breathes, take a couple dribbles. Do your routine. Look at the basket, and then shoot.”
Lobo Women’s Basketball defeats Marquette. Here’s the Highlights from the game! Jaisa Nunn breaks the single game scoring record with 39 points! @UNMLoboWBB #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/MCNxvNtklk
— New Mexico Lobos (@UNMLOBOS) November 14, 2017
Nunn broke a 35-year-old Lobo scoring record as she scored 39 points to go along with 13 rebounds. She went 14-for-15 from the floor and 11-for-12 from the charity stripe, helping her best Yvonne McKinnon’s record of 35 points set Feb. 19, 1992, against Adams State.
“I was telling her that’s as good a single-game performance as I’ve coached, as I’ve been around as a head coach,” UNM coach Mike Bradbury said. “I had no idea she had 39 (points) and 13 (rebounds). But thank goodness it wasn’t 37 and 13. It wouldn’t have been enough. Jaisa was unbelievable.”
The Lobos (2-0), who fell behind 9-0 to start the game after Marquette (0-1) hit three consecutive 3-pointers to start the game, trailed the entirety of the contest (and by as much as 12) until UNM tasted its first lead when N’Dea Flye scored with 36 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 64-63 UNM.
3Q | And we have the lead for the first time as a Flye basket gives Lobos a 64-63 on No. 17 Marquette. #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/WFeXqPsDEI
— Lobo Women’s Hoops (@UNMLoboWBB) November 14, 2017
It was part of a 10-0 run for the Lobos that was capped by a Cherise Beynon bucket with 9:47 left in the game to make it 68-63 Lobos. The UNM lead grew to as large as seven in the fourth quarter before an 8-0 run for Marquette gave the Golden Eagles the lead at 75-74 with 5:04 remaining.
The contest continued to swing back and forth with a three-point play by Dunn with 1:56 left giving the Lobos an 85-82 advantage only to have Marquette answer 13 seconds later with a 3-pointer from Natisha Hiedeman.
Marquette got the ball back and with 13 seconds remaining the Lobos were whistled for a foul, sending Lauren Van Kleunen to the line. The freshman knocked both down to give the Golden Eagles an 87-85 advantage.
UNM called timeout, and after Marquette fouled a few times to waste time off the clock, the Lobos got the ball in to Beynon on the left sideline. The senior who won Mountain West Player of the Week on Monday drove and put a shot up that bounced off the rim and to the other side.
Waiting there was Nunn who grabbed the ball and put it back in as she was fouled to send the crowd into a frenzy. That’s when the Kirkland, Washington, native sank the free throw to clinch the victory.
“I can’t say enough that we have the absolute best fans in America,” Bradbury said. “It says 4,200 (attendance). It felt like 42,000. That place was loud, and it made a huge, huge difference. I mean, they wouldn’t let us lose. That third and fourth quarter, that’s as loud a game as I have been involved in. So first off, our crowd, as usual, was great.
“Second, I couldn’t be more proud of our kids. We played as hard as we could play. We weren’t going to back down. We knew they played fast and wanted to play fast. And to be quite honest, we wanted to find out where we were. We want to play fast and we want the games to be like this, but we needed to find out against a top-20 team, if we were really good enough to be able to play this style and this pace with a team that also wants to play this style and press the whole game and play fast. So I think we answered that question. I think they played great. I think we played great. I think we match up well with a lot of top-20 teams now. We weathered the storm.”
While Nunn’s career night was the key factor in the victory, freshman Jasmine Smith played a huge role in the Lobos’ victory. Coming off the bench early after foul trouble for starter Alex Lapeyrolerie, Smith went on to play 33 minutes and score 17 points as she continuously found a way to get past Golden Eagle defenders and get to the basket.
“She had 33 (minutes) – I don’t know how she’ll get much more than that. But I know this, we wouldn’t have won without her,” Bradbury said of Smith. “She brought some energy and she rebounded the ball, she scored the ball around the basket.”
Beynon finished with 13 points, seven assists and two steals while Flye had eight points, five rebounds and three assists and Tesha Buck had seven points, three steals, three rebounds and two assists.
The Lobos return to action 7 p.m. Wednesday as they take on Northern New Mexico at Dreamstyle Arena.