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11 & Oh, that was close; UNM beats Navy in OT

GAME NOTES | GAME QUOTES | POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In a battle of women’s basketball unbeatens between 10-0 New Mexico and 9-0 Navy on Sunday afternoon at Dreamstyle Arena – it was fitting five overtime minutes were needed.
 
In the end, it was the Lobos who came out on top as they outscored the Midshipmen 12-5 in the extra period as UNM tied the longest winning streak in program history at 11 with a thrilling 94-87 victory over Navy in front of a season-high 6,763 fans – the most to attend a Lobo women’s game since January of 2014.
 
“This is exactly the kind of game we expected,” UNM coach Mike Bradbury said. “It didn’t disappoint and I appreciate the nearly 7,000 fans that came out today. They were tremendous and it was really loud. It was a great atmosphere and I can’t thank the fans enough – hopefully they’ll keep coming.”
 

 The Lobos (11-0) entered the fourth quarter leading Navy (9-1) 70-62, but the Mids slowly chipped away at UNM’s lead.
 
Navy had the lead down to one at 80-79 before Jaisa Nunn scored as she was fouled with 1:36 left to put the Lobos up three points.
 
But like she did all game, Navy’s Taylor Dunham kept the Mids in it as she drained her ninth 3-pointer of the contest with 1:05 left to tie the game.
 
After the Lobos couldn’t score, Navy had a chance to win it in the final seconds but a long, contested 3-pointer by Dunham was off the mark and the game went into overtime.
 
The Lobos took control from there as they opened the period on a 7-0 run thanks to a pair of up-and-under post up moves by Cherise Beynon and another by Tesha Buck to make it 89-82.
 

 The Mids cut the lead to five before Alex Lapeyrolerie drained a 3-pointer from the corner and Tesha Buck – who scored 15 of her 18 points in the second half and overtime – hit a pair of free throws to give the Lobos the breathing room they needed to pull away for the 94-87 victory.
 

“We knew coming into the game it was going to be a close one,” Buck said. “I think what we did well was stay calm, kept playing and played through it.”
 
Beynon led five Lobos in double figures with 20 points to go along five assists and four steals. Beynon said the large and loud home crowd played a big factor in the victory.
 
“It’s great to have the support of the community and having them come out to support us,” Beynon said. “It’s been a really great feeling to have them have our back so we just want to keep playing well and increase the fans every game. Us, playing the way we do, I think it’s going to continue going that way.”
 
Buck added five assists and three steals to go along with her 18 points while Nunn and Lapeyrolerie each finished with a double-double – Nunn going for 16 points and 12 rebounds while Lapeyrolerie had 15 points and 10 rebounds while also draining three 3-pointers. Freshman N’Dea Flye added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists.
 

 Dunham paced Navy with 34 points, going 9-for-19 from 3-point range. As a team, Navy was 16-for-49 from 3-point range – the most 3-pointers a team has made against the Lobos since Colorado State hit 18 last season.
 
As for the Lobos, they shot 46.8 percent from the field (37-for-79), 37.5 percent from 3-point range (6-for-16) and 82.4 percent from the free-throw line (82.4 percent).
 
Each team had trouble keeping the other off the offensive glass as Navy outrebounded the Lobos 47-45 and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds while the Lobos snagged 15 offensive rebounds.
 
The Lobos, who have won 11 consecutive games twice in program history (2003-04 and 1977-78), look to win a UNM-best 12th game in a row when they hit the road to take on Oklahoma 2 p.m. Saturday in Norman.