Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Albuquerque, N.M. — In the Pit Thursday night, the UNM women’s basketball took out its frustration of losing two straight road conference games on San Diego State, handing the Aztecs a 75-42 thumping.
Chelsea Grear led four Lobos in double figure points with 14, and freshman post Jana Francis scored a season-high 7 points as the Lobos were never in danger of losing, much less trailing in the lopsided contest.
The Lobos improve to 12-5 overall and 2-2 in Mountain West Conference play while San Diego State falls to 6-10 and 0-4 in conference games.
New Mexico jumped out to a 17-5 lead as the Aztecs began the game hitting only two of their first 16 shots until Heather Wolf’s three with 8:50 to play in the first half. But by then the damage had been done.
The Lobos took a 36-17 lead at the break, then led 40-22 in the early moments of the second half. Beginning with Mandi Moore’s 3-pointer at the 17:57 mark, the Lobos embarked on a 15-0 run to further cushion their spacious lead. The Lobos led by as much as 39 points, at 68-29, before head coach Don Flanagan cleared his bench to let Francis, Tiana Johnson, Daja Adams, Lauren McCleod and Abbie Letz finish off the Aztecs.
Letz had 13 points on the night behind a 3-of-5 performance from beyond the arc. Cristal Garcia and Jordan Adams each had ten points and Melissa Forest added eight points and seven rebounds.
The Lobos had a school-record high of 14 blocks on the night with Jordan Adams swatting five as five other players contributed. Thanks to UNM’s defense, the quick shooting guard for SDSU, Jamey Cox, was held to only two points. Cox came into the game averaging 13.9 points per game and 3.0 three-point baskets.
New Mexico hosts UNLV on Saturday night in The Pit at 7 p.m. The Rebels were knocked off by Air Force Thursday night in a thrilling one-point victory, 73-72 in Colorado Springs, which makes for a four-way tie for third place in the Mountain West Conference standings. New Mexico, UNLV, Wyoming and Colorado State all have 2-2 conference records.