Albuquerque — New Mexico raced out to a 27-point first-half lead and coasted to a 70-37 victory over the Wyoming Cowgirls tonight in front of 9,649 fans in The Pit. The Lobos up their record to 15-7 overall and 5-4 in Mountain West Conference action. Wyoming drops to 15-8 in all games and 5-5 in MWC play.
New Mexico has given up just 77 points in its last two games as Air Force and Wyoming combined to shoot only 25% (26-104) from the floor. The Cowgirls’ 37 points are a season-low and the fewest allowed by UNM since an 87-37 victory over UTEP on Nov. 30, 2000.
The Lobos hit seven of their first nine shots to take a 15-2 lead five minutes into the game. Senior guard Cristal Garcia, who finished with a game-high 16 points, led the early assault by nailing her first three shots, good for seven points.
The margin grew to 25-4 before Wyoming managed to make its first field goal of the game with 10:27 left before halftime. The Cowgirls missed their first 11 attempts and started the game 1-of-17.
Chelsea Grear’s bucket with 7:26 remaining in the period handed the Lobos a 33-6 advantage. The Cowgirls then made a mild run, outscoring New Mexico 12-3 the rest of the half. UNM had a 36-18 lead at the break, but missed 12 of its final 14 shots and did not score for the final 4:52.
The cold shooting continued to start the second half. UNM missed its first five attempts and a Wyoming 3-pointer cut the margin to 36-21. Grear scored with 16:05 left, ending a scoreless streak of nearly nine minutes. She scored seven points during a 9-0 spurt as UNM’s lead was comfortable again at 45-21.
Grear was one of four Lobos in double figures, scoring 11 points while hauling down a career-high 15 rebounds for her sixth career double-double. The Lobos had a big 51-31 edge on the boards.
Freshman Abbie Letz chipped in with 11 points on three 3-pointers. Jordan Adams, the Lobos’ leading scorer and rebounder, finished with only 10 points and three rebounds. Adams was limited to just three first-half minutes due to early foul trouble. She did block four shots.
Wyoming’s Carrie Bacon, who had 26 points in the Cowgirls’ win over New Mexico in Laramie last month, was held to four points. Sophomore guard Ashley Elliott paced Wyoming with 10 points.
The Lobos are back in action Saturday evening when Colorado State comes to The Pit. Tipoff is 7 p.m.