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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jordan Adams scored 27 points and had a career-high eight blocks to lead the sixth-seeded University of New Mexico to a thrilling 91-85 overtime victory over the No. 11 seed Miami Hurricanes in Saturday night’s first round NCAA Tournament game. A capacity crowd of 16,151 at The Pit saw New Mexico erase a 14-point second half deficit over the final 15 minutes of regulation, then outscore Miami 14-8 in overtime to earn its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. The Lobos will host third-seeded Mississippi State in the second round on Monday at 7:23 p.m. (MST).
UNM (23-8) earned its seventh-straight victory and has won 10 of its last 11 overall. The Lobos also improved to 17-1 on their homecourt and improved to 1-2 in NCAA Tournament play. Meanwhile, Miami finished the season at 18-12, dropping to 2-6 in NCAA Tournament action.
Behind the shooting of guard Yolanda McCormick and a tenacious full-court pressure defense, Miami went into the lockerroom with a 40-29 halftime lead, the largest UNM has faced this season. The Hurricanes eventually built their advantage to 14, 49-35 five minutes into the second period. However, sophomore point guard Mandi Moore brought the Lobos back with a flurry of threes. Moore connected on four of her next five attempts, including three-straight, from beyond the arc as red-hot New Mexico used a 23-10 run to slice the Miami lead down to one, 59-58, with 9:31 left in the second half. The Lobos then outscored the Hurricanes 11-2 over the next five minutes to build an eight-point margin, 69-61, with 4:44 left. Miami rallied right back with a 12-6 burst as freshman forward Tamara James knocked down a pair of threes from the top of the key.
The two sides traded buckets down the stretch before Miami eventually knotted the contest at 75 with 46.3 seconds remaining in regulation. Following an Adams free throw, Jones scored on a put-back to give the Hurricanes a 77-76 lead. New Mexico tied the game at 77 on a Cristal Garcia free throw, but hit just two of its final five free throws, including a pair of misses by Adams with 8.9 seconds remaining. Miami misfired on two potential game-winners in the final seconds as the game rolled into overtime.
After shooting 40 percent from the floor, including 2-11 (18.2%) from three-point range, UNM hit 67.9 percent in the second period and connected on 5-7 threes (71.4%). The Lobos also committed just six turnovers after notching 14 miscues in the first half.
In the extra frame, it was all New Mexico as the Lobos scored the first five points of the period and never looked back. Garcia hit two free throws after a steal and fellow senior Chelsea Grear knocked down a pair after an Adams block to give UNM a 82-77 lead with 3:44 remaining. With her rejection Adams moved into a first place tie with Luc Longley for the UNM men’s and women’s all-time lead with 336 blocks.
Adams (27), Moore (18) and Grear (18) combined for 63 points on the night, including 49 after the first half. Moore tied a career-high with her four threes and also pulled down nine rebounds. Grear also had six boards and a pair of steals to go along with her 18 points.
James led Miami with 23 points on 10-17 shooting, while McCormick had a career-high 20 points and three three-pointers. Forward Shaquana Wilkins and guard Meghan Saake also scored in double figures with 16 and 11 points, respectively.