ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Sixth-seeded New Mexico opened with six straight threes in the first 15 minutes of the first half and never looked back en route to a convincing 73-61 victory over the No. 3 seed, Mississippi State, in a second round NCAA Tournament match-up on Monday night. Senior center Jordan Adams and sophomore point guard Mandi Moore scored 19 points apiece to lead UNM (24-8) in the upset over 12th-ranked MSU (24-8) in front of a frenzied sellout Pit crowd of 16,214.
New Mexico advances to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The Lobos entered the 2002 tournament winless in two appearances. UNM will face the winner of No. 2 Texas Tech and No. 7 seed UC Santa Barbara next Saturday, March 29 at The Pit in Albuquerque.
The Midwest Regional is already sold out.
After falling behind 2-0, the Lobos countered with a Moore jumper and a Lindsey Arndt three-pointer to take a 5-2 lead they would not relinquish. UNM then scored 19 of the next 26 points to jump out to a 24-11 advantage at the 13:44 mark. Nine minutes later, Arndt connected on her second three, the team’s sixth straight, as the Lady Bulldogs strained under the pressure of the mile-high altitude and deafening crowd.
Mississippi State burned four of its five time outs in the first half as the balanced Lobo attack continued to pepper the weary Lady Bulldog defense. Two days after overcoming a season-worst 11-point deficit versus Miami, UNM went into the locker room with an 11-point cushion of its own, 41-30.
MSU opened the second half with an 8-2 run to close the gap to within five points at 43-38. However, UNM responded with a 17-5 burst of its own capped by a pair of threes from Moore and freshman Abbie Letz to effectively put the game away.
New Mexico’s defense limited Mississippi State to both its lowest point total (61) and shooting percentage (.305) of the season. The Lady Bulldogs hit just 12-46 (26.1%) in the second half. However, All-America forward LaToya Thomas ended her career in style, finishing with 29 points and 16 rebounds in 36 minutes. Guard Tan White scored 17 points and grabbed nine boards in defeat.
Adams continued her stellar 2003 postseason play with her fourth straight game scoring in double figures. She also pulled down 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season and notched five blocks to pass former Lobo men’s great Luc Longley for first (341) on the UNM all-time blocks list. After hitting four threes versus Miami, Moore hit a career-best 5-8 from beyond the arc. The Canyon, Texas, native was just one point shy of her career-high and also recorded eight rebounds. Arndt finished with nine points, hitting 3-4 from three-point range, and also had six boards.
“I think Saturday night’s game gave me a lot of confidence and I’m really feeling my shot right now,” said Moore. “I just happen to be in a zone right now and I am taking advantage of it.”a