Letz Lifts Lobos Over San Diego State, 78-58
Feb. 24, 2005
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Junior guard Abbie Letz scored a season-high 17 points to lead the New Mexico women’s basketball team to a convincing 78-58 victory over San Diego State before 11,213 Thursday night at The Pit. The Lobos improve to 20-4 (9-2 Mountain West) for the season, while the Aztecs fall to 7-16 (1-10 MWC). It marks the fifth consecutive season the Lobos have reached the 20-win plateau.
Besides Letz, three other Lobos scored in double-figures. Junior Jana Francis poured in 15 points on an excellent shooting night, going 5-for-6 from the field and 5-for-5 at the free-throw line. Senior Lindsey Arndt went 7-for-13 from the floor with 15 points, while freshman Dionne Marsh netted 11 points.
Letz made a career-high seven free throws on eight attempts. She was 3-of-3 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line with 11 points in the first half.
New Mexico shot 45-percent from the field for the game (25-for-56), but was even more impressive at the charity stripe. The Lobos netted 24-of-27 attempts at the line, good for 89 percent, a season best for UNM.
The Lobos led by 17 points at the break, 32-15. UNM played superb defense, limiting the Aztecs to 19-percent shooting from the field (5-of-26), and forced 11 Aztec turnovers. During one stretch in the half, the Lobos held SDSU scoreless for over seven minutes.
UNM led by double-figures the entire second half, but SDSU did cut the lead to 10 points at the 11:26 mark. The Lobos quickly went on an 8-1 run to go back up by 17 points, 56-39, with 9:10 left in the game.
New Mexico returns to action for its last home game of the season Saturday afternoon against UNLV. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at The Pit.