New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – In WisePies Arena/The Pit
Saturday: New Mexico 60, Wyoming 54
By Greg Archuleta
UNM Assistant Director of Communications
After a physical midweek battle against UNLV, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team came out sluggish Saturday against Wyoming.
But the way the Lobos finished was anything but.
Junior point guard Bryce Owens scored a team-high 14 points, including a key layup with 1:12 left in the game, and senior guard Antiesha Brown’s short running jumper with 40 seconds left preserved a 60-54 Lobo victory over the Cowgirls at WisePies Arena, aka, “The Pit,” on Saturday.
The Lobos (9-10, 5-3 Mountain West) won their seventh straight game at The Pit and overcame a 12-point first-half deficit to turn back Wyoming (7-10, 2-5). UNM, which started the season 1-7, has won five of its last six games.
The dozen-point hole is the largest the Lobos have come back from to get a victory this season.
“This was big for us,” UNM coach Yvonne Sanchez said. “ We have to protect our home court – something we made an effort to talk about with our team goals in the beginning of the year.
“I challenged my leaders (Brown, Owens and junior forward Khadijah Shumpert) at halftime. They responded, and I’m really proud of those three because everyone just jumped on their back and said, ‘We’re with you,’ and that’s awesome. I wanted this bad, but it’s not about me. It’s about how they responded at halftime.”
Saturday’s game marked just the third occasion in 12 opportunities in which UNM trailed at the half (28-19 to the Cowgirls) and came back to win. The home team used a 9-0 run midway through the second half to take a 36-35 lead with 12:40 left in the game, its first lead since 2-0 after the opening basket.
UNM built the lead to as many as seven at 50-43 with 6:16 left in the game, but Wyoming didn’t quit. Two free throws by Jordan Kelly capped a 9-4 Cowgirls run that cur UNM’s lead to 54-42 with 1:28 remaining.
Owens drove the left side of the lane for her running layup at the 1:12 mark pushed the lead back to four, but Kelly got a tip-in to cut it back to 56-54 with 1:01 left.
On an in-bounds play under the UNM basket, Owens got the ball to Brown, who drove to her left put up a runner from just outside the key on the left side that hit nothing but net to give the Lobos a two-possession lead at 58-54.
“I take those shots once or twice a game, so that’s kind of my bread and butter, said Brown, who finished with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting and team highs with four assists and three steals. “I love going to my left and hopping back and taking that shot. It’s a shot I’m very comfortable with and coach (Sanchez) is very comfortable with me taking.
“I don’t think it came down to my last shot, but those last rebounds we grabbed (afterward), playing solid defense without fouling and those last couple of possessions.”
Wyoming guard Marquelle Dent forced a shot on the other end, and Owens made one of two free throws after grabbing the rebound. Lobo freshman Cherise Beynon then came up with a steal, and Alexa Chavez added a free throw to ice the game.
Forward Kayla Woodward led the Cowgirls with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Dent added 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds. They controlled the rhythm of the game in the first half as the Cowboys hit five of their first nine 3-pointers that helped the visitors take the 28-19 halftime lead.
UNM didn’t practice the day after its hard-fought, 63-60 win over UNLV to give its players some extra rest, and the team was out of sync early against the Cowgirls. A Woodward 3-pointer with 5:46 left in the first half pushed Wyoming’s lead to 24-12.
Owens had just two points, two fouls and one assist in the first 20 minutes.
“I was really down on myself in the first half. I didn’t like my turnovers or my shot selection,” Owen said. “Coach (Sanchez) kind of got on me on the bench, and she got on me at halftime, too. I just figured I had to get out of myself and more into the team, and I think that’s exactly what I did.”
Owens had two rebounds – one offensive – a layup, an assist and two steals in UNM’s 9-0 run that gave the home team the lead for good in the second half.
The Lobos, who outrebounded the Cowgirls 42-34 and 18-11 on the offensive glass, also got nine points and seven rebounds from Shumpert.
“We just got confident,” Sanchez said of the team’s resurgence. “I believe it started against UNLV we had a lot of people either at the hospital (Shumpert) or going to the hospital (Chavez) or fouling out (Brown and Kianna Keller). There were people that stepped in and did what they were supposed to do, and I credit my players.
“Our long-term goal was to get better every single day. When you do that, you’re in positions like you are now. I’m so proud of my team and staff because we worked so hard, and their response was terrific.”