New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – On The Mountain West Road
Saturday: New Mexico 64, San Jose State 62
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
For sure, this is a new-look Lobos’ team when it comes to close games. So far, in the 2015 Mountain West chase the New Mexico Lobos are winning the squeakers.
New Mexico did exactly that Saturday afternoon at San Jose State when the Lobos held on – and held back San Jose State – for a thrilling 64-62 Mountain West win.
It was a game that was a second — and two free throws — from going into overtime. However, Spartan Ta’Rea Cunnigan missed the first of two free throws with a second to play – likely missed the second on purpose – but UNM secured the rebound and the Lobos third straight MW win.
“People don’t understand how good San Jose State is and how good they are at home,” Sanchez said of the Spartans who have lost six of their past eight games. “They have very good players.
“I like the way our team stepped up on defense in the second half.”
The Lobos jumped out to a quick and decisive 14-2 lead before San Jose State rallied to take a 31-28 halftime lead. The Spartans ran to a nine-point lead in the second half, before the Lobos increased their intensity – especially on defense – and rolled into an eight-point lead.
San Jose State pulled to 59-58 with 4:58 to play, but could never pull the lead out of Lobo hands. A layup by Cunnigan at 2:28 made the score 62-60 in UNM’s favor. Cunnigan again scored inside to make the count 63-62 with 1:04 to play.
The Lobos got a single free throw by Bryce Owens with 20 seconds to play to give the Lobos the 64-62 lead that eventually became the final. Cunnigan could have forced overtime by hitting two free throws with a single tick to play, but she missed the first one. San Jose State’s only hope then was to miss the second free throw and hope for a miracle tip.
They Spartans did not get that magical ending.
“It was a fun, fun game to be a part of – now,” Sanchez said referring to the final score that favored the Lobos. “If you lead by 20 against San Jose State, that’s not enough. They can score in bunches. It was a tough, tough game.”
The Lobos got 16 points and eight boards from Khadijah Shumpert and Antiesha Brown had 17 points and nine rebounds. Cunnigan had 23 points for San Jose State and Rebecca Woodberry had 16 points. Shumpert went 6-of-13 from the field and Brown went 7-of-16.
“That’s what leaders do when they step up,” said Sanchez of the production from Brown and Shumpert. “You challenge your seniors at halftime and I did that.”
The Lobos shot 42.1 percent from the floor and 13-of-17 from the free-throw line. The Lobos had 38 rebounds which was a big edge over the Spartans, who pulled down 24 boards. UNM had 22 turnovers and San Jose State had 17 turnovers. The Lobos had three players with five turnovers each: Alexa Chavez, Shumpert and Brown.
San Jose State went 6-of-17 from 3-point range and the Lobos went 3-of-10.
The Spartans shot 39.7 percent from the field and 10-of-14 from the free-throw line. UNM had 11 offensive boards to only three for SJS.
Cherise Beynon had a nice stat line for UNM with eight points, seven boards, five steals and two blocked shots.
“We are starting to emerge,” said Sanchez of her Lobos. “But nothing is a gimme in this conference. We were fortunate to come out of her with a win.”