ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team opened its 2015-16 season with a 65-57 win over Houston Baptist Friday evening.
The Lobos came out with high energy, taking a 23-13 lead over the Huskies in the first quarter. They did fall behind 7-6 but a Cherise Beynon three tied the game up at nine and surged the Lobos’ 14-4 run to end the first quarter and the lead for good. Freshman Jannon Otto drained one beyond the arc to give the Lobos a 16-10 lead. Two good layups from Kianna Keller and a three-point play from Khadijah Shumpert ended the first.
New Mexico came out hot again in the second quarter, outscoring Houston Baptist 15-9. The Lobos got 12 points off the bench with five coming from freshman Jaisa Nunn. The Lobos used good free throws and defense to hold the Huskies to just four points in the final seven minutes of the half. The Lobos went into the locker room with a 38-22 lead.
The second half proved to be the tougher half of the two for the Lobos as Houston Baptist came out with a little bit of fire. The Huskies began to work their way back as they outscored the Lobos in the third 18-13. But the Lobos 13 points helped maintain the lead, taking 51-40 lead into the final period.
Houston Baptist didn’t give up as they scored 17 points to the Lobos’ 14. But the Huskies ran into foul trouble as their top scorer Anna Strickland fouled out. But the Lobos had some trouble at the free throw line, shooting 51.5 percent from the line.
The closest the Huskies would come to the Lobos in the final minutes was six with 2:52 left to play in the game. A three-point play from Whitney Johnson put the Lobos back up by nine. Johnson would go on to make the final point for the Lobos, sinking a free throw. A good layup by the Huskies came in the final 10 seconds of the game but wasn’t enough as the Lobos claimed their first win of the 2015-16 season.
Nunn led the Lobos with 11 points and brought down eight rebounds. Keller, Johnson and Otto all had nine points. Johnson had eight rebounds and Keller with seven, respectively. Khadijah Shumpert finished with seven points and seven rebounds while Beynon finished with four assists and eight points.
The Lobos shot 39 percent from the field for the game and was just 2-for-9 from the three-point line. The Lobos were 13-for-27 for 48.1 percent from the field in the first half and 10-for-32 for 31.3 percent in the second. They received 38 points in the paint, 16 off fast break and 28 off the bench.
The Lobos are now 1-0 on the season. They open up road play next week, heading down south to New Mexico State. The game is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff time and will be broadcasted on the Lobo Radio Network as well as televised on ESPN3.