ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team fell to New Mexico State in the Rio Grande Rivalry match-up, 78-59 Tuesday evening in Las Cruces.
“The last two games, I haven’t liked our defense,” said head coach Yvonne Sanchez. “…and our guards have to do a better job of getting the ball inside and when they do our posts have to make layups. There was a point where we could have made a run. We could have been down six or four had we made a couple layups. Instead, we didn’t and then we couldn’t get stops.”
The Lobos were led by freshman Emily Lines, who made a late run for UNM in the fourth quarter. She scored 14 points in the 10 minutes she played, going 5-for-6 from the field, 3-for-3 from three-point range and 1-for-2 from the free throw line. She scored the first and last point for the Lobos.
Lines sparked the Lobos run in the fourth quarter with an easy lay-up and sinking back-to-back-to back treys but it was too late as NMSU was up 76-59 with 36 seconds to play in the game.
NMSU’s offense got out to a 6-0 lead on the Lobos after a scoreless minute and half for both teams in the first quarter and took advantage of the Lobos’ turnovers. Lines sunk a free throw and Cherise Beynon scored the next 10 points for the Lobos but NMSU’s offense maintained a steady pace to finish the first quarter with a 22-16 lead.
The Lobos defense struggled to stop the Aggies in the second quarter as they were down by as much as 15 with 2:18 left to play in the half. Two Lobo layups from freshman Jaisa Nunn and senior Khadijah Shumpert finished the half off with the Lobos trailing 37-26 going into the locker room.
New Mexico came out in the second half with more energy to start, giving the Aggies a harder time with its zone defense. But the offense struggled to get things going again. Senior Bryce Owens hit two threes, both bringing them back within nine of NMSU. Beynon sunk one from beyond the arc to put the Lobos within 10 with 3:39 left in the third but NMSU’s offense went on a 7-2 run to finish out on a 57-42 lead over the Lobos.
The Lobos shot 39 percent (23-59) from the field, 42 percent (8-19) from 3-point range and 35.7 percent (5-14) from the free throw line. NMSU outscored the Lobos 28-20 in the paint but the Lobos received 26 points from the bench to the Aggies 11. NMSU capitalized on the Lobos 19 turnovers for 20 points.
Beynon was second on the team in points with 13. Owens and Nunn finished with 10 each. Shumpert finished with a team-high nine boards while Beynon brought down eight.
The Lobos (1-1) return to WisePies Arena for a four-game home stand. They will have four games in eight days which will start Saturday, Nov. 21 with Sacramento State. Tipoff time is set for 1 p.m. and will be available to watch on the Mountain West Network on GoLobos.com. For tickets, visit GoLobos.com or call 925-LOBO.