ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Senior forward Khadijah Shumpert went off for a career-high 27 points in her home state to lead the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team to a 72-53 road victory over Big Ten Minnesota in Williams Arena Wednesday afternoon.
“I am so proud of this team,” said head coach Yvonne Sanchez. “They were very well prepared by this staff. I have the best staff in the country. Our kids came in and they weren’t afraid. They weren’t scared and they hit big shots.”
Shumpert went 10-for-13 from the field and perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. She finished with eight boards, two assists, two blocks and two steals. Cherise Beynon was second on the squad in scoring with 14 points, shooting 2-for-6 from the three. Beynon, Bryce Owens and Jannon Otto combined for six of the Lobos eight three-pointers that all came in the first half surge.
“Khadijah was phenomenal. I am so proud of her, especially on a stage with all of her family and friends. She deserved every bit of it. I am so happy for her.
The Lobos started out a little bit behind in the first quarter. Beynon scored the first five points for the Lobos and Otto tied the game up at 11-11 with a three. The Lobos only got one made free throw the rest of the period to end the first trailing 16-12.
New Mexico started their surge in the second quarter as Shumpert got two quick layups to tie the game up at 16 and force Minnesota to a timeout. It went point-for-point until Owens hit a jumper to take the lead for good. The Lobos then hit four straight three’s to take a 33-24 lead. Owens hit two while Alex Lapeyrolerie and Otto hit the others. Minnesota worked their way back to cut the Lobo lead to 35-31 heading into the second half.
“The shots the took, especially the threes, they came out of offense and that is what we needed to do. We hit some big shots early in the first half and we went to work in the second half inside.”
Shumpert started the third quarter off with two layups and the Lobo defense held Minnesota to a three-minute and twenty second scoring drought. The Lobos went up on a 10-2 run in the final minutes of the period to take a 51-43 lead into the final quarter. The Lobos also held the Golden Gophers to another scoring drought, holding them for a little over three minutes until two free throws in the final seconds.
Once again, Shumpert started off the quarter strong for the Lobos, hitting three straight jumpers to give the Lobos a 55-43 lead. The Lobos’ offense kept pushing as Beynon and Jaisa Nunn put up six more points for a 63-43 lead. But the Lobos’ defense held Minnesota to another scoring drought in the first three and half minutes of the period.
The Lobos cruised the rest of the way, going up by as much as 22 with three minutes left to play after two free throws from Shumpert. Minnesota hit a two but that was it as the Lobos defense held off the Gophers the rest of the way.
Minnesota came into the game averaging 9.8 three’s per game but the Lobos held them to just five for the afternoon, a 21 shooting percentage. The Lobos shot 47 percent from the three, making 8-for-17.
For the afternoon, the Lobos shot 41 percent from the field (28-68) and 89 percent from the free throw line (8-9). The Lobos out-rebounded the Gophers 48-36 and put together 22 assists, four blocks, eight steals and 13 turnovers.
New Mexico returns home Sunday to play their final nonconference game of the season. They play host to New Mexico State with a 2 p.m. tipoff. The game will be available on the Mountain West Network as well as broadcasted on 610 KNML. Visit GoLobos.com for tickets or call 925-LOBO.