ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team claimed its second straight victory, defeating Air Force 58-36 on Saturday afternoon in WisePies Arena.
“We came out of their with a 20-point lead,” said head coach Yvonne Sanchez. “Air Force is a tough team to play. I don’t care what its record is. They play hard and smart. They get after you.
The game started out a little slow on both sides. Air Force took a 4-0 lead over UNM at the 6:55 mark but the Lobos finally put together some offense late in the quarter. An 8-0 run by UNM gave them an 8-4 lead.
The Falcons tied it up at eight with 2:23 left. They took the lead at the 1:48 mark but the Lobos matched the score up on an Alexa Chavez two. The Falcons retook the lead but a layup from Jaisa Nunn gave the Lobos the lead for good and ended the first quarter with a 12-11 advantage.
It was the second quarter though, that the Lobos finally settled into their offense and went to their press on defense to force seven Falcon turnovers. They started off the quarter with a 9-0 run and forced Air Force to a timeout. Chavez made it an 11-0 run at the 6:00 mark before the Falcons put anything in the basket.
“The first quarter we kind of got shoved around a bit,” said Sanchez. “But Second quarter we went to our press, and I really liked what we did with that.”
Air Force finally scored at the 5:45 mark but they only scored one other time for the Lobos to only allow four Air Force points in the quarter.
Khadijah Shumpert paced the way for the Lobos in the second as she scored 10 of her 16 points. She had a 6-0 run by herself from the 2:49 mark down to two minutes left in the half. Bryce Owens hit four points in the last minute, including a last minute layup in with three seconds on the clock to lead the Lobos 37-15 into halftime.
The second half, the Lobos maintained their lead but Air Force did outscore the Lobos in the third quarter 12-9. Sanchez called a timeout with 7:21 left to play as they only scored off one free throw from Owens in the first two minutes and 39 seconds.
Air Force hit three free throws of their last seven points but the Lobos extended their lead for the win off two back-to-back threes from Laneah Bryan in the last minute and half.
“Second half was just a grind,” Sanchez said. “And sometimes you have to win games like that. At this stage, you can’t get frustrated. A win is a win.”
Shumpert led the Lobos on the day, finishing with 16 points. She was 7-for-13 from the field with a team-high six rebounds. She recorded two blocks and one steal. Chavez was second on the team with a season-high nine points. She was 4-for-7 from the field. Owens and Beynon each dished out five and six assists, respectively. Owens finished with eight points while Beynon finished with seven and six steals.
Overall, the Lobos shot 44 percent from the field, their second straight game shooting 40 percent or higher. They were 25-for-37 from the field, 3-for-13 from the three and 5-for-13 from the free throw line. They outrebounded the Falcons 33-26 and had an 18-5 advantage on steals.
New Mexico received 21 points from the bench and took advantage of the Falcons’ 21 turnovers for 24 points.
The Lobos are now 14-11 on the season and 7-7 in Mountain West play. They will look to continue this late season run with the best in the conference, hosting Colorado State next Wednesday in WisePies Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will stream live on the Mountain West Network. For tickets, visit GoLobos.com or call 925-LOBO.