FRESNO, Calif. – The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team put together a late rally of 24 points in the fourth quarter but fell to Fresno State 51-43 Saturday afternoon in the Save Mart Center. New Mexico is now 14-13 on the season and 7-9 in the Mountain West. Fresno State improves to 18-9 on the season and 14-2 in the Mountain West.
The fourth quarter surge started with redshirt sophomore Alex Lapeyrolerie. She hit a two at the 9:52 mark. Senior Khadijah Shumpert went on to score the next four points for the Lobos to bring the Lobos within 14. Junior Whitney Johnson hit a layup at the 7:19 mark but back-to-back threes from Cherise Beynon put the Lobos within 11.
Seven straight points from Shumpert brought the Lobos within nine with 2:50 left to play. The Lobos tried to get offense going the rest of the way but a free throw from both Lapeyrolerie and senior Alexa Chavez were the only two points they got, falling short.
In the fourth quarter, the Lobos shot 53 percent (9-17) from the field, 50 percent (2-4) from the three and 67 percent (4-6) from the free throw line.
But the Lobos had a hard time getting offense going in the first three quarters as they only scored 19 points.
Fresno State went up 10-6 after the first quarter. The Lobos were playing defense but couldn’t get their shots to fall as they only shot 19 percent in the first quarter. Shumpert put the first four points for the Lobos on the board. Freshman Jannon Otto had the other two.
The second quarter was all Shumpert. She put together six more points for the Lobos and had 10 of the Lobos 12 points at halftime. After she scored at the 9:30 mark to bring the score to 10-8, Fresno State went on a 6-0 run to make it 16-8. The Lobos did hold the Bulldogs to a scoring drought. The Bulldogs took a 19-10 lead at 5:26 but didn’t score until 1:49.
Shumpert made a bucket at the 4:53 mark but the Lobos didn’t get another score until 7:03 in the third quarter. It was Beynon who took over in the third quarter as she scored six of the seven Lobo points. The only point that came for the Lobos was a Lapeyrolerie free throw.
Fresno State relied on its free throw shooting as it shot free throws from the 6:40 mark to the 1:25 mark for eight total points.
On the game, the Lobos shot 32 percent (18-57) to the Bulldogs 33 percent (16-49) from the field. The Lobos hit 2-of-11 from the three and 5-of-11 from the free throw line.
Shumpert led all scorers with 22 points, her eighth time this season with 20 or more points. She shot 10-for-17 from the field and 2-for-5 from the free throw line. She also picked up a game-high nine rebounds. Beynon finished with 12 points. She was 5-for-17 from the field and 2-for-5 from the three. She recorded three assists, a block and three steals.
New Mexico (14-13, 7-9 MW) will look to their second road game in four days as it heads to San Diego State Tuesday in the final week of regular conference play. The Lobos return to WisePies Arena for their final home game of the season, Friday to take on Nevada. For tickets, call 925-LOBO or visit GoLobos.com.