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Buck’s record night leads Lobos past Lamar, 90-58

Tesha BuckTesha Buck

POSTGAME NOTES
POSTGAME QUOTES
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Prior to its matchup with Lamar, University of New Mexico junior Emily Lines let Tesha Buck know she had a feeling she wasn’t going to miss against the Cardinals on Wednesday night.
 
Lines wasn’t far off.
 
Buck hit her first six shots of the game – including five 3-pointers – and went on to hit a Lobo and Mountain West record 10 3-pointers on her way to a school-record 40 points as UNM had little trouble defeating Lamar 90-58 at Dreamstyle Arena in front of 5,000-plus fans.
 

 Buck went 10-for-16 from 3-point range, besting Miranda Sanchez’s UNM record of eight set Feb. 12, 2000, against Air Force and passed the Mountain West record of nine set by Erin Thorn of BYU against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 14, 2001. She’s the sixth player this year in the NCAA to hit 10-plus 3-pointers in a game (two player have hit 11) and is the 58th player in NCAA history to hit 10-plus 3-pointers in a game (the record is 12).
 

 “My teammates got me the ball and, like coach said, when its open twos or threes, he expects me to make them and I expect to make them all too, so it was just a good night and I was just feeling it,” Buck said. “… I think the first few points just felt really good – they were all coming off my fingers well. They all felt good and they all looked good. It was all about my teammates passing me the ball and driving and attacking it and making the defense shift.”
 
Overall Buck finished 15-for-21 from the floor as her 40 points breaks the UNM (12-1) record set by teammate Jaisa Nunn earlier this season of 39 against Marquette. Buck also added seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
 

“When we’re getting good shots, and we have good shooters, we can make it tough on teams,” Bradbury said. “They were going to press and that’s what they do. If you don’t turn it over, then you’re either going to get a wide-open layup or a wide open three, and when Tesha and Alex get wide open threes, we expect them to make them all.”
 
Buck outscored Lamar (5-5) by herself in the first quarter as the senior scored 17 of the Lobos’ final 20 points of the quarter to take a 26-16 lead.
 
The lead only grew from there as UNM outscored the Cardinals 28-13 in the second quarter behind nine of Alex Lapeyrolerie’s 15 points to take a 54-29 lead into the half.
 
The Lobo lead grew to as large as 40 points in the second half with the only moment of intrigue coming when Buck grabbed an offensive rebound and scored as she was fouled for her 40th point of the game at the 4:54 mark in the fourth quarter as UNM bounced back in a big way after suffering its first loss of the season Saturday against Oklahoma in Norman.
 
“We were just focused after our loss to Oklahoma,” Cherise Beynon said. “We just knew we had to come back, work harder and get prepared for this game. We wanted to go into Christmas break with a good win under our belt.”
 
Beynon was close to breaking her own school record for assists as the senior had 14 – one off her record of 15 – to go along with 11 points and four steals. Jaisa Nunn, after missing the previous game due to injury, had eight points, 17 rebounds and a career-high four blocks. N’Dea Flye had a solid all-around line with eight points, six rebounds and five assists.
 
UNM shot a season-best 53 percent from the field (35-for-66) and set a school record for 3-pointers attempted with 40 (making 15 of them) – meaning the Lobos were 20-for-26 on shots inside the 3-point arc (76.9 percent). UNM also assisted on 26 of its 35 baskets and had 51 fast-break points.
 
The Lobos are off until beginning Mountain West play on the road Dec. 28 at Air Force.