Lobos ease past San José State, 79-60
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team secured its 20th win of the season on Wednesday night as the Lobos cruised past San José State for a 79-60 road victory inside The Event Center. It is the second-straight year that the Lobos have reached the 20-win mark and the 14th time overall in program history.
The outcome was rarely in doubt for the Lobos (20-3, 10-2 MW) on Wednesday night as they held a comfortable lead for a majority of the game. The Spartans (2-20, 1-10 MW) did hold a couple of marginal leads early in the game, but the largest advantage was a mere three points on a Megan Anderson three-pointer that opened scoring at the 8:59 mark of the first quarter.
The final lead that the Spartans would attain came on another Anderson basket, this time a layup to give SJSU a 13-11 lead at the 2:45 mark of the opening period. That lead was short-lived, however as Aisia Robertson buried a three-pointer on the ensuing trip down the court. That sparked a 10-1 run by the Lobos to close out the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, the Lobos took complete control of the game and out-scored the Spartans 27-7 to cruise into the locker room with a 48-21 lead. In that quarter, the Lobo defense clamped down and limited the Spartans to 2-of-15 shooting overall which included 0-of-7 success from long range. Conversely, the Lobos shot over 55% overall, making 10-of-18.
Check out the highlights of our 79-60 road win at San Jose State! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/E06gUjGykS
— Lobo Women’s Basketball (@UNMLoboWBB) February 14, 2019
After leading by 27 at the break, the Lobos pushed their lead out to 30 points, 61-31, midway through the third quarter on a conventional three-point play by Robertson at the 4:24 mark. That would be the largest lead of the game for the Lobos.
The Spartans would battle and get as close as 19 points a couple of times in the fourth quarter including right at the end of the game, but the Lobo lead was never in any real danger.
The 19-point victory is the second-largest margin for the Lobos in Mountain West play this season and the largest since their 21-point win against Air Force in their league-opener.
Three Lobos scored in double figures in the game led by Jaisa Nunn, who scored a game-high 20 points. The 20-point effort by Nunn is the fourth-straight for the senior and the eighth time she has scored at least 20 points in a game. Nunn also added 14 rebounds to register her 11th double-double of the season. The 14 boards also move Nunn into second all-time at UNM in career rebounds with 859.
The Lobos will now remain on the West Coast and prepare for a Saturday afternoon clash with Fresno State. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. (MT).