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Lobos strong down the stretch in 86-68 win over Providence

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team did not trail at any point in their game against Providence College on Wednesday night inside Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit, but a strong finish was still needed for the Lobos to pull out an 86-68 win over the Friars.
 
Jumping out to a double-digit lead within the first four minutes of action against the Friars (8-2), the Lobos (9-4) would maintain a comfortable lead throughout most of the game, swelling their lead out as large as 20 points at the 8:55 mark of the third quarter.
 
Over the course of the remainder of the third quarter, Providence battled back to pull within 10 points, 54-44, at the 1:39 mark thanks to a three-pointer. Antonia Anderson answered that right back for the Lobos however with a three-pointer of her own bringing the lead back to 13 points. The Lobos closed out the third quarter with a 14-point lead, 60-46.
 

In the fourth quarter, the Friars continued to battle and dropped their deficit down to single digits on a pair of occasions, but the Lobos responded each time and didn’t let their lead shrink any lower. The first of those instances came at the 7:02 mark and made it a 65-56 game. On the Lobos’ ensuing possession, Shaiquel McGruder layed in a bucket off an assist by Aisia Robertson.
 
A minute or so later, Ahlise Hurst hit a three-pointer to give the Lobos a 14-point lead, 70-56, with 5:53 left. The Friars then went on a quick 5-0 run to once again bring the score within single digits. This time it was a 5-0 spurt for the Lobos that stemmed that potential Friar tide as Anderson had a layup off an assist by Robertson which was then followed by a three-pointer by Jayla Everett.
 
With 2:40 left, the Friars made a pair of free throws to make it a 12-point game and were hoping to continue to chip away at the Lobo lead, but a dagger of a three-pointer by Robertson sparked what ended up being a 9-0 run over the next minute or so of game time that put the game away for the Lobos.
 
After having one of their best overall offensive games against New Mexico State in their most-recent game, the Lobos followed it up with another solid game offensively. As a team, the Lobos shot 42% overall from the floor (28-of-66), 41% from three-point range (12-of-29) and 86% (18-of-21) from the free throw line.
 
Four Lobos scored in double figures and were led by Everett’s 21 points. The sophomore guard was dialed in shooting the ball against Providence as she was 7-of-10 overall and 6-of-8 from three-point range. Everett also added five rebounds.
 
Next in scoring for the Lobos was Anderson as she scored a career-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Hurst had 14 points while McGruder rounded out double-figure scoring with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Robertson paced the team in assists with a season-high nine. She also added six rebounds and seven points in a season-high 35 minutes played.
 
The Lobos will now prepare for a quick turnaround and take on Loyola Marymount on Thursday night. LMU played Ball State prior to the Lobo game on Wednesday and LMU saw a sizable halftime lead disappear and turn into a 77-72 loss to the Cardinals. Tip-off for the Lobos against LMU is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.