Second Quarter Run Sparks UNM Victory

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team showed its versatility on Sunday afternoon against Sam Houston State in that in any given game, a new Lobo could have a breakout game.

After Friday’s season opener in which five Lobos reached double-digit scoring, UNM (2-0) had six Lobos reach the feat in the 98-89 road win over the Bearkats with four repeat performers.

Early fouls and turnovers put the Lobos behind early and it looked like it would be a long afternoon for the Cherry and Silver, but LaTora Duff, LaTascya Duff, Antonia Anderson and Shaiquel McGruder provided the spark to mount the comeback with a 31-point second quarter to give the Lobos their first lead of the game.

McGruder showed her arsenal on both ends of the floor in a 17 point, 13 rebound, five block and three steal double-double performance. Jaedyn De La Cerda would be the closer for the Lobos, scoring 13 of her 24 points as well as grabbing three offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, and LaTora Duff claimed the role of the facilitator, dishing out five assists in the game to tie De La Cerda for the team high.

Anderson accounted for 10 points, LaTascya Duff matched her sister with 15 points and Corina Carter came off the bench to record 10 points, two assists and a steal.

SHSU (2-1) took advantage of five UNM turnovers in the first four minutes of the game to turn a 5-4 lead into a 14-4 lead.  Turnovers would continue to hurt the Lobos, finishing with eight in first quarter, and combined with cold shooting on the floor, the Bearkats ended the quarter up 23-12.

The Lobos were just 1-for-9 from three-point range in the opening quarter, with the first three falling for Ahlise Hurst with 21 seconds remaining that took a 14-point deficit down to 11. UNM didn’t fare much better elsewhere on the court, hitting just four shots on 18 attempts, while going 3-for-5 at the free-throw line.

However, the Lobos whittled away the deficit in the second quarter, turning a 25-14 result in favor of SHSU into a 26-25 lead. LaTora accounted for seven of the 12-0 run, including the three that gave UNM its first lead at 26-25. Anderson made a three that made it a one-possession game and McGruder put back an offensive board for a basket during the run.

The run would continue to become an 18-0 run that would be capped with a De La Cerda free throw with 3:36 remaining in the half that made it 32-25. UNM held SHSU scoreless for over five minutes in the quarter with a free throw by the Bearkats at the 3:14-mark ending the run.

In the final three minutes, UNM would build a seven-point lead three times, with the final time coming at 41-34 on a Carter three, but Sam Houston State closed the margin to two at the break with UNM leading 43-41.

The Lobos went 5-for-6 behind the arc, 8-for-13 on the floor and 10-for-11 at the free-throw line to score 31 points in the second quarter. LaTora led the Lobos with nine points in the frame while LaTascya added six points.

At the half, McGruder was already on her way to a double-double with seven points, nine rebounds and five blocks, with five points and three blocks occurring in the second.

McGruder continued to make an impact in the third quarter, going 3-for-4 on floor and 1-for-1 from three and adding two offensive rebounds and one steal. Playing the entire third quarter, De La Cerda was a perfect 2-for-2 on the floor and 2-for-2 at the free-throw line in the third and Carter went 2-for-2 as well with five points.

With three ties and two lead changes in the third, the Lobos held a narrow 64-63 lead heading into the fourth quarter which would be a lead that would stand the remainder of the game.

However, Sam Houston State wouldn’t allow the Lobos to pull away, keeping the game within one possession in the first minute of the fourth before a 6-0 run created some separation at 74-67. The Bearkats used their own run to get back within one score at 74-72 before the momentum would swing back to the Lobos with a 5-0 run to get the lead back to seven.

A Bearkat free throw closed the margin back to two at 79-77 with 5:43 remaining, but the Lobos would close down the stretch to hold the lead. Two Carter free throws with 34 seconds left gave UNM its largest lead of the game at 96-86 before the buzzer sounded for the Lobo 98-89 victory.

UNM scored a game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter with De La Cerda and Anderson tallying 13 and seven, respectively. UNM took advantage of getting to the free-throw line, going 18-for-22 including a perfect 7-for-7 for De La Cerda. De La Cerda finished an almost perfect 14-for-15 from the free-throw line, career highs in attempts and makes for the New Mexico native. The Lobos also benefited from four offensive rebounds to create six second-chance points.

POSTGAME NOTES

• Historically, UNM is 2-0 against Sam Houston State following Sunday’s 98-89 win.
• The 98 points resets the last time it happened stat, with Sunday’s result replacing Friday’s result of 93 points.
• The last time UNM had six double-digit scorers: Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. UNM has had several games in which five players tallied 10-plus points, but never six.
• There were four Lobos who were double-digit scorers in both games: Antonia Anderson (13 points Friday, 10 points Sunday), Jaedyn De La Cerda (16 points Friday, 24 points Sunday), LaTascya Duff (16 points Friday, 15 points Sunday), LaTora Duff (14 points Friday, 15 points Sunday).
• Two Lobos recorded double figures in points for the first time this season in Shaiquel McGruder (17 points) and Corina Carter (10 points).
• McGruder was just one point shy of tying her career high in points, but the Ohio native did however set a career high in blocks with five.
• UNM started the same lineup in its two games: Ahlise Hurst, LaTora Duff, Shaiquel McGruder, Jaedyn De La Cerda and Antonia Anderson.
• De La Cerda set career highs in free throws made and free throws attempted, going 14-for-15 at the line.