Lobos overcome late by league-leading Bulldogs
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – For a majority of Saturday afternoon’s game, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team was poised to be the first Mountain West team this season to beat Fresno State, but a furious fourth-quarter rally by Fresno State saw the Lobos come up short, 84-78.
After the Bulldogs (18-4, 11-0 MW) scored the game’s first points on their opening possession, the Lobos (12-12, 3-8 MW) answered back and took the lead at the 9:04 mark with a three-pointer made by junior Jaedyn De La Cerda. De La Cerda would go on to make a season-high five three-pointers in the game as she ended with a team-high 20 points. From De La Cerda’s first triple, the Lobos remained out in front and built up their lead as large as 12 points with 3:27 left in the opening period.
It was another De La Cerda three-pointer that gave the Lobos that 12-point lead, but on the other end of the court, standout Bulldog freshman Haley Cavinder matched with a three-pointer of her own. Cavinder then went on to score the Bulldogs’ next seven points as she put together a personal 10-0 run in just over a minute to bring Fresno State to within two-points, 20-18, with 2:00 left on the clock.
The Lobos were able to break that run on a layup by Shaiquel McGruder at the 1:43 mark and closed out the period with a four-point lead, 24-20.
Early in the second quarter, Fresno State regained the lead, 25-24, thanks to a three-pointer by Kendyll Kinzer at the 8:11 mark. That lead was extremely short-lived however, as De La Cerda buried another three-pointer, this one off an assist by Aisia Robertson, who finished with eight assists. The Lobos then grew their lead out to eight points with 6:05 left thanks to three-pointers by De La Cerda and Ahlise Hurst. By the end of the half, the Lobos led by 10 points and carried a 44-34 lead into the locker room.
In the third quarter, the Lobos remained in the lead and in relatively firm control of the game as the closest the Bulldogs were able to get was five points at the 2:43 mark of the period. The Lobos eventually closed out the third quarter with a nine-point lead, 65-57.
Through the first three quarters the Lobos were shooting at a remarkable percentage from all over the floor. At the charity stripe they were a perfect 10-of-10, from three-point range they shot 67% (10-of-15) and were 23-of-43 overall (54%) from the floor. That hot shooting cooled in the fourth quarter however as the Lobos were just 3-of-15 overall, 1-of-6 from three-point range and 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
Conversely, the Bulldogs heated up considerably over the final 10 minutes of action. In the final period, Fresno State shot 60% (9-of-15) overall, were 5-of-9 (56%) from three-point range and 4-of-5 from the free throw line as they roared back.
On the Lobos first possession of the fourth quarter, Corina Carter knocked down a three-pointer to give the Lobos a 12-point lead, 69-57. The Bulldogs then cut the lead down to five points at the 8:12 mark on another three-pointer by Kinzer. Just about two minutes of game time later, the Lobos had built their lead back up to nine points on a pair of free throws by Jordan Hosey at the 6:18 mark. A 7-0 scoring run by the Bulldogs pulled them to within two points, 74-72, with 3:39 left to play.
The Lobos then got a conventional three-point play by Hurst and grabbed a five-point lead with 3:10 remaining on the clock.
Trailing by four points with just over a minute and a half left, the Bulldogs suddenly took the lead thanks to consecutive three-pointers made. The second of those was knocked down by Aly Gamez and gave the Bulldogs a two-point lead, 80-78, with 52 seconds left. The Bulldogs then iced the game away at the free throw line making their final four attempts down the stretch en route to the six-point win.
Statistically, the Lobos ended the game shooting 45% overall from the floor (26-of-58), 52% (11-of-21) from three-point range and 88% (15-of-17) from the charity stripe. Three players scored in double figures for the Lobos with De La Cerda leading the way with 20 points. It was the fourth 20-point plus game for De La Cerda and her third in the last four games.
Behind De La Cerda in scoring was Hurst with 18 points. Hosey rounded out double figure scoring with 12 points. Hosey also registered her eighth double-double of the season as she hauled in 10 rebounds.
The Lobos have the mid-week bye coming up next week and will next be in action on Saturday, February 8 at Wyoming. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 2 p.m. (MT).