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McGruder Layup Lifts Lobos Past Bulldogs

CANYON, Texas— Junior forward Shaiquel McGruder finished with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting, but no basket was bigger than the layup with 2.4 seconds remaining to put New Mexico in front 82-80 over Fresno State on Thursday night at the First United Bank Center.

After Fresno State used its last time out to advance the ball, junior Ahlise Hurst closed any opportunity for the Bulldogs to tie the game with a deflection and a steal, her only of the game, as the time wound down to zero for the Lobo victory.

With the win, UNM moves to 7-1 overall, 4-1 in the Mountain West, while the preseason favorite Fresno State’s four-game win streak came to an end to fall to 8-6, 6-3 in conference play.

The Lobos had five scorers in double figures, led by Antonia Anderson with 16 points, and New Mexico needed every point in the physical and fast-paced back-and-forth contest. Hurst finished with 15 points, leading the team with three, three-pointers, and Jaedyn De La Cerda matched McGruder with 14 points, including four critical free-throws late in the fourth quarter. LaTascya Duff scored 13 points off the bench, making six of seven attempts from the free-throw line.

UNM and Fresno State entered the MW game with two of the top-three scoring offenses in the conference, and it was evident throughout that the two teams were in it for the full 40 minute battle as there were 20 lead changes and eight ties.

McGruder opened the game with a layup just nine seconds in and would get a defensive rebound on the next possession that led to a Hurst fast-break layup and a quick Bulldog timeout.

UNM would score the first eight points of the game before Fresno State got on the board with 6:43 on the clock.

Fresno State continued to go on an eventual 10-0 run to take a lead that expanded to 13-8. The Lobos followed with an 8-4 run to make it a one-point game on a Duff jumper with 2:33 remaining in the opening quarter, but there wouldn’t be another basket between the teams for another 1:29 that pushed the Bulldogs’ lead to 20-16. Three Duff free throws closed the gap back to one point with 13 seconds left, but Fresno State ended the quarter with a 23-19 lead.

The Bulldogs expanded their lead to 27-22, but again, the Lobos responded to go on an 8-2 run to regain the lead at 30-29 after De La Cerda took it coast-to-coast for the layup midway through the quarter. The lead would change hands on the next possession, but an Anderson jumper and a LaTora Duff fast-break layup off of a McGruder block gave the Lobos a three-point lead that they would turn into a 38-34 halftime score.

UNM outscored Fresno State 19-11 in the second quarter to take the lead, with the Lobos holding the Bulldogs to just four baskets. LaTascya added onto her six first quarter points with another five in the second quarter to lead the Lobos with 11 points at the break.

Out of the break, UNM pushed the lead to six on a De La Cerda layup before the Bulldogs chipped away to cut it to one at 40-39. UNM pushed the lead back up to five on a LaTora layup and Fresno State answered with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 44, the first tie since zero-all.

The Lobos regained the lead on a McGruder layup but a three-point play by FS turned the lead into a one-point deficit. The lead wouldn’t grow beyond one point for either team over the next 3:11 before there was another tie at 52 with 2:24 left in the third.

In the final 2:24 of the third, Anderson made a jumper that put the Lobos back in front only for Fresno State to tie it on the other end. Anderson answered with a layup and McGruder stretched the Lobo lead to 58-54 with a jumper of her own. Fresno State made a three with 20 seconds remaining for the final basket of the frame.

Anderson finished with six points in the quarter on 3-for-3 shooting as the Lobos shot 55.6 percent (10-for-18) in the quarter.

UNM was unusually cold from three-point range, going 6-of-30 from distance in the game, but Corina Carter was 2-for-3 to accompany Hurst’s three, including a three to open the fourth to stretch UNM’s lead to four.

Fresno State scored the next five points to take the lead, but Hurst drained a three to put UNM back in front. A De La Cerda layup restored the four-point advantage, but again, Fresno State pushed back to take a one-point lead at 67-66 with 5:38 to play.

Out of the media timeout, the lead was exchanged six times before Fresno State gained a slight lead at 76-72 with 2:28 to go. Layups by McGruder and De La Cerda (off of a McGruder steal) evened the score at 76. Fresno State took the lead next with 1:33 to go before De La Cerda would hit four free throws to put UNM ahead 80-78.

A Fresno State jumper tied the game back up with 50 seconds to play and a missed jumper by Fresno State’s Haley Cavinder and an Anderson rebound gave the Lobos the ball with 5.6 seconds remaining.

After calling a timeout and advancing the ball, Anderson inbounded the ball to McGruder, and McGruder took her defender off the dribble and made a right-handed layup with 2.4 seconds left on the clock to put the Lobos back in front for good.

The Lobos remain in Canyon, Texas for the second game of the series against Fresno State on Saturday, Jan. 30 at noon CT/ 11 a.m. MT.

POSTGAME NOTES

  • Thursday’s win snapped a three-game losing streak to Fresno State and gave UNM a 15-13 advantage in the series
    • UNM’s win also snapped Fresno State’s four-game winning streak and its conference win streak at five.
  • The Lobos started the same five players for the eighth time this season: LaTora Duff, Ahlise Hurst, Jaedyn De La Cerda, Shaiquel McGruder and Antonia Anderson
  • The Lobos scored 80 or more points for the sixth time this season.
  • UNM had five players in double figures, led by Antonia Anderson’s 16.
    • It is the second-straight game that Anderson has led the Lobos in scoring
  • Shaiquel McGruder not only made the game-winning basket, but she also had a career-best four assists and a season-best four steals
  • In addition to leading the Lobos in points, Anderson had a game-high, and season-best, four blocks with the Lobos finishing with seven as a team
  • Corina Carter recorded her first career block and finished with a career-high three steals
  • Ahlise Hurst tied her career high in assists with a team-high five, while grabbing three rebounds and creating a steal that sealed the win
  • The Lobos finished with 10 steals in the game, the fifth time this season that the Lobos have recorded 10-plus steals.
  • UNM had its best game at the free-throw line, going 10-for-12 from the line (.833)
  • Additionally, the Lobos had their season-low in turnover with seven, while forcing 16
  • Every single Lobo that entered the game recorded at least two assists as the Lobos had 24 as a team
    • Hurst had five, McGruder and Anderson each had four, LaTora had three and LaTascya, Carter, Autumn Watts and De La Cerda each had two.
  • The Lobos outscored Fresno State 42-40 in the paint and 8-4 in fast-break opportunities