Five Lobos Score in Double Figures as Lobos Defeat Rams
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team led from start to finish in the win over Colorado State on Thursday night in its first home game of the season at The Pit.
Shaiquel McGruder led all scorers with 16 points and brought down nine rebounds, one of five Lobos to finish in double figures. Jaedyn De La Cerda and Ahlise Hurst scored 13 points, LaTora Duff had 12 points and Antonia Anderson recorded a double-double, her second of the season, with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
It is the fifth time this season that the Lobos have had five players finish in double figures.
On the other side, McKenna Hofschild was the lone Ram to finish with double-digit points with a team-high 12.
Colorado State pulled as close as 44-42 with 1:17 left in the third quarter, but the Lobos closed out the quarter scoring the final four points and outscored the Rams 20-13 in the fourth for the 68-55 win.
UNM got out to an early 8-2 lead with Anderson and De La Cerda scoring the first five points on Senior Night. The Lobos continued build the lead to nine at 14-5 on another Anderson three and reached double digits at 11 on a Duff fast-break layup off of a steal with 2:38 left in the quarter. A layup by Autumn Watts off an Anderson pass pushed the score to 18-5, with the Lobos eventually taking an 18-9 lead into the end of the first.
It was the sixth time this season that the Lobos have held an opponent under 10 points in the opening quarter.
A McGruder jumper to open the second quarter pushed the lead back to double figures, which the Rams trimmed down to six following a 5-0 run with 3:06 left in the quarter. Just 20 total points were scored in the second quarter as the Lobos led 27-20 at the break, with Duff leading all scorers with seven points and Anderson having six points and six rebounds. Hurst went 2-for-2 from three-point range to get in the scoring column.
Out of the break, the Lobos went on a 7-0 run to bring the gap back to 12 at 34-22, which extended to 13 (39-26) on a McGruder three. The Rams cut the lead down to two behind a 16-5 run, but the Lobos responded with the next four points to take a 48-42 lead into the final quarter.
McGruder accounted for seven of the team’s points in the quarter with De La Cerda scoring six points in the closely contested third quarter.
After two made CSU free throws made it 48-44 just 16 seconds into the fourth, UNM used an 8-0 run to stretch the lead back to double digits and went on a 7-0 run in the span of a minute that pushed the Lobo lead to its largest point of the game at 17 (66-49) with 1:39 remaining in the game.
Duff, McGruder and De La Cerda each had five points in the final frame with Duff a perfect 2-for-2 from the floor and 1-for-1 from behind the arc.
McGruder scored 12 of her 16 total points in the final 20 minutes and De La Cerda scored 11 of her 13 points in the final two quarters.
The Lobos finished with 10 made threes in the game, with UNM now 9-1 when making 10 or more threes in a game, and the third straight game that the Lobos have made 10 or more.
Additionally, Thursday’s game was the third straight game that the Lobos have finished with 40 or more rebounds, and has outrebounded their opponent
UNM (13-3, 10-3 MW) and CSU (15-4, 11-4 MW) will play on Friday night at 5 p.m. in a winner-take-all game for the Mountain West regular season championship, viewable on the Mountain West Network.