Lobos Contain Cougars Behind Brown Double-Double

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobo women’s basketball team showed that pressure was no problem, grinding out a hard-fought 68-61 win over Houston on Saturday afternoon in The Pit in the home season opener.

New Mexico held its own against the Cougar press, leading for all but 17 seconds in the contest, and capitalized on Houston’s aggressive style, converting 24 of 29 free throws, including going 11-for-12 in the fourth quarter and 21-for-22 at the line in the final two quarters.

Amaya Brown showcased her all-around ability to impact the game, finishing with a team- and career-high 16 points and team- and career-high 11 rebounds for her first career double-double, and added two steals, a block and went a career-best 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.

The Albuquerque native was one of three Lobos to finish in double figures with LaTora Duff adding 14 points and a game-high seven assists along with two steals, and Shaiquel McGruder, who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, three steals and a block.

Needing just five points entering Saturday’s game, McGruder officially became the 18th Lobo in program history to reach the 1000-career point, 500-career rebound milestone and the 25th Lobo all-time to achieve 1000-career points.

New Mexico controlled the game early, scoring the first four points on a Duff layup and a McGruder turnaround jumper, and held a four-point lead through the media timeout (10-6). An Aniyah Augmon three-pointer out of the break stretched the lead to seven before Houston answered to trim the lead to three at 13-10. However, a Kath van Bennekom layup off of a Duff assist pushed it back to a two-possession game, and although the Cougars closed the scoring with two free throws, the Lobos held a 15-12 lead through the first 10 minutes.

The Lobos led from start to finish in the first quarter with Duff and McGruder leading with four points, McGruder with two steals and Duff with three assists.

UNM opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run behind a LaTascya Duff layup, a fast-break layup by Brown and two LaTora free throws to take a 21-12 lead less than two minutes into the second. Houston cut it to two at 21-19 with an offensive putback and back-to-back steals that led to points, but two offensive Lobo rebounds on the next possession led to a Brown jumper to keep the Lobos in front.

Each time Houston got close, the Lobos found an answer, as after the Cougars pulled within one at 24-23, Nia Johnson grabbed a rebound and went the length of the floor to lay it in and a van Bennekom layup stretched the lead to five with under a minute remaining. UH scored the final points of the quarter on a jumper, but the Lobos went into the break with a three-point lead at 28-25.

A McGruder jumper and two free throws by Brown started the third quarter, and although Houston again pulled within two at 34-32, a Paula Reus three extended the lead and started a 7-0 run that made it 41-32. A 10-0 Houston run gave the Cougars their first lead of the game, albeit temporarily as two LaTascya free throws 17 seconds later gave the Lobos the lead right back, a lead that built back up to nine on eight-straight made free throws and an Augmon layup off of a Brown offensive board.

Going into the fourth quarter with UNM holding a 51-44 lead, Houston pulled within three at 53-50 with 7:54 remaining. However, over the next three minutes, the Lobos got defensive stops and converted on the other end at the free-throw line and with layups to create an eight-point margin at 61-53.

The Lobos were in the bonus for the final 5:26, and went 7-for-8 at the line to close out the game, with New Mexico extending the lead from four to six at the line on two occasions. Houston cut the lead to four with 33 seconds remaining and down the stretch, McGruder split a pair with 29 seconds on the clock and after a LaTascya defensive rebound, drained both free throws for the final points of the contest.

New Mexico (1-1) returns to the road to face New Mexico State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before hosting Arizona State on Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are available for the game against the Sun Devils, with a special package deal of a ticket the men’s basketball game against NMSU and home football game against San Diego State for $25.

POSTGAME NOTES
-This was the 10th game all-time between New Mexico and Houston.
-The Lobos now lead the series 6-4.
– New Mexico outrebounded Houston 50-47 with 14 offensive rebounds.
-The Lobos held the Cougars scoreless for the first 1:47 of the game. The Cougars scored their second basket of the game after 3:32.
-Houston and New Mexico scored the same amount of points in the second (13) and fourth quarters (17)
– New Mexico answered with a 10-0 run over 3:15 of the third quarter to take a 9-point lead.
– The Lobos shot 100% (10-10) from the free throw line in the third quarter. They shot 95.5% (21-22) in the second half.