Lobos Fall to No. 14/13 Arizona

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— In front of an announced crowd of 6,087, the Lobo women’s basketball team led through the first quarter of Sunday’s game against No. 14/13 Arizona and were within reach through the midway point of the third quarter before the Wildcats pulled away late in the 77-60 final.

Sunday’s attendance with the largest for the program since March 7, 2019 against Wyoming, which had an announced attendance of 8,152.

Similar to last year’s meeting in Tucson, Paula Reus led the Lobos in scoring with 14 points and a career-high 37 minutes on the court, joined in double figures by LaTascya Duff with 10 points. Two other Lobos were close to double figures in LaTora Duff (nine points) and Aniyah Augmon (eight points off of the bench). Shaiquel McGruder produced a game-high nine rebounds to go with six points and three blocks. On the week, McGruder averaged 11.5 rebounds per game, 10.5 points per game and 3.0 blocks per game.

Reus gave UNM the early lead on a three-pointer and added a jumper that pushed the lead to three at 5-2. After the Wildcats pushed in front 11-7, the Lobos went on a 7-0 run behind a LaTascya three-pointer, a McGruder layup and an Augmon layup to regain the lead. Reus closed the quarter with a final basket with 35 seconds remaining as New Mexico took a 16-15 lead into the second quarter, with Reus scoring seven on 3-4 shooting.

The Lobos led for 5:47 of the quarter, with seven lead changes and one tie.

UNM stretched the lead to five at the start of the second quarter on a Reus layup and Amaya Brown steal that led to a layup, however Arizona answered to tie the game at 20. Another basket by Brown put UNM in front before the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run to take the 27-22 lead with 4:46 left in the quarter. The Lobos climbed back to get within one at 29-28 on an Augmon layup and LaTora fast-break layup off of an Augmon steal, although Arizona closed on a 7-2 run for a 36-30 halftime lead.

Both teams were unable to score at the start of the third, with LaTora opening the scoring on a layup at the 7:33 mark of the quarter. The Duffs continued to assert their presence on the offensive side with LaTascya hitting a three-pointer followed by another LaTora layup that again brought the Lobos within one at 38-37 with 5:52 to play in the quarter. Of note, New Mexico went on a 7-2 run over 4:08 of the third quarter to cut the score to one point. It was the closest the Lobos would get for the rest of the contest as Arizona pulled away on an 11-0 run to push the deficit to 12 and although the Lobos got back within single digits at eight on a McGruder jumper, Arizona led 54-43 through three.

The margin grew to as large as 19 in the fourth quarter with the Lobos cutting it to 13 at 70-57 with 2:50 left in the contest before the game concluded at 77-60.

UNM’s bench contributed nine points in the fourth quarter with Nia Johnson leading with five points and Augmon adding four.

However, turnovers proved costly as Arizona scored 14 points off of turnovers in the final quarter, and had 36 points off of turnovers in the game on 20 steals and 26 forced turnovers.

The Lobo bench scored 15 points in the game with Johnson accounting for seven and Augmon eight.

UNM (4-4) remains at home for its next two games, starting with Abilene Christian on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES

– The final score was exactly the same as the previous meeting (2021).
– New Mexico went on a 13-4 run over 5:31 of the first half to take a five-point lead.

• Arizona responded with a 12-2 run over 4:12 of the second quarter to retake a five point lead.

-New Mexico forced six Arizona turnovers in the first half.

– New Mexico shot 58.3% (7-12) from the field and 50% (2-4) from three-point range in the first quarter to help build a one-point lead.

• Arizona shot 0.0% (0-6) from three.

-First half percentages: The Lobos shot 52% (13-25) from the field with the Wildcats shooting 51.7% (15-29).

– New Mexico went on a 7-2 run over 4:08 of the third quarter to cut their deficit to one.