Four Lobos Finish in Double Figures as Lobos Beat Aggies

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Shaiquel McGruder made the go-ahead free throw with 14 seconds left in Sunday’s contest with New Mexico State and the Lobo defense got the pivotal stop as time expired as New Mexico defeated New Mexico State 65-64.

With the win, the Lobos (6-4) have won the last six meetings played at home and are 24-1 in the last 25 games played in Albuquerque.

McGruder led the Lobos in scoring with 16 points, one of four players to finish in double figures. Viané Cumber was clutch from three-point range, knocking down four and went 5-6 from the floor to finish with 15 points. Paula Reus recorded her first double-double as a Lobo on a career-high 10 rebounds and 11 points, also going 5-6 from the floor and had a game-high four assists, and LaTascya Duff made four three-pointers to finish with 12 points to go along with five steals.

For Duff, it was her seventh game this season with multiple steals and her second with five, and her seventh game with multiple three-pointers, her third with four and her 47th career game with multiple three-pointers. For McGruder, Sunday’s game was her ninth game scoring in double figures, her seventh game with multiple steals and her 10th game with at least one block. On the week, McGruder posted an average of 19.5 points, 3.0 steals, 3.0 blocks and 8.0 rebounds, shooting 83.3 percent from the floor.

It was a back-and-forth contest early on with both teams trading baskets before NMSU gained a 7-4 lead. A McGruder free throw and Duff three-pointer put the Lobos in front for the first time at 8-7 with 6:30 showing on the clock before the Aggies answered to go back in front 11-8. However, the Lobos hit a pair of three-pointers to reclaim the lead as Cumber evened the score with her first three-pointer, and after a pair of Aggie free throws, McGruder put the Lobos back in the lead with a three-pointer. Cumber added one more three-pointer to make it 17-15 in favor of the Lobos, but NMSU scored the final four points of the quarter for the 19-17 lead.

Cumber and McGruder each had six points in the opening 10 minutes, with the Lobos making four three-pointers and scoring seven points on fast-break opportunities as Duff had three of UNM’s four steals in the quarter.

The teams again traded baskets to begin the second, creating ties at 19 and 21 before Cumber hit a three to put the Lobos up 24-21. A 4-0 Aggie run put UNM behind by a point, albeit temporarily as Nia Johnson made a pair of free throws for another lead change.

UNM grabbed momentum late into the second quarter with a 12-0 run in the final 3:07, with Duff draining back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lobos a 34-31 lead, followed by a fast-break layup for McGruder off a Duff steal. Reus added a layup with 1:19 remaining and McGruder closed the quarter on a fast-break layup off of defensive rebound by Reus for the 40-31 halftime score.

The Lobos outscored the Aggies 23-12 in the second quarter, forcing six turnovers with five steals and turned that into 12 points. UNM shot 69.2 percent in the quarter with three, three-pointers, while the Aggies shot 37.5 percent and went 0-5 from three-point range.

Reus opened the third quarter with a layup to stretch the lead to its largest point of the game at 11, continuing the run to 14-0, but the Aggies cut it down to six on two different occasions. After NMSU cut the margin to 44-38, a McGruder layup and Duff three-pointer restored the 11-point lead with 4:08 remaining in the quarter. NMSU got within four at 51-47 with 2:12 left, and once again the Lobos had an answer, closing with a Reus layup and free throw to give UNM a 54-47 lead through three.

Reus led with five points and five rebounds in the third.

A Cumber three-pointer pushed UNM’s lead to eight less than a minute into the fourth, but the Aggies went on a run to tie the game at 57 with 3:49 left to play. McGruder gave the Lobos the 59-57 lead on the following possession and Aniyah Augmon split a pair of free throws on two separate trips to the line to push the lead to four with 1:33 after drawing the fouls on hard drives to the basket. Augmon finished with five points, four rebounds and three assists, playing 19:04 off of the bench.

UNM led 64-60 with 27 seconds remaining following Cumber splitting a pair of free throws, but the Aggies responded with four points in 10 seconds to tie the score. Out of a Lobo timeout, McGruder drew the foul with 14 seconds left and after missing the first, made the second to put UNM up 65-64. Out of timeouts, NMSU scrambled to get a shot, with the Lobos forcing a jump ball situation with 2.3 seconds remaining. The Aggies retained possession, but Amaya Brown and the Lobo defense prevented a good look on the final play as the buzzer sounded.

There was a total of 10 ties and 13 lead changes in the game, with 13 lead changes and eight ties in the first two quarters. There were zero ties or lead changes in the third, and while there were two ties in the fourth, the lead never changed sides. UNM led for 26:19 of the game, with NMSU leading a total of 9:05, with NMSU’s biggest lead three points at 7-4 and 11-8 in the first quarter.

Up next: UNM travels to Tampa, Florida to face Old Dominion and Mississippi State in the Sun Coast Challenge on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21, respectively.

POSTGAME NOTES

• New Mexico forced 10 first-half Aggie turnovers, which led to 12 points-off-turnovers.
  • The Lobos had five first-half turnovers.
• New Mexico’s Viane Cumber shot 100% (3-3) from three-point range in the first half.
• New Mexico had nine steals in the first half, compared to New Mexico State’s one.
• New Mexico State went on an 8-0 run over 6:06 of the fourth quarter to tie the game.
• Reus recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. She also matched her season-high in assists with four.
• There was a total of 13 lead changes and 10 ties in the game.