Lobos Open MW with 70-58 Win Over Air Force

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—  The University of New Mexico women’s basketball program was on display on CBS Sports Network on Sunday afternoon, and the Lobos proved that the moment wasn’t too big, emerging victorious 70-58 over Air Force in their Mountain West Conference opener.

With both teams entering atop the MW rankings in steals per game, both teams took care of the ball as UNM finished with six steals and Air Force seven, the second-lowest total for the Falcons this season. The Lobos won the defensive battle on the boards 38-36 and recorded five blocks to just one for the Falcons.

Offensively, the Lobos shot 50.9 percent (28-55), the second-straight game finishing over 50 percent. Shaiquel McGruder was a game-changer, scoring a game-high 21 points that included 10 points in the second quarter and six points in the fourth. For comparison, as a team, Air Force scored eight points in the second and 12 points in the fourth. McGruder registered her fourth double-double of the season with 13 rebounds, a feat she accomplished in the first 20 minutes with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and added two steals and a game-high four blocks. Sunday was also the fourth time that the Lobo forward finished with 20-plus points, 10th game registering multiple blocks and 11th game registering multiple steals.

LaTora Duff accounted for 15 points, with eight occurring in the second half, and accounted for a season-high seven rebounds, a game-high seven assists, while also having two steals. LaTascya Duff made three, three-pointers for her eighth-straight game with multiple three-pointers, Viané Cumber went 3-4 from the floor and 2-3 from three for eight points and Amaya Brown contributed eight points.

For Brown, her impact was felt on the defensive end, tasked with guarding Air Force’s leading scorer Kamri Heath, who entered the game averaging 15.6 points per game and hadn’t scored fewer than nine points in a game this season. The Lobo held Heath to 1-6 shooting on the afternoon and just three points.

After both teams traded baskets to start the game, Air Force made consecutive three-pointers to take a 10-4 lead. However, the Lobos responded by making their next four shots for a 10-0 run behind a Brown jumper, a LaTora three-pointer and LaTascya three-pointer and a LaTora turnaround jumper for the 14-10 lead. The Falcons temporarily halted the run with a basket out of the media timeout, but an Aniyah Augmon jumper and Cumber fast-break layup off of a LaTora steal pushed the lead to six at 18-12. A Cumber three made it 21-14 with 1:40 remaining in the opening quarter before the Falcons closed with the final four points for a 21-18 Lobo lead through one.

It took until the 8:17 mark of the second quarter before either team could get back on the scoreboard, with Paula Reus making two free throws. The free throws started a 6-0 run with Augmon and McGruder each making layups to create some cushion at 27-18, with the Lobos eventually getting the lead to double digits at 33-23 on a McGruder layup with 2:39 remaining in the second. The Lobos continued to hover around a double-digit lead as the quarter came to a close, capped with a final basket as the clock winded down. With the Lobos ahead 36-26, Augmon drove to the basket, and although she missed the layup, McGruder was there for the rebound and the putback for the 38-26 halftime score.

McGruder went 5-6 in the second quarter, outscoring Air Force single-handedly 10-8, as the Lobo defense held the Falcons to 3-18 (16.7%) shooting. Additionally, UNM outscored Air Force 14-2 in the paint in the quarter.

The Falcons trimmed the lead down to five in the third quarter at 40-35, to which the Lobos answered with a 5-0 run that included an Augmon offensive rebound off of a missed free throw that led to a Cumber three-pointer for a 46-35 Lobo lead with 4:05 left in the quarter. The Falcons rallied late to close the margin to four at 50-46 as the quarter came to a close.

New Mexico scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to extend the lead back to double digits at 56-46, with the Falcons unable to get closer than eight points for the remainder of the contest. After Air Force cut the lead down to eight at 60-52 with 4:19 on the clock, a Brown layup, LaTascya three and McGruder layup pushed the Lobo advantage to the largest point of the game at 15 (67-52), and although the Falcons narrowed it down to nine (67-58), a LaTascya three-pointer with 1:22 left thwarted any notion of a comeback.

McGruder, LaTora and LaTascya all finished with six points in the final quarter with the Lobos shooting 70.0 percent (7-10) compared to 29.4 percent (5-17) in the fourth.

With the win, the Lobos improve to 9-5 on the season, 1-0 in the Mountain West and are now 6-1 all-time in conference openers under Mike Bradbury. Of note, the Lobos are 2-0 when opening conference at home, with both wins coming against Air Force.

Up next: the Lobos face Wyoming (Jan. 5) and Colorado State (Jan. 7) on the road, with both games on the Mountain West Network.

POSTGAME NOTES

• New Mexico took the lead at 12-10 with 5:52 remaining in the first quarter and led for the rest of the game.
• New Mexico went on a 17-4 run over 5:32 of the first quarter to build a seven-point lead.
  • The run included a 10-0 run for the Lobos that spanned 2:41
• New Mexico forced six first-half turnovers, which led to six points off turnovers in the half.
• Air Force began the third quarter with a 9-2 scoring run over the first 4:33 of the third quarter to cut the Lobos’ lead down to five and ended the third quarter with a 6-0 run to cut the Lobos’ lead down to four.
• Second half percentages:
  • The Lobos shot 52.2% (12-23) from the field, going 7-10 in the fourth.
• LaTora Duff recorded a season-high seven rebounds.
• New Mexico went on a 7-0 run over 2:13 of the fourth quarter to build a 15-point lead.
• New Mexico out-scored Air Force in points-in-the-paint 44-26.
• All seven Lobos who played in the game scored at least four points and one field goal.
• The Lobos now lead the series with Air Force 47-4 and 24-1 at home.