Lobos Fall to Broncos in Boise
BOISE, Idaho— A late Lobo run trimmed a 17-point deficit down to four with 3:08 remaining in Thursday’s game at Boise State, but New Mexico couldn’t complete the comeback in the 69-62 final.
Three Lobos finished in double figures, led by LaTascya Duff’s 15 points and was joined by Viané Cumber’s 11 and LaTora Duff’s 10. Thursday was LaTora’s fourth-straight game finishing in double figures, LaTascya’s third in for games and Cumber’s fourth in five games.
As a team, UNM combined for 14 steals, the most the Lobos have tallied in conference play this season. LaTora was credited with a game- and career-high five steals and Amaya Brown and Shaiquel McGruder each recording three apiece, Aniyah Augmon added two steals and LaTascya had one.
Boise State jumped out to the early lead, scoring the first seven points of the game before a LaTascya and-one opportunity got the Lobos on the board. The deficit grew to 11 before UNM chipped away to get within five points at 16-11 with 1:49 remaining in the first, however, BSU scored the final four points of the quarter to push the margin to nine.
The Lobos went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter to take a 15-point gap down to six at 31-25 behind a McGruder layup, a LaTascya three-pointer, a jumper by Paula Reus and a layup for Brown, but again the Broncos answered to extend their lead, taking a 39-28 lead into the break.
Two three-pointers to start the third quarter created the largest deficit at 17, to which the Lobos whittled it down to 10 at the end of the third to set up a chance for a comeback in the fourth. After a Cumber three-pointer with 6:34 remaining in the game made it 62-51, a McGruder layup and an Augmon steal that led to a LaTora jumper in the span of nine seconds closed the gap to seven points. Another Cumber three-pointer with 4:25 to play got the Lobos within two possessions at 66-60 and an Augmon layup off of an offensive board pulled UNM within four at 66-62. However, down the stretch the Lobos missed three three-pointers to prevent the margin from getting any smaller.
With Thursday’s result, the Lobos stand at 14-11 and 6-6 in conference play and remain on the road to play Nevada on Saturday at 1 p.m. PT/ 2 p.m. MT.