Lobos Battle Past Cowgirls Thursday

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— In a game that had 22 lead changes and 14 ties, New Mexico outscored Wyoming 24-15 and went 12-15 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to prevail over the Cowgirls 71-62 on Thursday night.

With the win, the Lobos moved to 16-11 on the season, 8-6 in the Mountain West.

Limited to shooting a season-low six three-pointers in the game, the Lobos aggressively drove to the basket, drawing 25 fouls and went 26-30 at the line (a season high in both attempts and makes), with LaTascya Duff 8-8, LaTora Duff 7-8, Amaya Brown 6-8, Paula Reus 3-4 and Shaiquel McGruder 2-2.

LaTora led the Lobos in scoring with 20 points on 6-8 shooting, while Reus contributed 13 points, eight of which came in the third and fourth quarters and included a jumper as the shot clock expired with 3:35 remaining in the game to give UNM a five-point lead. Brown finished in double figures for the second-straight game with 12 points, eight of which came in the final two quarters. Among the highlights for the Albuquerque native was an offensive rebound and putback with 2:51 left to not only make it a seven-point game at 59-52, but also capped an 8-0 Lobo run over a span of 3:03 that allowed UNM to take the lead for good.

On the defensive end, Viané Cumber grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to lead the Lobos, with UNM outrebounding Wyoming 30-26 on the night and all seven players recording multiple rebounds.

UNM and Wyoming traded baskets to open the game before the Lobos trailed by five (11-6) at the media timeout. Out of the break however, the Lobos used a 4-0 run behind two LaTascya free throws and a Reus jumper to cut the deficit to one and closed the quarter with the final five points on a LaTora floater and a Reus three-pointer to take the 15-13 lead into the second.

The second quarter played out much like the start of the first with the teams trading baskets to create ties at 15, 17 and 19 and had three more ties at 22, 24 and 25 before a Cumber layup with 58 seconds left before half provided the final points and the 27-26 Lobo lead at the break.

At the half, Wyoming held a 17-12 advantage on the boards and while all seven Lobos scored, no player had more than six points. In addition, neither team held a lead larger than five, which Wyoming held at the media timeout in the first quarter.

LaTora opened UNM’s scoring in the third quarter with a three-pointer to give UNM back the lead after Wyoming opened with a three-pointer, setting the stage for more ties and neither team gaining a lead larger than three for the remainder of the quarter. Following a layup by Wyoming with 1:26 remaining in the frame that put the visitors up 47-44, Reus recorded the final points of the quarter, a three-pointer from the top of the arc to tie the game at 47.

The third quarter contained 11 lead changes and four ties with LaTora scoring seven points on perfect 2-2 shooting and 2-2 from the free-throw line and Brown six points with four coming from the free-throw line. Further, the Lobos outrebounded Wyoming 8-3 in the quarter.

Back-to-back baskets by Aniyah Augmon created some separation to start the fourth quarter, but the Cowgirls answered with five points of their own to create another lead change at 52-51. From there, UNM made the aforementioned 8-0 run with LaTora accounting for a fast-break layup, a pair of free throws by LaTascya, a Reus jumper and Brown’s putback. Wyoming twice got the margin to five, but each time LaTora answered for the Lobos to keep the momentum in favor of UNM. Two LaTascya free throws with 37 seconds remaining pushed the advantage to nine and the Lobos continued to convert at the line to prevent the Cowgirls from getting any closer than six down the stretch.

LaTora (seven points) and LaTascya (six points) led the scoring in the fourth quarter with LaTascya going 6-6 from the line, while LaTora also grabbed three rebounds as UNM outrebounded Wyoming 10-6 in the final 10 minutes for an 18-9 rebounding differential in the third and fourth quarters combined.

The Lobos remain at home to host San José State on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT.

POSTGAME NOTES

• New Mexico went on a 9-2 run over the final 4:00 of the first quarter to build a two-point lead.
• The Lobos shot 100% (8-8) from the free throw line in the first and second quarters combined, going 6-6 in the second quarter with Shaiquel McGruder, Amaya Brown and LaTora Duff all going 2-2.
• UNM shot a combined 57.1% in the final 20 minutes (60.0% in the third and 54.5% in the fourth)
• The Lobos didn’t attempt a single three-pointer in the fourth quarter, going 6-11 from the floor and 12-15 at the free-throw line for their 24 points.