Lobo Win Streak Moves to Three Following Win Over Spartans

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos are finding their stride at just the right time and finding different ways to win, defeating San José State 70-61 Saturday for their third-straight win.

Four Lobos finished in double figures, led by a game-high 16 points from Viané Cumber that included four three-pointers, while Amaya Brown recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Saturday was also the third-straight game that Brown has scored double figures. LaTascya Duff and LaTora Duff each finished with 11 points, with LaTora aiding with four assists and LaTascya three and LaTascya credited with two steals and LaTora one.

Shaiquel McGruder had a balanced nine points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks stat line and Paula Reus and Aniyah Augmon scored five each off of the bench.

UNM again had an efficient game at the free-throw line, going 22-26 with LaTascya 8-8 for the line for the second-straight game and Brown 7-8.

The Lobos used an 8-0 run over the span of a minute to take the early 11-2 lead with the lead reaching 10 at 14-4 before the Spartans answered with a run of their own to tie the game at 14 by the media timeout. A corner three-pointer by LaTora put New Mexico back in front with an Augmon steal and layup restoring the three-point lead at 19-16 after SJSU cut it to one. The Spartans took their first lead of the game at 20-19 with 1:05 before Reus closed the quarter scoring with a three-pointer for the 22-20 Lobo advantage.

Cumber had a personal 7-0 run midway through the second quarter to provide some cushion for the Lobos at 34-25 with the margin growing to 11 on a pair of free throws from Brown with 2:17 left in the quarter. The Spartans narrowed the gap to five with under a minute remaining, but three LaTascya free throws gave UNM the 43-35 lead at the break.

The Lobos outscored the Spartans 21-15 in the second, holding a 7-2 advantage in second-chance points and 4-0 in points off turnovers and went 7-7 from the free-throw line. In the first two quarters combined, the Lobos were 12-12 from the line.

SJSU took advantage of some missed UNM shots to go on a 9-0 run to tie the game and take the 48-46 lead with 3:33 to go in the third quarter. The Lobos scored the next four points on layups by LaTora and McGruder, and after a Spartan three-pointer, McGruder converted two free throws with two seconds remaining for the 52-51 Lobo lead at the end of the frame.

A three-pointer by Cumber at the 8:20 mark started the scoring in the fourth quarter, with the next point not coming until 6:41 on a free throw by Brown. The Spartans kept the score within five with 3:06 remaining in the game before a LaTascya three-pointer gave the Lobos the final separation they needed. From there, the Spartans never got closer than six as LaTora, Brown and LaTascya made a pair of free throws that made it 69-57 with 22 seconds remaining. A LaTora free throw with 14 seconds left closed the scoring for the Lobos and the Spartans made their last basket with six seconds left for the final score.

UNM outscored SJSU 18-10 in the final 10 minutes, with four of San José State’s points occurring in the final 15 seconds.

With the win, the Lobos improve to 17-11 on the season and 9-6 in conference play with three MW games remaining.