Lobos Win Fifth Straight Behind Four in Double Figures
SAN JOSE, Calif.— The Lobos had balanced scoring with four in double figures for the third consecutive game and led for 38:31 in the 65-54 win at San José State to improve the win streak to five games.
Nyah Wilson led with a game-high 14 points, with 11 points occurring in the second half, with three finishing with 13 points in Aniyah Augmon, Viané Cumber and Lara Langermann. It was a season-high for Langermann and the ninth consecutive game in double figures for Wilson and Augmon. Wilson has now led the team in scoring in the last three games, five of the last six and in six conference games.
In addition, Cumber led with a team-high right rebounds and Augmon led with a game-high six assists. Paula Reus finished with nine points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, her fifth game this season with multiple steals and the seventh consecutive game with at least one steal.
Augmon set the tempo early, scoring seven of UNM’s first 10 points, as the Lobos used an 11-0 run to lead 18-8 with Augmon scoring six points and Langermann five points in the run. The Lobos led 18-12 at the end of the quarter with Augmon already in double figures with 10 points and the Lobos shooting 50.0% from the field.
The lead grew to 12 on consecutive three-pointers by Langermann and Cumber to start the second and again reached 12 at 29-17 on a Cumber and-one before SJSU closed to within three at 31-28, with the halftime score at 32-28. Cumber scored eight points in the second on 3-3 shooting, while Langermann also had eight points at the break on 3-3 shooting.
UNM scored the first eight points out of the half on a Wilson jumper and back-to-back three-pointers by Reus and Cumber that pushed Cumber into double figures and the lead back up to 12, with Augmon expanding the lead to 13 (43-30) less than four minutes into the quarter on a free throw. After the Spartans whittled it down to eight with a minute remaining in the quarter, Langermann restored the double-digit margin with two free throws that gave her a season-high 10 points and the fourth Lobo to reach double figures. Two SJSU free throws closed the quarter with the Lobos holding an eight-point lead of 50-42.
Much like the third quarter, the Lobos started the fourth on a 7-0 run that included consecutive Wilson layups and a Langermann three to stretch the lead to 15, with the lead growing to its largest margin of 17 (63-46) on a Reus three-pointer with 2:13 remaining in the game and again on two Cumber free throws with 40 seconds left. The Spartans closed with the final six points for the final score.
UNM outscored SJSU 33-26 in the final two quarters and led for the entirety of the 20 minutes. In addition, the Lobos 65 points and 42.4% shooting continued two trends for the Lobos, with UNM 15-0 this season when scoring 60 or more points and 9-0 when shooting 40% or better. UNM has shot 40.0% or better in all five games during the five-game streak.
With the win, the Lobos improve to 16-6 on the season, 7-2 in the Mountain West ahead of Saturday’s matchup with UNLV.