Lobos Pick Up Road Win at San Diego State Saturday
SAN DIEGO, Calif.— The Lobos remain unbeaten in conference playing following a decisive win at San Diego State on Saturday, leading for 36:07 and with three players finishing in double figures in a 68-59 win. Destinee Hooks led all scorers with 18 points, scoring nine points in each half, while Viané Cumber and Alyssa Hargrove finished with 12 points each after Hargrove went 2-3 from three and Cumber went 6-6 from the free-throw line.
Saturday’s game was the fifth time that Hooks, Cumber and Hargrove have all scored in double figures in the same game as well as the 16th game Cumber has reached double figures, the 14th time for Hooks and the eighth for Hargrove. Hooks has also now led the team in scoring in eight games, including with 18 points in the last two games.
Cumber also led the Lobos with a game-high eight rebounds, with Cumber and Hargrove leading the Lobos in steals with three each. UNM finished with 11 steals as a team, with Hulda Joaquim and Joana Magalhães adding two apiece with Hooks finishing with one. It marked the eighth game this season with 10 or more steals and the third time in the last four games finishing with double-digit steals.
Of UNM’s 68 points, 42 came in the paint, with the Lobos also shooting 44.1% and went 12-14 from the line. The Lobos had the overall edge in points in the paint (42-24), points off turnovers (16-9), second-chance points (13-5), fast-break (6-0), bench points (27-22), steals (11-3), free throw percentage and field goal percentage. SDSU’s three steals were a season low. In addition, the Lobos scored 10 more points than what SDSU’s opponents were averaging entering the game and the Lobo defense held the Aztecs to 12 points fewer than their points per game average entering the game and their two leading scorers below 10 points in the game.
The Aztecs opened the scoring with the first four points as UNM missed its first six shots. Joaquim put the Lobos on the board with a layup off a feed from Magalhães at the 7:09 mark with the Lobos proceeding to go on a pivotal 8-0 run over 1:03 while holding SDSU 4:17 without a point to take an 8-4 lead into the first media timeout at 4:24. The Aztecs closed within a point twice out of the media break, although four consecutive points from Hargrove not only closed the quarter but provided the needed separation.
UNM led 14-9 at the end of the first with Joaquim and Hargrove pacing the Lobos with four points, three rebounds and two steals each. It was the eighth time this season holding an opponent below 10 points in a quarter this season, the first time occurring in the first quarter.
SDSU pulled within two at 18-16 at the 6:37 point of the second quarter, but a jumper by Hooks put it back to a two-possession game. After the Aztecs again got within two, Hooks made it a two-possession game on a three-pointer. An offensive rebound and jumper from Paris Lauro stretched UNM’s lead to seven at 25-18 with 3:50 left in the second and after SDSU cut it to one, a Lauro three provided the final points of the quarter with UNM leading 28-24 at the half.
Through the first two quarters, UNM led in points off turnovers (11-2), paint points (18-8), 2nd-chance points (7-3), points off the bench (14-10) & steals (8-1).
UNM led for the entire second quarter and Hooks led all scorers with nine points at the break.
Starting the third with the ball, UNM extended the lead with a Lara Langermann basket and after a defensive stop, Cumber added to it with a jumper. Langermann’s second basket of the quarter stretched the lead to double digits for the first time in the game at 10. A Hargrove three made it 40-29 with the Lobos outscoring SDSU 14-7 in the first four minutes of the quarter, and UNM led had its largest lead of the game at 13 (46-33) on a layup from Hooks that put the Lobo in double figures with 4:16 remaining in the quarter. An Amhyia Moreland layup on an assist from Hooks restored UNM’s 13-point lead at 53-40 before SDSU closed with the final five points of the quarter as UNM led 53-45 after the third.
SDSU’s run continued at the start of the fourth on a three-pointer that narrowed the margin to five, but two free throws by Cumber and a Moreland layup pushed the lead back to nine with 6:59 on the clock. The Aztecs got as close as six points (59-53) 46 seconds later, but layups by Hargrove and Magalhães on consecutive Lobo possessions kept the home team from pulling any closer. Two free throws by Cumber (1:58), a free throw by Magalhães (1:26) and two from Hooks (36 seconds) closed the scoring for the Lobos down the stretch and secured the win as the Aztecs were unable to cut the margin to any smaller than seven in the final 2:42.
Cumber closed the game with four points, four rebounds and a steal in the fourth quarter, with all four points coming from the free throw line. As a team, UNM went 7-8 in the fourth quarter from the line and 10-11 in the final two quarters.
UNM led for the entire third and fourth quarters, outscoring the Aztecs 40-35 in the final 20 minutes behind 53.8% shooting. Further, UNM is now 9-1 when leading at the half and 10-2 when leading after three, and have led after the first, second and third in all three Mountain West games. In addition, UNM has led for over 34 minutes in all three MW games and hasn’t trailed by more than four.
The Lobos improve to 10-6, 3-0 in the Mountain West with the win and return home for their next two games against Wyoming (Wednesday at 7 p.m.) and UNLV (Sunday at 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network).