Lobos Handle Rams on Road
FORT COLLINS, Colo.— An 8-0 run by the Lobos in the first quarter of Saturday’s game at Colorado State set the tone for New Mexico, with the Lobos leading for 37:06 and only trailed by two points in the contest in the 78-74 win.
Viané Cumber led the Lobos with 25 points (tying her career high) and 11 rebounds for her third double-double and fourth 20-point performance of the season, and became the 27th Lobo to score 1000-career points during the game. Joana Magalhães paced the Lobos early scoring 10 points in the first quarter, finishing with a season-high 20 points for her first 20-point game of the season, and surpassing her previous season high of 16 last game. The freshman also tied her season high with seven rebounds, which she also did last game. Destinee Hooks was the third Lobo to reach double figures with 13 points, while Alyssa Hargrove finished with a career-high nine rebounds, a game-high six assists and a team-high three steals to go with six points. It was the ninth game this season with three or more steals for Hargrove.
UNM shot 40.0% from the floor and made 10 three-pointers in the game with Cumber and Magalhães finishing with three apiece and Hooks with two. The three were a season high for Magalhães and for Cumber, it was her eighth game with three or more three-pointers this season and 32nd time in her career.
The Lobos missed their first five shots before Magalhães’ three got the Lobos on the board and gave them a 3-2 lead and another Magalhães three started an 8-0 run over 1:29 for an 11-4 at the media break at 4:53 with the Lobos already in the bonus. A Hargrove steal and fast-break layup stretched the lead to nine and another run, this time 11-0, on baskets by Hulda Joaquim, two free throws by Cumber, a Cumber three, a Magalhães layup and a layup by Cumber extended UNM’s lead to 18 (26-8) with 20 seconds remaining before CSU made a layup with five seconds left to close the quarter.
UNM led 26-10 at the end of the first behind 10 points from Magalhães and seven from Cumber and the Lobos outscoring the Rams 10-4 in the paint, 4-0 in points off turnovers and 7-0 in fast-break points. CSU led 2-0 and 4-3 for its only leads of the games with the 2-0 lead its largest of the game.
A three by Hooks on UNM’s first possession of the second made it 29-11, but the Rams whittled it down to 11 on a 7-0 run before a Magalhães three ended the run followed by a jumper by Hooks that stretched the lead up to 16 with 5:07 to play. After a Cumber jumper with 3:59 left for the 36-20 Lobo lead, the Rams closed on an 8-2 run with the Lobos taking a 38-28 lead into the break.
Through the first two quarters, UNM had the edge in rebounds (23-19), second-chance points (4-0), points in the paint (12-6) and fast-break points (7-3) as well as in three-pointers (5-2) and forced five Ram turnovers to only having four.
Cumber opened the third quarter with a three to push her into double figures, with the Lobos later building the lead back to 17 at 48-31 behind a 7-1 run that included an and-one from Cumber and two more free throws and a floater from Magalhães. CSU closed within 12 with 6:10 on the clock, but again the Lobos responded to prevent the Rams from getting any closer on a three from Hargrove and a three by Lara Langermann for another 17-point lead of 54-37.
A three-pointer from Cumber with 2:15 left pushed the lead back to 18 while giving her 20 points in the game, and a turnaround jumper with 1:30 remaining in the third pushed her over the 1000-point milestone.
UNM led 60-45 at the end of the third after outshooting CSU 46.7% to 23.1% in the quarter and 13 points from Cumber on 4-5 shooting that included two three-pointers.
A jumper from Hooks with 8:10 left in the game pushed UNM’s lead to 15 at 68-53, but a 9-0 CSU run over a span of 2:34 brought game within six with 4:11 left in the fourth. A Magalhães basket ended the run and a Joaquim layup pushed the margin back to double digits with 3:18 to play. Free throws allowed the Rams to cut the lead down to four with 1:26 remaining with a fast-break layup by Drew Jordon, a free throw by Hargrove and two Cumber free throws extending the lead back to nine with 49 seconds left. It became a free throw contest down the stretch with CSU splitting a pair and Cumber splitting a pair, ending her free throw streak at 55.CSU made two more free throws to close within seven with 36 seconds left and made a three with 13 seconds remaining for the final score.
CSU went 9-10 from the foul line in the fourth quarter compared to 5-9 from UNM with the Rams committing zero turnovers to four for UNM in the final 10 minutes. Between the final two quarters, CSU went 19-22 from the line with UNM 9-14, with the Lobos shooting 43.3% from the floor to 34.4% from CSU.
Cumber scored 16 of her 25 points in the final two quarters and had seven of her 11 rebounds, while Magalhães added seven points and five rebounds in the final two quarters.
Of note, it was UNM’s first win in Fort Collins since Jan. 15, 2022 and UNM’s third win in the last four games against the Rams. Additionally, it was UNM’s fifth win in the last six games this season.
UNM (12-7, 5-1 MW) returns to the road against Utah State on Tuesday before returning home to face Fresno State on Jan. 25.