Lobos Fall to Aztecs
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— San Diego State got out to a 12-0 lead in Saturday’s game and although the Lobos clawed back to within one at the end of the third, were unable to take a lead in the 59-46 loss.
UNM struggled from three-point range, making three of 29 attempts and shot 22.7% in the game on 15 shots.
Nayli Padilla and Hulda Joaquim both reached double figures with Padilla scoring a team- and season-high 12 points that included two three-pointers to go with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals and Joaquim scored 10 points with a team-high eight rebounds and a block.
Alyssa Hargrove registered two steals and three blocks, tying her career high in blocks and her 13th game with multiple steals. The Lobos finished with nine steals and five blocks, with four players finishing with two steals (Destinee Hooks, Hargrove, Padilla and Joana Magalhães) with Viané Cumber adding one steal.
UNM missed its first eight shot attempts while SDSU made its first three and proceeded to jump out to a 12-0 lead before Hargrove hit a pair of free throws to get the Lobos on the board at the 5:21 mark. A Padilla three-pointer closed the gap to seven at 17-10 with the Lobos trailing 19-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Padilla had half of UNM’s points in the quarter with Joaquim and Hargrove accounting for two and Hooks for one point.
After the Aztecs pushed the deficit to 12 with 4:07 remaining in the second quarter, the Lobos closed with an 8-2 run on an Amhyia Moreland jumper, a Padilla three and a Cumber three to whittle the margin to six at 30-24.
Padilla added seven points in the second quarter with the bench scoring nine points and UNM scoring five points off turnovers.
A 6-0 Lobo run in the third quarter on a Joaquim fast-break layup and four consecutive points from Cumber closed the deficit to two at 35-33 with 6:48 to play, however, the Aztecs made two free throws on the other end to extend the lead. UNM scored the final five points of the quarter to pull within one at 42-41, ending with a layup from Hooks in the final second.
UNM outscored SDSU 17-12 in the quarter and shot 38.9% from the floor with Joaquim scoring six and Cumber five points to pace the Lobos. Of UNM’s 17 points, 12 came in the paint and UNM had a 7-0 edge in fast-break points.
A three-pointer by the Aztecs opened the final quarter, with SDSU going on a 9-0 run in the first 2:14 to push the deficit to 10. The Lobos were unable to recover from the run, ultimately scoring five points in the quarter with Hooks accounting for four and Joaquim one and went 1-12 from the floor and 0-7 from three in the quarter.
UNM (13-10, 6-4 MW) remain at home to host Colorado State on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. with the game televised on FS1.