Lobos Complete Comeback at Fresno State
FRESNO, Calif.— The Lobos trailed 31-9 with 8:26 on the clock in the second quarter of Saturday’s MW contest at Fresno State, but worked their way back, outscoring the Bulldogs 56-30 from that point on for the 65-61 victory.
UNM outscored FS 19-12 in the second quarter, 20-9 in the third and 19-15 in the fourth and led for 3:16 of the contest.
Paris Lauro led the Lobos back with a career-high 18 points on 4-5 shooting from three-point range, with Amhyia Moreland finishing with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, and added five blocks as well, and Alyssa Hargrove rounding out the Lobos in double figures with 10 points to go with a game-high six assists.
UNM assisted on 20 of the 25 baskets with Drew Jordon adding a career-best five to go with a season-high six rebounds, also tying her career high.
The Lobos outscored the Bulldogs 30-16 in the paint, 7-1 in fast-break points, 10-7 in second-chance points and 35-16 in bench points.
A defensive stop on the opening Bulldog possession led to a Hulda Joaquim layup before an 8-0 Fresno State run. A Joaquim basket ended the run before the margin swelled to 18 at 23-5 behind an 11-0 run. UNM trailed 25-7 after the first quarter with Joaquim scoring six of the points and Destinee Hooks with a free throw. UNM shot 3-13 in the quarter and missed all six three-point attempts.
An offensive rebound by Lauro led to an elbow jumper for the sophomore with Fresno State hitting a three on the other end for its largest lead of the game. Lauro matched it with a three to start a 7-0 Lobo run with Joana Magalhães and Jordon making layups to cut the deficit to 31-16. The Lobos continued to cut into the lead with a Moreland and-one and Hargrove layup making it a 12-point game of 36-24 with 3:58 left in the quarter and a Lauro jumper with 2:40 remaining made it a 10-point game at 36-26. FS added a final free throw to close the scoring for either team in the final 2:15 with the Lobos trailing 37-26 at the half.
Lauro led the Lobos with seven points in the second quarter with the Lobos outshooting the Bulldogs 53.3% to 25.0% in the quarter.
A Joaquim layup in transition started the third quarter, cutting the gap down to single digits before the Bulldogs went on a 5-0 run to put the deficit back to double digits at 14. A Viané Cumber three-pointer with 4:42 left in the quarter not only made it a seven-point game at 44-37, but gave the Lobo senior her 239th career three-pointer to tie the program record.
The Cumber three was part of a 12-0 Lobo run over the span of 5:23 to tie the game at 44, and after Fresno State made a pair of free throws to re-take the lead, Lauro banked it off the glass as the quarter came to a close for the 46-46 tie through three.
The Lobos outscored the Bulldogs 20-9 in the third quarter on 57.1% shooting behind six points from Moreland and five from Lauro. It marked the 10th time this season that the Lobos have held an opponent below 10 points in a quarter. The bench outscored FS 13-0 and UNM outscored FS 10-2 in the paint and 4-0 in fast-break points.
Fresno State opened the final quarter with the first five points within the first two minutes, but the Lobos responded with a Lauro three and a Magalhães free throw on consecutive possessions to close within one. The Bulldogs had another 5-0 run to build the margin back to six at 56-50 midway through the fourth with the lead at 57-52 before the Lobos made one final push to complete the comeback. A Hargrove corner three followed by Moreland’s fifth block that led to a Lauro fast-break three with 3:18 left gave UNM its first lead since it was 2-0 Lobos. FS answered with a jumper on its next possession, with the lead changing sides again on the next Lobo possession on a Moreland layup.
A Hargrove layup with 1:32 remaining stretched the lead to three and Cumber made it a five-point game at 64-59 with 18 seconds remaining. FS made a layup with 15 seconds on the clock for its final points and Cumber split a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining for the final points of the contest as a missed Bulldog three-pointer led to a Moreland defensive rebound to secure the win and the double-double for the Lobo.
UNM outshot FS 483% to 25.9% and outrebounded FS 25-17 in the final two quarters with three lead changes and UNM leading for 2:56 of the fourth quarter.
With the win, the Lobos recorded their 10th conference win of the season, the fifth consecutive year doing so and the eighth time under Head Coach Mike Bradbury.
UNM (17-13, 10-7 MW) closes out the MW schedule at home against Air Force on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT.