Lobo Season Concludes in MW Quarterfinal
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Lobos couldn’t sustain a strong first quarter against San Diego State on Monday in the Mountain West quarterfinal, faltering in the third quarter and unable to make up ground in the fourth in a 63-53 loss.
Joana Magalhães was the only Lobo to reach double figures with 10 points, with Alyssa Hargrove finishing with nine. Magalhães and Hargrove each finished with four steals to lead all players with UNM finishing with 10 steals as a team.
The Lobos were in control early, as a Magalhães three opened the scoring with a Hulda Joaquim layup making it 5-2 Lobos. Another Magalhães three from the top of the key made it 8-2, but an Aztec run tied the game at 10. An Amhyia Moreland basket out of the media timeout put the Lobos back in front, starting a 5-0 run with UNM maintaining the lead through the first quarter.
UNM led 20-15 at the end of the first behind two three-pointers and two steals from Magalhães in the first quarter with UNM shooting 53.3% from the floor and Alyssa Hargrove with one steal.
The Lobos continued to stay in front, leading 26-18 on a Destinee Hooks layup with 6:29 in the second quarter, but the Aztecs answered to pull within one at 26-25 before a Hargrove three gave UNM some room. SDSU took a 32-31 lead with 2:23 left in the quarter, with the score tied at 33 at the break following a Hargrove layup with 39 seconds left.
Through the first two quarters, the Lobos shot 51.9% from the floor and 40.0% from three-point range with Magalhães leading all scorers with 10 points and two three-pointers. Hargrove scored seven points with three assists and both Magalhães and Hargrove led with two steals each.
The score held until a SDSU layup at the 7:36 mark, with the Aztecs scoring the first 12 points of the quarter. A Drew Jordon layup with 3:06 left in the quarter put the Lobos on the board in the quarter, but the Aztecs used a 6-1 run to pull ahead by 15 points at 51-36. A Joaquim layup closed the quarter with 49 seconds left for the 51-38 score at the end of the third.
New Mexico shot 16.7% in the quarter, scoring five points.
An Aztec three to open the fourth stretched the margin to 16 points, but UNM used a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter over a span of 2:54 to pull within nine with 5:13. However, the Lobos couldn’t pull any closer than nine for the remainder of the contest.
UNM closed the season 18-14 and lose Amhyia Moreland, Hulda Joaquim and Viané Cumber to graduation.