BOULDER, Colo.— Destinee Hooks finished with a game-high 22 points and the Lobos made nine three-pointers, but fell to Colorado 84-59 on Thursday night.
UNM was within a point at the half, with the Buffaloes leading 33-32, but CU took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Lobos 33-16 to pull away. There were 10 lead changes and two ties in the game with UNM leading for 8:03.
Hooks led the Lobos in points with 22, the seventh time scoring 20-plus points as a Lobo, and in rebounds (seven), while Alyssa Hargrove led with three assists and six different Lobos registered a steal. Laila Abdurraqib led the team off the bench with nine points, which included two three-pointers and accounted for half of UNM’s bench points.
Colorado scored the first six points of the game, but three-pointers from Hooks and Clarissa Craig tied the game. Two free throws by Craig and a basket by Joana Magalhães continued the Lobo run for the 10-6 UNM lead. CU answered with an 12-0 run to take an 18-10 lead before a layup by Magalhães as the quarter came to a close ended the run for the 18-12 score.
A personal 7-0 run by Hooks to start the second put the Lobos in front by one 2:03 into the quarter, with the Buffaloes making a basket to go back in front. However, a Kaia Foster three-pointer changed the lead again with Hooks stretching the lead to five at 25-20 on another three-pointer.
UNM led by four at 27-23 midway through the quarter on a Tyler Jones fast-break layup, but a 5-0 CU run put the Buffaloes back in front. The lead alternated on the next two possessions with a Nayli Padilla three putting the Lobos in front 32-31 with 1:40 remaining. A final CU jumper with 42 seconds left created another lead change for the score at the half.
In total, there were eight lead changes in the second quarter with UNM leading for 4:43 of it. UNM went 8-12 from the floor and 4-6 from behind the arc to outscore CU 20-15 in the quarter with Hooks scoring 12 points.
Closed to within one at the half, trailing 33-32 after outscoring CU 20-15 in the second quarter.
Unlike the first quarter, the first points of the third quarter came 1:42 into the quarter on an and-one for Colorado, and for UNM, an Abdurraquib three-pointer less than two minutes into the quarter made it a one-point game at 36-35 Colorado. However, it was the closest the Lobos would get in the quarter as the Buffaloes stretched the lead to 19 with 42 seconds left in the third. A Padilla three and Colorado jumper closed the final 42 seconds for a 66-48 Buffaloes lead.
Colorado continued to build on its lead in the fourth, outscoring UNM 18-11 for the 84-59 final.
UNM returns home to face North Carolina A&T on Sunday at 1 p.m. on the Mountain West Network.