ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos made two three-pointers on their first three possessions of Wednesday’s game against UNLV and five of their first seven shots and never looked back, ultimately leading for 39:14 in the 68-57 victory.
UNM is now 10-0 when allowing 60 points or less in a game, and of note, the 11-point margin was just the second time UNLV has lost a conference game by double-digit points with the other back in 2021. Wednesday was also the only time this season that the Lady Rebels never held a lead in a game and the fourth game that the Lobos have never trailed in a game this season.
Further, the 11-point margin of victory was the largest against the Lady Rebels since 2020 (16 points) and the largest margin of victory at home in the series since 2016 (14 points).
Joana Magalhães paced the Lobos for the second straight game with 15 points to go with three assists and a steal, and was joined in double figures by Destinee Hooks (13) and Laila Abdurraqib (11), with Abdurraqib making three three-pointers and scoring eight points in the fourth quarter. The freshman scored eight consecutive points for the Lobos to stretch the lead from five to 13 with 3:40 left in the quarter.
UNM held the edge in points off turnovers (12-10), paint points (34-30), bench points (24-14) and second-chance points (10-8) and outrebounded UNLV 34-28, led by a game-high 14 from Jessie Joaquim.
Hooks opened the scoring with a three on UNM’s first possession and Alyssa Hargrove added a corner three for a 6-2 Lobo lead 1:20 in. A three by Cacia Antonio, layup by Magalhães and Hooks’ jumper extended the lead to 13-2 behind a 10-0 run with the Lobos making five of their first seven shots and UNLV going 1-7.
A Lady Rebel three temporarily ended the run, with the Lobos scoring the next seven points to build a 15-point lead with 3:01 remaining before UNLV scored the final four points.
The Lobos shot 50.0% in the first quarter to hold a 20-9 lead, the 11th game holding an opponent below 10 points in a quarter this season and the fifth time in the first quarter.
A Joaquim layup to start the second quarter extended UNM’s lead before UNLV scored six consecutive points to cut it to seven at 22-15. A Drew Jordon basket ended the run with the Lobos leading 24-17 midway through the quarter. The Lady Rebels pulled as close as six before a 7-2 UNM run capped by a Magalhães layup pushed the lead to 11 at 31-20. UNLV got it back down to single digits at seven points with a Jordon layup as time was winding down giving the Lobos a 33-24 lead at the break.
UNM shot 48.3% between the first two quarters with 18 points coming in the paint and Magalhães leading with nine points and Jordon following with six points.
Hooks scored four quick points on a layup and pullup jumper to give the Lobos a 37-24 lead with UNLV answering with four consecutive points to get the margin back down to nine. However, a 6-0 run that included a Hargrove layup, Hooks’ free throw and Abdurraqib three built UNM’s lead back to 15 at 43-28, its largest point since the first quarter. A Jordon layup 1:19 later extended UNM’s lead to 16 at 47-31 before the Lady Rebels used an 8-0 run to cut the margin to eight at 47-39, prompting a Lobo timeout.
A Magalhães layup ended the run to push the lead back to double digits with UNLV cutting the lead in half on a layup with two seconds left. Two free throws by Magalhães to close the quarter gave the Lobos a 51-44 lead at the end of the third.
The lead whittled down to five points three times in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, but each time the Lobos responded to keep the Lady Rebels from closing any further, twice with Antonio providing the basket. A Lady Rebel layup that made it 55-50 with 6:12 left was the closest UNLV would get in the remainder of the quarter as Abdurraqib made a layup and hit consecutive three-pointers to push the lead to 13 at 63-50 with 3:40 left. UNLV scored five points to put the margin back within single digits, but an Antonio offensive rebound and layup followed by a corner three from Hooks with 32 seconds left sealed the victory. UNLV made a final basket with 21 seconds left as UNM dribbled out the final seconds.
Antonio went 3-3 to finish with six points in the fourth to go with Abdurraqib’s eight points and three points from Hooks.
UNM improves to 14-7 (6-4 in MW) with the win and remains at home to host Utah State on Saturday at 1 p.m.