PROVO, Utah— Keiara Curtis scored a season-high 17 points with Laila Abdurraqib finishing in double figures for the fourth time this season at 10 points as the Lobos lost to BYU 82-65 on Saturday.
Abdurraqib and Gracie Kelsey led the team with four rebounds while Abdurraqib led with a season-high three steals, tying her career high, and a career-high six assists.
Drew Jordon finished with nine points on 3-4 shooting with Maya Thompson finishing with five points, three assists and a steal.
BYU scored the first four points of the game before Katie Duncan’s three-pointer 1:33 in to pull within one. However, the Cougars went on a 9-0 run to take a 13-3 lead midway into the opening quarter with the margin reaching 13 with 1:30 left before a Duncan three-pointer and Thompson layup closed the quarter with the Lobos trailing 20-12.
The Lobos whittled the deficit down to six at 23-17 on a Kelsey three-point play and a Kelsey basket off of a Savannah Stricker steal 1:26 into the second quarter, but BYU built the margin back to 13. Curtis closed the half with a jumper and a layup, and while it looked like a last-second floater from Valerie Norwood was going to cut the halftime score to six, it was waived off after review for the 37-29 score.
Thompson split a pair of free throws to open the third quarter before BYU used a 7-0 run to take a 44-30 lead less than three minutes in. The margin grew to 20 points with 2:09 to play before the Lobos went on an 8-0 run to close the quarter, starting with a Curtis jumper, a Curtis steal that led to a layup by Kate Wernli, an Abdurraqib steal that led to a Curtis layup and a Thompson layup in the final seconds, with the Lobos trailing 58-46.
Curtis scored eight points in the third on 4-4 shooting.
The run continued on a Wernli three-pointer on the first possession of the fourth quarter, which was the closest UNM got in the final frame as BYU used a 9-2 run to go ahead by 16 with 6:28 remaining. Two Jordon free throws pulled UNM within 10 at 69-59 with four minutes to play before BYU went on a 9-0 run to put the game away.
UNM (1-3) returns home to host Colorado on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 pm followed by New Mexico State on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 1pm.