Lobo women stay perfect
UNM beats UC Irvine to advance to face Illinois in Thanksgiving Tourney finale
Different cards, still a winning hand.
The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team extended its hot start Saturday with an 83-61 victory over UC Irvine at Dreamstyle Arena. The Lobos (6-0) won their second game in as many days in their annual Thanksgiving tournament and will face Illinois (5-2) for the title today at 2:30 p.m.
The Illini defeated Wichita State on Saturday and are also 2-0 in the three-day event.
New Mexico racked up more than 80 points for the fifth time in six games, but it wasn’t up-tempo offense or a monster effort by the starters that carried the Lobos against UC Irvine. This time, UNM dominated the glass (outrebounding the taller Anteaters 51-31), played feisty half-court defense in the second half and capitalized on a wild-card performance.
Freshman Madi Washington came off the bench to score a game-high 21 points in 23 minutes. With starter N’Dea Flye in foul trouble, Washington got extended playing time and provided a major spark.
“It’s nice that we have a lot of capable scorers,” Lobos coach Mike Bradbury said, “because it’s been different people from night to night. You never know who it’s going to be, and today it was Madi. She played well.”
UNM did get big numbers from some of its usual suspects, including Tesha Buck (17 points, six assists, four steals) and Jaisa Nunn, who posted her fourth double-double in five games. Nunn went 7-for-8 from the field and finished with 17 points and a career-best 18 rebounds.
“I was just going for rebounds,” Nunn said. “We felt like they were going to be important against this team, so going to the boards was a real focus.”
UC Irvine (2-4) surprised the Lobos early by packing in its defense in a sagging, half-court zone. That, combined with more than a few careless passes and plenty of foul calls on both teams, made for a sluggish first half.
The score was tied at 15 after a quarter, and UNM led 41-33 at halftime. Cherise Beynon, who suffered through a rare off game, had seven turnovers in the first half and finished with 11. (She also had eight assists.) UNM had 22 giveaways in all.
“We made some poor decisions and were sloppy with the ball,” Bradbury said, “but part of that’s my fault. (Irvine) really packed it in defensively and they hadn’t done that previously, so we kept telling Cherise, ‘Attack the basket, attack the basket’ and put her in some bad spots. Probably half her turnovers are on me.”
The Lobos also forced 12 Irvine turnovers in the second half and steadily pulled away. Alex Lapeyrolerie scored 11 points to help UNM secure its second-best start to a season. The 1996-97 squad started 9-0.
New Mexico now has an opportunity to take home a first-place trophy in its home tournament for the first time since 2008. Bradbury does not expect it to come easily.
In Saturday’s early game, Ali Andrews scored 26 points and Illinois (5-2) held on for a 68-67 win over Wichita State (0-6). Santa Fe High alum Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage had 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals for the Shockers.