LOBOS 7-0
The UNM women’s basketball team romps past Illinois in the Pit
The number 3 was a recurring theme in Sunday’s basketball game at Dreams tyle Arena.
The University of New Mexico women’s team positively rained 3-pointers in a jaw-dropping 97-68 victory over Illinois before an announced turnout of 4,663. The Lobos nailed a school-record 18 treys while improving their record to 7-0.
One might say UNM went back for a third helping at its annual Thanksgiving tournament. The host team won three times in as many days to secure its first championship in the event since 2008. Not enough 3s for you? Lobo freshman N’Dea Flye, who sports No. 3 on her uniform, went off for a career-best 12 points, five assists and two steals after scoring five points combined in UNM’s previous two tournament games.
UNM also placed three players on the all-tournament team: Jaisa Nunn, Alex Lapeyrolerie and MVP Tesha Buck. Lapeyrolerie and Buck led the 3-point barrage, netting six and five from long range, respectively.
As a group, the Lobos went 18-of-33 from beyond the 3-point arc and torched the previous program high of 15 3s set against BYU in 1996 and tied against Tennessee State in 2003.
“That’s crazy,” Buck said of her team’s long-range shooting. “Eighteen 3s doesn’t happen often anywhere, but a lot of it today was the fans. We hit some shots, they got into it and we just started feeding off them and feeding off each other.”
Lobos coach Mike Bradbury
agreed.
“Tesha and Alex hit some big ones, and it got contagious,” he said. “I’ve seen it get contagious the other way, when nobody’s hitting, but today it felt like we made all of them.”
What made Sunday’s romp all the more remarkable was the way it started. Illinois (5-3) used its superior height and a crisp half-court offense to take a 19-13 lead after one quarter. The Illini even had a 3-2 lead in 3-pointers after 10 minutes.
“We played most of the first half at their tempo,” Bradbury said, “which was not going to work. Illinois is so precise in the things they do, if you let them run their stuff you’ve got no chance to beat them.”
The Lobos broke that rhythm with a trapping, half-court defense that turned the momentum and ignited the crowd. Illinois began turning the ball over, and UNM started to find its shooting touch. Buck swished three of the Lobos’ six 3-pointers in the second quarter, including one from roughly 28 feet, and the home team rallied to take a 34-29 halftime lead.
The Illini’s defense was focused on stopping Nunn inside, and the junior did not score in the first half. But that success came at a price.
“They were just pounding Jaisa inside,” said Buck, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “They ended up leaving us wide open.”
Buck and Flye opened the third quarter by hitting 3s and suddenly the Lobos were off to the races. Flye’s 3-pointer sparked an 11-0 run that gave UNM a 48-32 lead, and Illinois never got closer than a 13-point deficit the rest of the way.
New Mexico poured in 30 points in the third quarter, 33 more in the fourth and led by as many as 35 before both teams emptied their benches. The crowd spent much of the second half standing and loudly applauded the Lobos at game’s end.
Lapeyrolerie matched career highs with 20 points and six 3-pointers as all five UNM starters scored in double figures. Cherise Beynon collected 12 points, eight assists and four steals, while Nunn heated up in the second half to narrowly miss a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Brandi Beasley, who made the alltournament team along with Wichita State’s Rangie Bessard, led the Illini with 15 points.
The victory was No. 200 overall for Bradbury, who is 22-15 in his second season at UNM. It also extended the second-best start in New Mexico’s program history, trailing only a 9-0 start in 1996-97.
“Well, it’s a good start,” Bradbury said with a smile. “At this point, we couldn’t be any better than 7-0 so we have to be happy with that — and we are.”
UNM will play its first road games of the season at UTEP and New Mexico State this week.