STILL ALIVE
Nunn scores 28 points in UNM’s rout of Rice in WNIT
The UNM women’s basketball team routs Rice to advance to the WNIT Round of 16
Tuesday night’s WNIT game at Dreamstyle Arena turned into a landmark occasion for the UNM women’s basketball team.
The Lobos piled up a ridiculous number of team and individual standards on their way to a 93-73 victory over Rice. UNM’s 93 points and 15 steals set team records for a postseason game and earned the Lobos a spot in the WNIT Round of 16.
New Mexico will host former Mountain West rival TCU on Thursday at the Pit — a prospect that brought a smile to Lobo coach Mike Bradbury.
“I feel great about it,” Bradbury said. “Any time you can play in front of these fans it’s a privilege. We doubled our crowd from (Thursday’s first-round win over Saint Mary’s) and this was as loud as it’s been here all year. Hopefully, we can double it again Thursday.”
Tuesday’s attendance was announced at 3,302, less than UNM’s average regular-season home crowd of 5,124 but the noise was at postseason levels.
“Teams we play don’t get crowds like this,” UNM’s Jaisa Nunn said. “When they hear how loud our fans are, it’s a shock to them. I think it’s very intimidating and we definitely feed off it.”
The Lobos (25-10) had more than enough energy against the Owls (2310) and it translated into big offensive numbers. Nunn led the way with 28 points and eight rebounds, followed
by Cherise Beynon (20 points), Tesha Buck (18) and Madi Washington (11).
The performances came along with some impressive individual milestones:
Nunn eclipsed 1,000 points for her career. The junior hit two free throws late in the first half to become the 22nd member of UNM’s 1,000-point club.
“I had no idea,” Nunn said. “We went in the locker room and people were looking at their phones and said, ‘Hey, you got your thousandth point.’ That was kind of cool.”
Buck surpassed 500 points for the season, hitting the number on her 100th 3-pointer, a single-season program record.
Beynon, who along with Nunn previously surpassed 500 points for the season, set a career high with seven steals. UNM had never had two 500-point scorers in a single season previously.
“The way we played tonight is a fun style,” Beynon said. “We’ve been trying to get back to our pace, really pushing ourselves in practice. I think it carried over.”
UNM’s success started on the defensive end. The Lobos forced 22 Rice turnovers and piled up a 26-4 advantage in points off takeaways.
“We knew we had to turn them over and the kids really stuck to the game plan,” Bradbury said. “That got us into transition and we basically made a lot of layups.”
Rice led for more than six minutes of the first quarter but UNM used a 21-3 run to assume control. Washington started it with back-to-back 3-pointers, and Nunn finished the surge with a post basket that made the score 34-17 with 4:53 left in the second quarter.
The Lobos led 41-25 at halftime and managed to avoid one of the third-quarter lapses that have often plagued them this season. Beynon scored on consecutive lead passes from Washington, Laneah Bryan banked in a driving shot while being fouled, and the lead grew to 69-51 by quarter’s end and was as large as 25 points in the fourth. The Lobos set another team postseason mark by shooting 56.7 percent from the field.
UNM never did manage to slow down Rice’s Erica Ogwumike, who finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds. But she was the only Owls player to score in double-figures.
“It was not the plan for (Ogwumike) to go for 31 and 10,” Bradbury said, “but she’s outstanding. We’re not the only ones she’s done that to.”