REDEMPTION
Lobos’ Hurst hits nine 3s and scores 39 in win over OU
A year after being routed by OU, Lobo women earn hoops win over visiting Sooners
You just knew it wouldn’t be easy.
The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team survived a Wednesday night rollercoaster ride and walked away with an 84-80 victory over Oklahoma at Dreamstyle Arena.
Freshman Ahlise Hurst played the starring role for UNM (4-1), hitting nine 3-pointers and scoring 39 points to earn multiple spots in the team record books. Her single-game point total was the highest for a Lobo freshman, eclipsing Yvonne McKinnon’s 35-point outing in 1982.
Hurst, who went 9-for-17 from long range, set a team high for 3-point attempts and fell one make short of Tesha Buck’s single-game record of 10 set last season.
Fittingly, Hurst’s final 3-pointer was one of the biggest baskets of the game. It came with the Lobos nursing a 78-76 lead with a minute remaining and went a long way toward helping UNM secure its first win over Oklahoma since 1995. The Sooners had won six straight in the series.
“It was a big relief,” Hurst said of her key 3-pointer, which came after she’d missed three in a row. “We all needed to see that one go in. It was surreal when it did.”
UNM did not actually secure the back-and-forth game until Aisia Robertson hit two free throws to give her team a fourpoint lead with 9.6 seconds left. An announced crowd of 5,152 got its money’s worth as the Lobos climbed out of an 11-point deficit, built a 16-point lead and then had to scramble after the Sooners pulled to 68-67 midway through the fourth quarter.
Lobo coach Mike Bradbury opted to call a pair of late timeouts to help his team fight off the OU rally.
“I just asked our players, ‘Did you think they were gonna quit?’” Bradbury said of the final timeout discussion. “‘This is Oklahoma. They’re not going to give it to us. We have to go win it.’”
Thanks to a variety of contributors, the Lobos did.
Robertson struggled mightily with her shooting (1 for 13 from the field) but set a single-game program record with 16 assists, including two key ones in the closing minutes.
Jayla Everett played through a second-half ankle injury and scored 13 points. Jaisa Nunn spent most of the night in foul trouble and had a rare cold shooting game but amassed 12 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
UNM also got big sparks from Nike McClure (five points, 10 boards and nine blocks), Antonia Anderson (four points, eight rebounds, three steals) and Jaedyn De La Cerda (six points, two rebounds, two steals).
McClure, a high-energy graduate transfer from Washington State, jumped atop a courtside table after the game to celebrate with fans.
“I love this!” McClure said. “I heard about our team losing by 40 (105-63 actually) to Oklahoma last year, so I was hyped up. I like getting other people hyped up, too.”
UNM struggled to contain Oklahoma’s crisp passing and accurate shooting for most of the first half. Taylor Robertson hit four of her seven 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 23 points, and Madi Williams added 16 points, including a jumper that gave the Sooners a 29-19 second-quarter lead.
Then Hurst caught fire. The Australian import who came into the game 6-for-24 from 3-point range, hit seven in Wednesday’s first half. The last helped UNM take a 41-40 lead to halftime.
“I don’t know what was different,” Hurst said, “except the first couple games here I was really nervous. Tonight I was confident after that first shot went in. That was the biggest crowd I’ve ever been in in my life. Having those people supporting me was incredible.”
Hurst hit another 3 during a 14-0 run that gave UNM a 62-46 lead, but the Sooners (2-4) answered in the fourth quarter to set up the furious finish.
“I was happy to see the clock run out with us ahead,” Bradbury said. “I thought we played pretty good defense most of the night, rebounded well in the second half — and Ahlise’s shots came in handy, too.”