Title hopes take a hit for UNM women

Fresno State scores game’s final 9 points to beat Lobos

FRESNO, Calif. — The UNM women’s basketball team faded at the finish line Saturday and paid a steep price in the Mountain West race.

Fresno State scored the game’s final nine points and snatched a 77-70 victory from the visiting Lobos at the Save Mart Center. The Bulldogs hit 11 3-pointers (UNM made just two), including a go-ahead dagger by Candice White with 1:23 left.

The loss dropped UNM two games behind MWC leader Boise State with five regular-season games remaining. The Broncos (21-3, 12-1) blew out visiting San Diego State on Saturday.

New Mexico (20-4, 10-3 Mountain West) led most of the way and held a 59-49 lead early in the fourth quarter. Jaisa Nunn racked up 22 points and 16 rebounds for the Lobos despite being double- and triple-teamed regularly in the paint.

But UNM was short-handed on the perimeter and unable to hold its own against the guarddriven Bulldogs (16-8, 9-4). Starting guard Ahlise Hurst, who injured an ankle at practice Thursday, started but played just two minutes and did not return for the Lobos.

Fresno State took advantage with five players in double figures. White led the way with 18 points despite 7-for-21 shooting. Aly Gamez and Breanne Knishka combined for 27 points and hit seven 3-pointers.

The Lobos, meanwhile, could not buy a basket from beyond the arc. Jaedyn De La Cerda, who played 30 minutes in Hurst’s absence, went

2 for 5 from long range, but her teammates were a combined 0 for 14. UNM also committed 16 turnovers and scored just six points in the final five minutes, but it was poor defensive execution on late possessions that irked Lobo coach Mike Bradbury.

Nunn’s layup gave the Lobos a 70-68 edge with 1:44 left, and that’s where the trouble began.

“We were supposed to trap on (Fresno State’s) ball screen,” Bradbury said in a postgame phone interview. “We didn’t, and White hit the go-ahead 3. On their next possession we were supposed to switch on the screen, we didn’t and Maddi Utti gets a wide-open layup. Those were two completely missed assignments at terrible times, and we never recovered.”

UNM’s Madi Washington missed a 3-point try after White’s make, and the Lobos turned the ball over after Utti’s layup. New Mexico was then forced to foul, and FSU hit its final four free throws to clinch the win.

Robertson finished with 17 points but was 0 for 9 from 3-point range for UNM.