Lobo hoops turmoil
Defense, bench lift UNM; Colorado State is looming
UNM coach Weir to be evaluated at season’s end, athletic director says
Similar theme without the fireworks. The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team used a dominant second half Friday to rally for a 65-48 victory over host San Diego State. Sound familiar? It should. Just as they did in Wednesday’s opener of the two-game series at Viejas Arena, the Lobos struggled to score early, trailed at halftime and turned things around entirely in the final 20 minutes. UNM (9-2, 6-2 Mountain West) swept the set and set up a showdown series next week at MWC-leading Colorado State (13-2, 9-2).
Ahlise Hurst finished with 13 points and six assists to pace New Mexico.
Unlike Wednesday, when the Lobos used red-hot shooting to put away San Diego State (5-12, 3-8), coach Mike Bradbury’s team used defense and solid bench contributions to turn the tide Friday.
The Aztecs led 27-23 after an ugly first half in which the Lobos had more turnovers (11) than field goals (eight).
“Brutal,” Bradbury said of the first two quarters. “We couldn’t make shots, and half the time we didn’t even get a shot because we kept throwing the ball away.”
Adding to UNM’s woes, starting forwards Shaiquel McGruder and Antonia Anderson spent much of the half on the bench in foul trouble. SDSU led 25-15 after Anderson fouled Mallory Adams on a 3-point attempt, and she hit all three foul shots with 4:52 left in the first half.
A silver lining was the solid minutes UNM received from reserves Autumn Watts and Kath van Bennekom, who helped the Lobos trim the deficit to 27-23 by halftime. Watts ended up with six points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes, while van Bennekom contributed seven boards and an assist in seven minutes.
The Lobos, who scored 36 points in Wednesday’s third quarter, did not exactly catch fire in Friday’s. Instead, UNM clamped down on defense and turned things around more gradually.
McGruder and Jaedyn De La Cerda hit 3-pointers during a 13-2 New Mexico run early in the quarter, and Anderson’s put
back in the closing seconds gave the visitors a 45-36 lead. UNM outscored SDSU 22-9 in the third.
“We had really good ball pressure in the second half,” said Corina Carter, who sparked the Lobos with five points and three assists in the second half. “In the first half we were slow and sloppy, and that carried over to the offense.”
Carter and Hurst hit consecutive 3s in the fourth quarter as UNM steadily pulled away. Anderson finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, McGruder scored 11 points, and De La Cerda had 10 for the Lobos. Adams scored a game-high 16 points for SDSU.
Bradbury was pleased with his team’s second-half performance, but credited his bench for setting up the comeback win.
“I felt like Autumn, Kath and Corina were our MVPs in this game,” Bradbury said. “They played meaningful minutes, gave us great energy and made plays. That was the highlight for me.”