Long, strange journey ends with MWC title
New Mexican, Roswell native Jaedyn De La Cerda. A senior, she has been an irreplaceable cog in a roster deep with talent and long in the intangibles.
Hampered with a tendon injury in the thumb of her right hand, she managed to cut her portion of the net using her opposite hand. With the MWC trophy wrapped under one arm, she waved that string around as she spoke about her team’s journey.
“It’s just been us versus everybody else,” De La Cerda said. “It’s just feels amazing to finally come out with what we deserve.”
UNM needed a sweep of Colorado State to make history as the program’s first outright regular-season conference champion. The Lobos had tied for the top spot twice and have had their fair share of success in the conference tournament, but winning it against all odds in a pandemic-influenced season makes this accomplishment one of for the memoirs.
“A regular-season championship, in most coaches’ eyes, is the hardest thing to get,” said Lobos coach Mike Bradbury. “You know, a lot of people can get hot and win three or four games, but to do it over the long haul is something that coaches and players know really cherish.”
Bradbury drew an analogy where the best team in the country could face a 20-game conference season, playing half the games on the road. In a great year, a team can expect to defend its home court and split the road games.
For the Lobos until this week, every game was on the road. What’s more, the team wasn’t allowed to go home to practice or spend a week in their own beds.
“I think in a weird way it might have helped us,” Bradbury said. “Our team was more connected to each other this year than it’s ever been. We played hard, we played together. We kind of found our identity early that we were going to bomb a bunch of 3s and play really fast. We kind of hung our hat on that and the kids worked really hard. In a weird way, even though it was really difficult, from a team bonding standpoint it helped us.”
The Lobos did get a scare Friday. After leading Thursday’s opener against the Rams from start to finish, they let a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter evaporate as CSU battled back to tie it on a layup by Cali Clark with five minutes left.
UNM responded with buckets by LaTora Duff, Ahlise Hurst and Antonia Anderson to kickstart an 11-2 run to end it. The Lobos had weathered the storm and iced it in the final minute with free throws and defensive stops.
As the buzzer sounded, the players on the bench raced onto the floor and celebrated near the giant Lobo logo painted into the floor of Bob King Court. Within moments, the MWC trophy was hoisted overhead and UNM’s game management personnel had placed a ladder under the rim. One by one, each player took a turn cutting down the net as associate athletic director Dave Williams stood underneath to offer a tutorial on how it’s done.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in for anybody,” Hurst said. “It’s just a blessing we were able to be in this position after everything we went through this season. It’s been a crazy year.”
Hurst dropped in five 3-pointers, making each of her first four tries from beyond the arc. She had a game-high 21 points while Shaiquel McGruder had a monster night on the boards, grabbing 15 rebounds.
The Lobos head to Las Vegas, Nev., as the top overall seed and a bye into Monday’s quarterfinals. They await the winner of Sunday’s Air Force-San Diego State play-in game.