Midgame strategy switch boosts UNM
New Mexico’s move to man-to-man defense helps foil Colorado State
Plan B worked out a lot better than its predecessor for the UNM women’s basketball team Wednesday night.
With visiting Colorado State threatening to shoot them out of Dreamstyle Arena, the Lobos ditched their half-court zone defense in favor of man-to-man. That second-quarter adjustment effectively turned the tide in New Mexico’s 73-62 victory.
Aisia Robertson also played a huge role with a seasonbest 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to help the Lobos (11-8, 2-3 Mountain West) earn their second straight win. After failing to score in Saturday’s win at Air Force, the senior point guard hit five of UNM’s 11 3-pointers and played with an attacking mentality throughout the game.
“Just getting out of my own way,” Robertson said of her breakthrough performance. “The big thing for me is just trusting myself since coming back from (ACL surgery) and getting over the mental hump. I felt like I
did that tonight.”
Ahlise Hurst chipped in 15 points and Jordan Hosey racked up a double-double (13 points, 15 rebounds) for UNM, which outscored CSU (8-9, 2-4) by a 41-29 count in the second half after trailing by a point at halftime.
But neither Lobo coach Mike Bradbury nor his players credited offense for Wednesday’s victory.
“I think the main thing in this game was when we went to man-to-man,” Hurst said. “We had to adjust and everyone seemed to play harder after we switched defenses. The whole momentum changed.”
An announced Pit crowd of 5,306 certainly noticed the difference. Colorado State effectively torched the Lobos’ zone with 3-pointers, swishing 9 of its first 16, most of them on wide-open looks. When Tori Williams, who led the Rams with 17 points, buried a 3 to give CSU a 31-23 midway through the second quarter, Bradbury had seen enough.
“They punched us in the face early,” he said of the Rams’ hot shooters. “They were shooting us out of the gym and our effort level was not where it needed to be in the zone. We went man and it made a big difference, obviously.”
Suddenly those open 3-pointers weren’t as plentiful for the Rams, who went 2 for 12 the rest of the way. Robertson’s steal and breakaway layup in the closing seconds of the first half trimmed CSU’s lead to 33-32 at halftime.
Then it was the home team’s turn to heat up.
The Lobos’ first six baskets of the third quarter were 3-pointers — two apiece by Hurst and Antonia Anderson, one by Robertson, and Hosey’s first with UNM. The sizzling shooting ignited a 24-7 run that pumped up the crowd and gave New Mexico a 56-40 lead.
“I think our team just got tired of the third quarter being our poison,” Robertson said. “Tonight we didn’t even talk about it in the locker room. We just came playing really hard and things worked out for us.”
CSU got its scoring touch back in the fourth quarter, trimming UNM’s lead to seven points on several occasions. But Hosey answered with three baskets in the paint and Robertson’s fifth 3-pointer of the game effectively put the victory on ice.
Hosey more than held her own against CSU’s leading scorer, Annie Brady, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Brady set a school record with 23 boards Saturday against San Jose State.
“Jordan was really good,” Bradbury said, “really good. Brady is one of the better post players she’ll face and did a really nice job.”
UNM finished with a 46-33 rebound advantage.