Bulldogs give Lobos knockout blow late
UNM women settle for split of series with FSU
After seven quarters of exchanging punches with Fresno State, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team stopped trading in Saturday’s fourth quarter.
The result was what one might expect.
Fresno State rocked the Lobos with a 22-2 run and went on to a 91-69 victory at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas. UNM coach Mike Bradbury had no trouble summing it up.
“I guess we got knocked out,” he said in a postgame phone interview. “Fresno State kept us out of the middle and that affected us, but they also hit every shot and we couldn’t hit any — especially in the fourth quarter.”
Haley Cavinder scored 21 points for the Bulldogs (9-6, 7-3 Mountain West), who shot a sizzling 57% from the field. The Lobos (7-2, 4-2) shot just 39% and finished a glacial 7-for-34 from 3-point range despite getting numerous open looks against FSU’s zone defense.
The Lobos came into Saturday with the league lead by percentage points, but lost it with the defeat.
UNM’s offense fizzled down the stretch, and Bradbury said his team’s typical swagger was missing.
“I called a timeout late in the third quarter and it was a three-point game,” he said. “We were right there but something was just off and you could feel it. Then we started turning the ball over and, when you’re playing a team like Fresno State, that’s not good.”
Shaiquel McGruder scored 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting for the Lobos, who defeated the Bulldogs, 82-80, in Thursday’s back-and-forth opener of the two-game series. Saturday’s rematch followed a similar track for most of the first three quarters.
FSU led 21-20 after a first quarter that included five lead changes and a pair of 3-pointers by each side. But things started trending the Bulldogs’ way in the second when Bree Delaney banked in a 3-pointer to spark a 17-9 run. Delaney came off the bench to hit 4-of-5 from long range and scored 19 points.
UNM finished the half with a 7-2 burst and trailed 40-36 afer Jaedyn De La Cerda hit a step-back 3-pointer
at the buzzer.
The Lobos continued to chip away in the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 56-55 on a McGruder fast-break layup with 3:41 left. UNM had opportunities to take the lead on its next two possessions but turned the ball over each time.
It proved to be the beginning of the end for New Mexico, which had just two turnovers in the first half but finished with 13, leading to 21 Fresno State points.
Autumn Watts’ layup early in the fourth quarter helped UNM close to 65-59, but back-to-back layups by Cavinder ignited the 22-2 surge that prompted both coaches to empty their respective benches.
“We really couldn’t get stops for most of the game,” Bradbury said, “so once our offense started breaking down, it was over.”
De La Cerda finshed with 14 points for UNM but struggled through a 6-for-22 shooting performance. Fresno State went 12-for-17 from the foul line, while UNM was just 2-for-3.
The Lobos boarded a bus to return to Albuquerque after the game.