Lobos look to have more long-range success

UNM women go for sweep of Aztecs

Living by the 3-pointer is considerably easier than living without.

The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team rediscovered its shooting touch Wednesday night, and the Lobos hope the hot streak continues in Friday’s finale of a two-game series at San Diego State.

UNM (8-2, 5-2 Mountain West Conference) filled it up from long range in the second half of Wednesday’s 84-48 win over the Aztecs (5-11, 3-7) at Viejas Arena, hitting 11-of-15 from 3-point range to turn a tight game into a rout. It ended an extended run of chilly perimeter shooting during which the Lobos looked to find alternative ways to score.

Prior to Wednesday’s secondhalf barrage, New Mexico had gone 42-for-173 from 3-point range over a span of 5½ games, just a 24.2% success rate. To their credit, the Lobos managed to win three of their previous five games without much 3-point accuracy, but none of those victories came easily.

Junior LaTascya Duff, who hit six of UNM’s 13 3s on Wednesday, said the hot second half was a relief.

“We’d been in a little slump,” she said, “and it was really good to see that come to an end. It’s fun when everyone starts hitting like that.”

Duff led the way, but she had plenty of company on the stat sheet’s 3-point column. Ahlise Hurst, Antonia Anderson, LaTora Duff, Shaiquel McGruder, Autumn Watts and Kath van Bennekom also hit from long range Wednesday.

What made the onslaught that much more unusual was that two of UNM’s top three snipers coming into the game were barely involved.

Hurst was just 1-for-6 from long range, while Jaedyn De La Cerda went 0-for-3. Hurst adjusted by attacking the basket and scoring 19 points. De La Cerda endured a rare scoreless outing.

The strong outing provided

UNM with a confidence boost as it started a busy stretch of 10 scheduled games in 26 days.

Lobos coach Mike Bradbury conceded that 3-point shooting tends to be inconsistent, but he felt Wednesday’s hot second half was as much a matter of execution as anything.

“When we started playing aggressively, good things happened,” he said. “Ahlise wasn’t hitting early, and she started attacking the basket.

“We actually started scoring inside before all the 3s started going in. We just had a more aggressive mindset, and I think it led to more confident shooting.”

UNM leads the Mountain West in scoring at 85.2 points per game and nearly hit its average despite scoring just 26 points in Wednesday’s first half. San Diego State, which ranks last in the league in scoring at 59.4 points per contest, will need a slower pace Friday if it is to gain a split of the series.

LaTascya Duff and the Lobos have other ideas.

“I think we just need to play the same way we played that second half,” Duff said, “and do it sooner.”