Lobos ride another 2nd-half comeback
New Mexico women get past Air Force again
A pattern is developing with the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team and Mike Bradbury only likes half of it.
LaTascya Duff scored 31 points in her first UNM start and sparked a huge second-half rally that lifted the Lobos to an 80-66 victory at Air Force on Tuesday night. Antonia Anderson racked up a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds), and Jaedyn De La Cerda added 13 points for New Mexico (10-2, 7-2 Mountain West).
As for that pattern: UNM trailed at halftime for a third consecutive game only to dominate the second half. Bradbury, UNM’s head coach, said his team’s biggest adjustment Tuesday was a matter of attitude.
“In the second half we looked like we enjoy playing basketball,” Bradbury said in a postgame phone interview. “In the first half it looked like we hated it. That was ridiculous.”
The Falcons (5-14, 2-11) led by as many as 12 points in the first half and, to some extent, UNM’s sluggish start might have been expected. Bradbury’s team was coming off a 17-day layoff (before Monday’s game at AFA) because of a positive COVID-19 test result that forced twogame series at Colorado State and Wyoming to be postponed.
UNM has not identified the player who tested positive but starting guard Ahlise Hurst did not play Tuesday and did not make the trip, Bradbury said.
The absence of Hurst, regarded as the Lobos’ best defender, along with some obvious rust, had the Lobos looking out of sync in the first half. Meanwhile, Air Force’s Kaelin Immel put on a show, scoring 20 of her 28 points in the first half on 9-for11 shooting.
Riley Snyder’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave AFA a 42-34 lead at halftime, but Immel was a topic of discussion for the Lobos.
“She was definitely feeling it,” De La Cerda said. “Even when we had a hand up, she was hitting everything. We knew we had to put more pressure on her in the second half.”
UNM occasionally double-teamed Immel, Air Force’s career scoring leader, in the second half and limited her to 4-for-12 shooting. The Lobos also began attacking the Falcons’ ball screens, disrupting their offense and setting up a quick turn of momentum.
Anderson converted two early turnovers into coast-to-coast layups as the Lobos opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run. Then Duff, who started in place of Hurst, caught fire.
The junior guard scored eight straight UNM points at one juncture as the visitors grabbed a 54-51 lead. Corina Carter’s driving layup to beat the buzzer gave the Lobos a 62-55 lead heading to the fourth quarter, and three Duff 3-pointers (she finished with six) helped New Mexico pull away.
Snyder finished with 20 points for Air Force, which shot 56% in the first half but just 32% in the second. Carter scored 12 points off the bench for UNM, which shot a sizzling 67% after halftime.
The teams wrap up the series with a 7:30 p.m. start on Wednesday, and Bradbury hopes his team will break its recent pattern.
“I’d like to be more consistent,” he said. “We need to start playing well for four quarters instead of two. Maybe (Wednesday).”
NOTES: De La Cerda, who injured her right thumb in a recent practice. played with a large brace on her hand. Bradbury was not sure the senior would be able to play, but De La Cerda was determined. “Sometimes you just take a couple Advils and push through,” she said. “I didn’t even feel it until the game was over, but it’s definitely sore now.”
The Mountain West on Tuesday announced that UNM’s two-game series against Colorado State will be played March 3 and 5, two days prior to the MWC tournament.
The Lobos’ series against Wyoming will not be rescheduled.