Lobos bounce back at San Diego State
The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team turned up the heat at the defensive end and rode the momentum to a 67-58 win against San Diego State in Viejas Arena on Saturday afternoon.
UNM held the Aztecs to 30 percent shooting while forcing 20 turnovers in bouncing back from its only loss of the Mountain West Conference season. The Lobos (18-5, 9-1) remained in a first-place tie with UNLV as the second half of the league’s regular season got underway.
Four Lobos finished in double figures, led by Shaiquel McGruder’s 18 points. She was particularly strong in the fourth quarter, with six points and four blocked shots, all during a time when San Diego State cut an 18-point deficit down to six in the closing moments.
Antonia Anderson had 15 points, LaTascya Duff 14 and Jaedyn De La Cerda 11. Anderson also had a team-high 13 rebounds to go along with four 3-pointers.
The Lobos return home for three straight games and have five of their next six in The Pit. Only one of those home games is against a team that’s currently above .500 in conference play.
Saturday’s win was a clinic in shutdown defense for the Lobos. They held the Aztecs to five points on 2-for-16 shooting in the second quarter.
It followed a shaky start in which San Diego State’s Sophia Ramos hit a pair of 3-pointers and carried the Aztecs to an early 13-3 lead. UNM rallied back with a 14-3 run, then took the lead for good when McGruder converted a layup with three minutes left in the first half, giving the Lobos a 23-21 advantage.
UNM essentially used just five players. The five starters all logged at least 31 minutes and averaged nearly 36 between them. Not a single bench player scored and the subs combined for just five rebounds in spot duty.
LaTora Duff was the only starter not to reach double figures in the scoring column, finishing with nine points but registering a team-high seven assists.
With just eight games left on the regular season schedule for most teams in the Mountain West, UNM and UNLV are threatening to run away from the pack in the final month of the regular season. Every other team has at least three losses.
NOTES
The UNM men’s team will be in SoCal on Monday night, visiting San Diego State (11-5, 3-2) in the first of what could be two meetings with the Aztecs during the regular season. The teams had their Jan. 15 game in The Pit postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the SDSU program.
No makeup date has been announced although the Lobos (8-13, 1-7) do have a 10-day gap between games against Air Force on Feb. 5 and Wyoming on Feb. 15. San Diego State has had three games postponed since Jan. 5 due to COVID-19 concerns.