Lobos fall to SDSU in MWC quarters
Loss means UNM can expect no better than bid to WNIT
One and done.
After spotting San Diego State a 13-1 cushion in the first four minutes, the New Mexico women’s basketball team was never able to recover in a 67-56 loss to San Diego State in Monday night’s quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
The Lobos (21-11) came in as the No. 2 seed but now head home with an uncertain future. They needed to win the conference crown this week to land a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Now they can only hope for a spot in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, a familiar landing spot they’ve been a part of in five of the previous six seasons.
“I hadn’t thought about it; I was planning on sticking around another day or two,” UNM coach Mike Bradbury said when asked about his team’s next step before packing things in for the summer. “I don’t know. We’ll take a couple days off, probably.”
San Diego State (21-12) advances to Tuesday’s semifinals after eliminating New Mexico for a second straight year.
The Aztecs dominated the glass, outrebounding the Lobos, 45-25, to offset UNM’s more up-tempo offense. The Lobos struggled against San Diego State’s defense, making just 3 off 17 shots from 3-point territory and making 39% of their shots during the game.
“A big thing this game was win the elbow on the guards,” said San Diego State guard Jada Lewis, referring to the mid-range area near the free-throw line where UNM’s offense generally initiates attacks of the basket. “That’s what we did for the most part. We had some slip by but other than that we won the elbow and they had to do something different.”
Nyah Wilson led UNM with 22 points. Aniyah Augmon was the only other player in double figures with 10 points. The two combined for more than half of the team’s field goal attempts.
One of San Diego State’s top players, Abby Prohaska, was held to two points and four rebounds before fouling out after logging just 11 minutes. Lewis and Adryana Quezada helped pick up the slack, scoring 14 points apiece while
forward Kim Villalobos had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds and a team-high six assists.
“With San Diego State you get, one, a really good team,” Bradbury said. “They’ve got a ton of talent, and now they’re playing to their talent level and when they do that, you know, it’s really good. They’ll have a chance.”
Lewis staked the Aztecs to a 3-0 lead just 17 seconds into the game when she hit a 3-point shot after controlling the opening tip. It was 7-0 before an Augmon free throw got the Lobos on the scoreboard, but another 3-pointer was followed by an and-one by Villalobos to open a 12-point lead.
The Lobos got within 15-13 late in the first quarter and never got closer. The Aztecs led by double digits for the majority of the second half, extending the margin to 14 in the fourth quarter.
UNM forward Viane Cumber had a tough game, missing seven of the nine shots she took to finish with five points, roughly seven below her season average.
Bradbury said San Diego State’s veteran lineup was a factor, as was the Aztecs’ firstround win on Sunday.
“It’s always an advantage now, for them starting the next day [Tuesday] it turns into a disadvantage,” he said. “But on Day 2, it is. You know, you’re just used to it.”
NOTES
The Lobos came into the tournament with a NET Ranking of 150, meaning there’s no chance of landing an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. UNLV (28) is the only team from the league inside the top 100. By comparison, the MWC men have each of their top six teams inside the top 36. … Bradbury has led the Lobos to three wins in the WNIT the last two seasons, having taken them to the third round three times in his tenure with the program. … The WNIT field will be announced Sunday night after the NCAA bracket is released. The first round of the WNIT is March 20-22 with the second round March 23-26. The Ty Murray Invitational bull riding event will be in The Pit on March 22-24, necessitating a road game for the Lobos should they not be able to use Johnson Center on the UNM campus or the Rio Rancho Events Center 30 miles to the northwest.