Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said the Rebels took advantage of sophomore Kianna Keller’s and junior Khadijah Shumpert’s trouble with steering clear of personal fouls. Despite the fouls from the Lobo forwards, UNM was not content with walking away from the 1,311 fans at Cox Pavilion without a fight.
“Their bigs kind of took it to us when we got in foul trouble,” Sanchez said in a statement. “UNLV is playing really good basketball. We had to fight back on the road and it just didn’t work out for us. We had an opportunity.”
Danielle Miller, listed as a 5-foot-8 guard on the UNLV team roster site, came out against the Lobos playing as a small forward. Miller’s 21 points were the game high for the Mountain West’s leading scorer, who tacked on eight boards and four assists to her performance.
UNM’s freshman guard/forward Jayda Bovero produced a quality night of her own in trying to spark life into the team. Her career-high seven boards in 14 minutes gave her squad some needed opportunities with two of the Lobos’ top rebounders on the bench for hacking at the Rebels.
New Mexico had its share of chances after climbing back from an 11-point deficit in the first half and taking a one-point lead with less than one minute left in the half. However, UNLV snagged a bucket as time expired, giving the Rebels a 37-36 advantage heading into halftime.
The beginning of the second half started much like the first: UNLV came out with a strong run while the Lobos remained idle on both sides of the ball. The Rebels gradually ascended their lead to 61-44, the team’s largest of the day.
With help from UNM’s full-court trap defense and mistakes from UNLV, the Lobos mounted a comeback. New Mexico cut the lead down to just four points with 1:21 to play.
However, the Rebels took advantage with made shots at the charity stripe. Of the 42 fouls in Saturday’s contest, UNLV made 25 of its 34 free throws while the UNM hit 15 of its 21.
The Lobos altered their usual course of striving for shots near the basket and took 14 shots from behind the arc. UNM is not well-known for its ability to hit deep shots, being the second-worst 3-point shooting team in the conference at 26.9 percent. UNLV has not been much better from 3-point land (27.4 percent), but the Rebels finished the night 6-13 from beyond the 3-point line (5-7 in the first half).
Redshirt senior guard Antiesha Brown led UNM with 19 points and five boards. Junior guard Bryce Owens put up a sound night collecting 14 points, five assists and three steals. Owens was also tied for the game-high four turnovers in addition to her solid offensive performance.
“It just wasn’t our day. It happens. But I still think we can finish at the top (of the league),” Sanchez said in the report.
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Liam Cary-Eaves is the assistant sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
