The UNM women's basketball team narrowly avoided an upset in its last home game of the season against San Diego State University Saturday, using a strong second half to pull out the victory 63-53 in The Pit.
The Lobos (20-6, 9-3 in the Mountain West Conference) trailed by nine points in the first half, but took control in the paint in the second half to give senior guard Molly McKinnon a win in her final home game as a Lobo.
UNM overcame 25 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes and a strong performance by the Aztecs by grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and making 24 free throws.
"San Diego State is a blue collar team, but we probably took them a little too lightly," center Jordan Adams said. "And I think a few of us were a little emotional about losing Molly."
Adams and her teammates regained their composure in the second half after trailing 28-24 at halftime. The Lobos burst out on a 12-4 run in the first 7:06 to take a 36-32 lead it would never relinquish. Adams was the catalyst, scoring eight points during the run.
"I was really disappointed with my shooting; my outside shooting has been horrendous lately," Adams said. "I knew I had to go inside and do what I can in there and I wanted to be really aggressive."
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The Lobos pushed the lead to nine at 49-40 with just under six minutes remaining when point guard Mandi Moore slashed through the lane for a layup. But the resilient Aztecs (10-15, 2-10) would not go away, scoring the next five points on a 3-pointer by guard Jamey Cox and a jumper by Claire Swinbank. UNM would not be denied, however, as Adams scored inside to ignite an 11-2 run during the next 3:30 to put the game away.
"I thought we executed our stuff late pretty decently, spaced the floor out pretty decently," head coach Don Flanagan said. "We got some drives, some back cuts and got to the line or made our shots."
The Lobos finished the second half shooting 45.8 percent. Another boost for UNM was at the free throw line where it attempted 20 more free throws than the Aztecs, making 24-of-35, while SDSU made nine-of-15.
Adams finished with a game-high 19 points, including nine-of-11 from the charity stripe. Forward Lindsey Arndt also scored in double figures, contributing 10 points.
Forward Chelsea Grear corralled a game-high 11 rebounds and Melissa Forest was one of many Lobos to contribute off the bench by scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds.
"Everybody that I got in there did a nice job," Flanagan said.
It was tough to find anyone shooting well in the first half, although the Lobos raced to a 7-0 lead just two-and-a-half minutes into the game.
But their energy ran out and so did the lead as the Aztecs took advantage of the lull, going on a 19-4 run.
After hitting two of their first three shots, the Lobos cooled off, missing 21 of their next 26 shots.
Even the aggressiveness on the offensive boards did not pay off because at one point in the half it grabbed nine offensive rebounds without scoring a basket, including five in one possession.
The Aztecs sneaked out to a 26-17 lead with an efficient offensive attack and several impressive cutting layups.
UNM would answer back, cutting into the lead by scoring seven of the last nine points of the half.
Cox led the Aztecs with 12 points, all on 3-pointers. SDSU finished shooting 35 percent for the game.
The Lobos' next game is Thursday on the road against the University of Wyoming at 5 p.m. UNM closes the regular season against league-leading Colorado State University on Satuday at 2 p.m. Both games can be heard on KNML, 610 AM.
