LAS VEGAS - The young players on the UNM women's basketball team are a big reason the team had a successful regular season.
But Wednesday it was the veterans who shined when the youthful Lobos showed their inexperience.
While most of the five freshman and sophomores for UNM struggled to get past nerves and the pressure of the Mountain West Conference tournament in the Lobos 65-52 victory against San Diego State University, it was the veterans who showed that there is no substitute for experience.
The trio of senior Molly McKinnon, and juniors Jordan Adams and Chelsea Grear combined for 39 points and 17 rebounds to help push the Lobos to the next round.
"(We) have been here longest, so we know what it takes," McKinnon said. "We looked at each other for support. We weren't going down."
Although the numbers are impressive, the outstanding feat for the trio came in the first half when their younger teammates were throwing the ball away.
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After racing to a 9-2 lead, the Lobos began to show their inexperience and the Aztecs capitalized. UNM looked nervous and anxious on offense and the main culprits were the young players.
If it was not a 3-pointer barely hitting the rim by sophomore forward Melissa Forest or an attempted layup slammed off the backboard by freshman point guard Mandi Moore, it was an errant throw by freshman point guard Stephanie Shaw that sailed 10-feet over the head of Grear for a turnover.
San Diego State used that over-excitement to grab a 15-11 lead and the momentum. And while the sloppiness continued for the Lobos, the experienced players stepped up their play.
Grear, Adams and McKinnon, who have been through a few conference tournament battles, did not want the game to get out of hand and took it upon themselves to hold the Lobo ship afloat until their teammates jumped on.
The trio scored 16 straight points in a five-and-a-half minute span in the first half to catapult UNM from a four-point deficit to a 27-24 lead it would never relinquish.
"We just fed off each other and we took off," McKinnon said.
The three Lobo players finished with 23 of the 32 points at the half, while the five youngest players compiled only four points, all by freshman Lindsey Arndt, on three-of -14 shooting.
The biggest culprit was Moore, the MWC Freshman of the Year, who was held scoreless on zero-of-five shooting and a turnover.
"I just struggled, but I wasn't nervous," Moore said. "But the team did a good job holding it together."
But as they have done all year, the young players answered a bad outing with a good one, coming out in the second half and helping UNM put the game away.
Arndt led the charge by scoring the first five points of the second half and once all the Lobos were aboard, UNM routed SDSU. Arndt scored nine of her 13 points in the second half.
Moore rebounded from the disastrous first half to hit four free throws to stall an Aztec comeback late in the game and Shaw collected a steal and an assist in the final two minutes.
Moore finished with four points and did not make a field goal on six attempts, although she did dish out six assists.
"I don't know what it was, we just didn't play like we normally do," Moore said. "Whatever the reason, we got (the experience) underneath our belts and now that it's over we can move on to the next game."
The quintet of Moore, Arndt, Forest, Shaw and sophomore Lauren McLeod averaged scoring 27 points a game in the regular season, helping the Lobos finish second in the conference.
But Wednesday they scored 20 points on eight-of-21 shooting for 38 percent.
"They haven't played like that all year so they are allowed to have a game like that," McKinnon said. "We are a tight team so if someone is not playing well, someone else steps up."
The three veteran Lobos finished with impressive statistics as Adams finished with a game-high 16 points, Grear chipped in 14 and McKinnon scored ninepoints and grabbed four rebounds.
