Staff Report
UNM's leading scorer Lindsey Arndt was held scoreless in the Lobos' 52-43 loss to Utah, Sunday in Salt Lake City.
UNM jumped out to an early lead, but was not able to hold on to it for long.
The Lobos had a 9-1 advantage midway through the first half. In the first nine minutes, the Utes only scored one point, which was from the charity stripe.
Then Utah head coach Elaine Elliott put in Julie Wood and UNM lost control of the game for good.
Coming off the bench, Wood struck on three consecutive 3-pointers during a 16-3 Utah run.
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But besides Wood, both teams struggled to make a shot Sunday afternoon, as the match pitted the top-two defenses in the Mountain West Conference.
UNM was perfect from the free-throw line, and 38.3 percent from the floor, while allowing Utah to connect on only 32 percent of its shots in the game.
The score remained close throughout most of the first period, but the Lobos would never be able to regain the lead and trailed 23-20 at the half.
The Lobos would not get any closer to the Utes, who started the second period with an eight-point run and an 11-point lead. UNM was able to get within six, but no closer.
In the last minutes, the Lobos fouled Utah in an attempt to get some shots in before time expired, but the Utes scored on four free throws to seal the victory.
Guards Mandi Moore and Fatima Maddox each had nine points for UNM.
