Women's Basketball
After only the third loss of the season Thursday against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas Runnin' Rebels, the UNM women's basketball team wasn't giving up first place in the Mountain West Conference that easily.
The Lobos drubbed the San Diego State Aztecs 71-52 in San Diego Saturday with the help of senior forward Lindsey Arndt.
Arndt recorded her third double-double in four games, putting up 20 points and a season-high 17 rebounds.
The loss to UNLV gives UNM and second-place Utah one loss each in the MWC, with the Lobos holding onto first with an advantage in head-to-head play. UNM beat the Utes 60-54 in The Pit on Jan. 22.
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The Lobos had three other players end up with 10 points or more against the Aztecs. Senior Mandi Moore had 11 points to go along with five assists, while freshman Dionne Marsh and Abbie Letz had 10 apiece.
Sophomore Katie Montgomery came off the bench to dish out seven assists, score seven points and grab five rebounds.
The loss drops San Diego State to 6-11 and 1-4 in the MWC.
The third-place team in the MWC, Wyoming, comes to The Pit on Thursday to take on the Lobos at 7 p.m.
Men's Tennis
Ryan Stotland and Max Jones carried their fair share of the load in the UNM men's tennis team's win over No. 55 Michigan State.
The Lobos, ranked No. 65, beat the Spartans 4-3 in Seattle on Saturday.
Stotland and Jones beat the No. 1 MSU doubles team of Andrew Formanczyk and Cameron Marshal 8-4.
Stotland, ranked No. 122, took down No. 103 Formanczyk 6-4, 6-4 to notch a win at the No. 1 singles spot for the Lobos.
Jones followed up his doubles partner's winning ways with a 6-1, 6-3 win of his own over Marshal.
The Lobos were also helped with wins by the doubles team of Eric Conklin and Derek Boland and in singles by Kamil Pajkowski.
The win boosts the Lobos record to 1-2 on the season before they head to Malibu, Calif., to take on the No. 26 Pepperdine Waves and the No. 27 Arizona Wildcats.
Track and Field
UNM track and field athletes Derek Mackel and Amanda Barnes had quite the day Saturday.
Mackel's pole vault performance at Texas Tech's Wes Kittley Classic was a career high and good enough for first place in the meet. The meet was not scored on a team basis.
His cleared height of 17-00.75 was a national qualifying mark.
It was also only the second time in the five-year tenure of head coach Matt Henry that someone cleared 17 feet.
Barnes' success came in the weight throw and the shot put. The senior notched a win in the former and a second-place finish in the latter.
Her weight throw distance of 54-01.00 gave her the UNM record and her third career indoor victory.
Whitney Johnson, Mackel's female counterpart, grabbed a share of first place with a height of 12-06 in the women's pole vault.
UNM snagged second through fifth place in the mile run, with Nick Martinez (4:20.05), Nate Clem (4:20.11), Mike Smiel (4:20.63) and Juan Ortega (4:21.35) running in the event.
Clem, Smiel and Ortega backed up their performance in the mile, snatching fourth through sixth place in the 800-meter run. Ortega also placed third in the 3,000-meter run.
Sophomore Brandie Mills, who grabbed her first career victory in the 600-yard run, paced the UNM women.
Freshman Kristan Matison helped out with a third-place finish in the 55-meter dash.
The Lobos head to Flagstaff, Ariz., next weekend to participate in Northern Arizona's Mountain T's Invitational.
