by Andre van der Mewre
Daily Lobo
The UNM women's basketball team trampled the Cowgirls of Wyoming 62-39 Saturday at The Pit.
However, it wasn't until the second half that the Lobos (13-4 overall, 3-1 Mountain West Conference) started to pull away in their victory over Wyoming (12-3, 2-2).
Going into the locker room, the Lobos held on to a slim two-point lead over the Cowgirls at 23-21. After halftime, UNM came out firing and went on a 14-0 run to begin the blowout.
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The difference was the Lobos' ability to shoot the ball in the second half. They converted 48 percent of their field goals (17-of-35) as opposed to the lowly 31 percent (9-of-29) shooting in the first half.
The Lobos dominated the game underneath, scoring 26 points in the paint. They also took advantage of rebounding, scoring 16 second-chance points compared to just four for Wyoming.
Sophomore Dionne Marsh led UNM in scoring with 13 points. She grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot as well.
Senior Jana Francis was named the game's most valuable player after scoring seven points, grabbing 11 rebounds and handing out two assists, but it was her tough defense that made the biggest impact.
After losing its last game at Texas Christian University on Wednesday, UNM was able to use that as fuel to come back home and beat Wyoming. UNM has not lost to Wyoming at The Pit since 1995.
Head coach Don Flanagan said the contest against Wyoming was definitely a bounce-back game.
"It was an excellent comeback game," he said. "This team has been able to do that throughout the year. They get beat, but they don't put their heads down."
The Cowgirls got no help from their three-point shooters, who went a miserable 0-for-14. However, the Cowgirls didn't struggle just from beyond the arc but in front of it as well. Wyoming only had five field goals in the second half. On the other end, UNM made 4-of-14 three-pointers and shot 85 percent from the foul line.
Flanagan said he was pleased with the way the defense played the entire game.
"I always try to figure out defensively what we have to do to win the game," Flanagan said. "Even if they got the 55 we would have won the game by seven - 39 is good."
What makes the win more impressive is that Wyoming had been on a pretty good run, The Lobos stopped the Cowgirls' streak of winning 10 of their last 11 games.
With the victory, UNM has won 30 straight conference home games.
On the offensive side of the ball, senior Abbie Letz and sophomore Brandi Kimble each scored 10 points in the game, with Letz adding six rebounds and four assists. Nine of the 12 Lobos scored in the game, and all 12 got playing time.
Flanagan said he was happy to be able to get all of his players involved in the game and was impressed with the play of freshman Angela Hartill, who scored eight points.
"Everybody did a pretty good job," he said. "Angela's becoming a player for us. She won't take anything from anybody. She's a physical presence."
