The Division I UNM women’s basketball team dominated the Division II New Mexico Highlands University in every stat during an exhibition game Saturday at The Pit. The Lobos won 65-45.
Junior guard Caroline Durbin only had four points with 7:11 remaining in the first half, but went on to end the game as the leading scorer for the Lobos, with 15 points.
Durbin said she and her teammates worked tirelessly in practice, which shows in in-game performance.
“We’ve run through our offenses about 100 times and we just know how to run them,” she said. “I knew I would get shots. I knew our team would start working better together.”
The Lobos showed that they had some depth on Saturday. The UNM bench outscored NMHU’s bench 35-8. One of the players off the bench was junior guard Jayme Jackson, a transfer from Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Mo.
Jackson had 10 points in her first game as a Lobo. She said she had the jitters before her debut in The Pit.
“I was pretty nervous at first,” she said, “but once I got out there I became more relaxed and had a lot of fun.”
Despite being only 5-foot-7, Jackson didn’t hesitate to drive the ball to the hoop.
Head coach Yvonne Sanchez, who made her head coaching debut on Saturday, had nothing but praise for the first-time Lobo.
“Jayme Jackson really had a nice game coming off the bench,” she said. “I’m so proud of her.”
Jackson said the players were proud of their performance in Saturday’s game, but felt they could have done better.
“We still have a lot of things to work on, but I think we’re pretty good,” Jackson said.
The Lobos had some issues taking care of the ball after committing 20 turnovers on Saturday, compared to NMHU’s 18.
“We need to cut down on our turnovers, that’s for sure,” Durbin said.
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Senior forward Porche Torrance gave a solid performance for the Lobos by with four steals, and made six assists. The UNM bigs outscored NMHU 22-12 in the paint.
The Lobos are returning two starters this season: seniors Porche Torrance and Lauren Taylor. The team is in fourth place in the preseason Mountain West Conference standings.
