Senior guard Nikki Nelson was on fire Monday night, but she said her team is more to be thanked.
“Our team did outstanding tonight,” Nelson said. “It just felt like everything clicked. We were all working together, passing the ball and it was just really fun.”
Nelson didn’t miss a single shot, going 5-5 shooting including making all four 3-pointers she took, as the Lobos beat University of Houston Cougars 70-44 at The Pit.
“Nikki is just getting a lot of confidence,” women’s head basketball coach Yvonne Sanchez said. “She’s out there directing the offense and she’s having a lot of fun.”
The Lobos jumped out to a 14-2 lead early in the first half and never looked back.
Nelson wasn’t the only one who shot well for the Lobos. The team made nine of its first eleven 3-pointers. They went 7-9 from behind the arc in the first half, shooting 77.8 percent.
The first four points for the Lobos were courtesy of junior forward Deeva Vaughn and then two straight 3-pointers were made by Nelson and senior forward Porche Torrance.
UNM finished the game 9-16 from 3-point land, for 56.3 percent.
The shooting in the first half gave the Lobos a 41-18 lead at halftime. With 11:56 left in the second half, UNM took its largest lead in the game with a 36 point difference.
Sanchez said she is happy with the way her team performed on Monday.
“I thought we really executed well,” she said. “We started off well. In the second half we came in and put our foot down. The subs came in and did a nice job and it was a good team effort.”
Nine different Lobos scored in the game and Nelson said that the team is finally starting to gel.
“It’s all starting to come together,” Nelson said. “I think our chemistry is meshing and we’re starting to get a feel for how each other plays.”
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Houston guard Roxana Button took 33 shots and finished with 26 of the team’s 44 points. Only four other Houston players scored.
“It’s really refreshing to get a win,” Nelson said. “It feels really good.”
