The Lobo women’s basketball team was faced with adversity Wednesday night against Utah State, but it pushed past it and came out victorious for another conference win.
New Mexico (7-6, 3-0 MW) overcame a
The outcome of the game wasn’t necessarily representative of how the game was played for much of the
In the first quarter, the Lobos started off fast with a Cherise Beynon jumper. But Utah state quickly answered with a score of its own to tie the game 2-2 in the first two minutes of play.
Things started to favor Utah State in the latter half of the quarter—especially after freshman guard Olivia West drilled three 3-pointers—capping a 14-5 run by the Aggies over the final four and a half minutes to lead 21-16.
The teams continued to trade baskets in the second quarter, too as the Utah State margin stayed between one and five for the entire period.
UNM’s Jaisa Nunn put up eight
Lobo head coach Mike Bradbury, despite letting Utah State’s West rain 3-pointers down on his team, said the team made only one halftime adjustment.
“One adjustment we made at halftime,” Bradbury said. “Our attitude.”
The adjustment worked as the Lobos took the third quarter by storm. The team rode the coattails of Beynon, who scored 12 of her 23 points in the frame.
New Mexico scored the first six points of the second half to snag the
Early in the final quarter, the Lobos claimed its largest lead of 11 points. Utah State trimmed the Lobo lead to six with 7:40 to play, but UNM had an answer each time the Aggies seemed to gain confidence.
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Utah State’s Katie Toole knocked down a 3-pointer to pull within 71-67, but sophomore center Jaisa Nunn reeled off six consecutive points in the paint to put the game out of reach. The Lobos pulled away with the 78-67 victory and its second straight home conference victory and third overall.
Every Lobo who played in the game scored at least once except senior forward Kianna Keller, who didn’t even attempt a shot. But she secured seven rebounds to go along with a block and two steals to help the cause.
The team got plenty of scoring though as Beynon led the way for the second straight game in total points with 23, while also dishing out eight assists and grabbing three rebounds. She also had five steals.
Nunn poured in a career-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor, and was also efficient in rebounding, bringing down six boards for the Lobos while logging just 26 minutes.
She said, although it was a good win for the team, it can’t get complacent and has to stay focused on the next team.
“We to can get a little bit of a bit ego or think too lightly of the teams we play,” Nunn said about starting 3-0 in the Mountain West. “But coach Bradbury has done
Richelle van der Keijl looked like herself again with another double-double performance. She cleaned the glass with 12 rebounds and scored 18 points on the night.
The Lobos were outshot 41 percent to 40.3 on the
UNM also outrebounded Utah State 40 to 36, in part due to Bradbury keeping bigs on the floor when Utah State went small. It also
The
Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women’s basketball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz
