On Saturday, Jan. 24, The University of New Mexico Lobos Women’s basketball team lifted itself out of a massive slump that included a three-game losing streak, as sophomore guard Joana Magalhães scored a career-high 29 points, grounding the U.S. Air Force Academy at Falcon Stadium in a 74-57 win.
Magalhães went nine of 14 from the field, five of six from three and went perfect from the free throw, going six of six.
The Lobos saw a big-time return of their defense to offense style. The largest factor, besides Magalhães going off, was the 24 turnovers that the Lobos forced onto the Falcons, which created 18 points and 19 steals for UNM. Guard Alyssa Hargrove chipped in a game-high five steals, with Magalhães and guard Destinee Hooks combining for another seven.
Creating points off turnovers was huge for the Lobos early in the season, but during their three-game losing streak, UNM was unable to create more points than their opponents from those forced turnovers, which became a key contributor to those losses.
Although UNM’s return became clear by the end of the game, the first 20 minutes were nearly even. The first quarter of the game saw the Lobos outscore the Falcons 19 to 14, as the Lobos shot 47% from the field, compared to the Falcons’ 27%.
UNM then was energized from its bench as freshman guard Kaia Foster drilled back-to-back three-pointers and got a block. Though the Lobos’ defense was starting to pick up again, the UNM squad sent Air Force to the free-throw line to chip in four free throws, and was unable to stop the Falcons from getting in the paint for layups.
The Falcons wouldn’t stay grounded for much longer, picking up the pace and outscoring the Lobos 17 to 13 in the second quarter with some heat on their hands, shooting 43% from the field compared to the Lobos 31%.
With both teams trading baskets, lead changes were normal until the buzzer rang, with Air Force getting the final bucket to fall. UNM, though, was able to hold on to a 32-31 lead at halftime.
Halftime came and went, and took away any chance Air Force had at coming back in the game, as the Lobos went on a heater led by a stellar performance of Magalhães while the UNM crew went 60% from the field in the third quarter. The Lobos outscored the Falcons 23 to 14.
The fourth quarter saw Magalhães score nine more points and guard Nayli Padilla chip in for five, with the Lobos cooling down but still on top of Air Force to close out the game on a 42-26 run after halftime.
The Lobos ended up shooting a stellar 46% from the field, 36% from three and 15-20 from the charity strip. The Lobos dominated in the paint, scoring 30 points down low and saw the bench chip in with 21 points.
The Lobos will be back in action at The Pit on Wednesday, Jan. 28, as they host the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels.
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Wyatt S. Padilla is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @wyattspadilla
