New Mexico (9-17, 3-9 MWC)
lead b as much as 15 before Colorado St. (12-15, 8-4) rallied to
cut the Lobo
lead to 45-40 on a Kim Mestdagh three-pointer with 1:33 left in
the game. But
UNM outscored the Rams 6-2 the rest of the way, all at the free
throw line.
Senior Nikki Nelson scored four of her 10 points at the line in
the final
seconds and junior Jame Jackson hit the final two free throws to
seal the win.
"Yeah, it is a
little
nerve-wracking but you try to put that aside and I said a little
prayer and
gathered myself,” said Nelson. “We practice free-throws all the
time so it's
nice when you can actually get in to a game and be prepared for
situations like
that."
Caroline Durbin
led all
scorers with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting including 3-of-3 on
three pointers.
Senior Porche Torrance scored 12 points and pulled in seven
rebounds while
Nelson and junior Jourdan Erskine both finished with 10 points.
Erskine pulled
in a team high nine boards. Colorado State was paced b Mestdagh
and forward Sam Martin, who both scored 15 points.
"It was
unbelievable,”
said head coach Yvonne Sanchez. “We started a big lineup. We had
to do that
with Lauren Taylor out. When she is cleared to play, that would
be great. We
had Jourdan Erskine, Porche Torrance, Chinyere Nnaji start. We
had 17 offensive
rebounds. I think we matched their big lineup very well. I think
defensively,
we held them to 34 percent shooting and 21 percent from the
three. They were
three for four from the three so that did not hurt us. I thought
they did a
terrific job."
After trailing
7-3 early,
CSU grabbed the initiative and outscored UNM 13-3 to take a
16-10 lead at the
11:57 mark of the first half. Despite the Rams’ physical play,
which verged on
dirt at times and drew the ire of the partisan Pit crowd, New
Mexico kept the
game close and eventually surged ahead.
The Lobos took
a 23-22 lead
on a tip-in by Erskine and
went
into halftime with a 26-24 advantage after a tre b Durbin with
26 seconds left
in the half.
"Yeah they're a
physical team, but a lot of teams in the conference are physical
like that, and
we've got to play physical right back with them,” said Durbin.
“I think we did
a good job of responding to that tonight."
"I thought the
game was
physical – I did not see them being dirty,” agreed Sanchez. “I
just saw them
playing hard and they always do. I may have missed a few things.
It was like
going to Wyoming and beating them. Wyoming is an extremely
physical team. We
always fought back. We never backed down. I thought tonight was
the same
things. They tried to post and re-post. Sometimes there was
Caroline Durbin on
Sam Martin. We battled and battled. I like that grittiness from
our team."
Colorado State
hit just one
field goal in the final 6:35 of the first half and their
shooting drought
continued into the second half – and the Lobos took advantage.
With the Rams
misfiring and turning the ball over on the offensive end, New
Mexico pushed the
lead to 30-25 before CSU finally found range on a Martin jumper
with 12:51 left
in the half. All told, the Rams went nearly 14 minutes without a
field goal.
Martin’s jumper
cut the
lead, giving UNM just a 30-27 lead but the Lobos responded by
going on a 15-4
run to take their biggest lead, 45-31 with 6:05 left.
But Colorado
St. would not
go away, mounting a comeback to cut the lead to 48-42 with 48
seconds left. But
UNM hit all six of its late free throws to claim the victory.
"It was great
in the
second half. We held them under our defensive goal which was
great,” said
Durbin. “The second half I felt like we really boxed out better,
didn't give
them second chance points, and I thought we talked a lot better.
Our goal was
55."
Sanchez said
the win says a
lot about her team and their perseverance.
"Colorado State
has
beaten Boise State, TCU, and Wyoming. They have beaten a lot of
teams. They
were second in conference. They are a team that we can possibly
face in the
Mountain West Tournament in the first round. That is still far
away. It goes to
show the kids just keep fighting and keep climbing. They did a
terrific
job."
UNLV 65, UNM
60: In Las Vegas,
Nevada, the New Mexico Lobos outscored
the UNLV Lady Rebels by four field goals, but the Rebs walked to
the line 31
times and knocked down 22 of those unguarded shots to defeat the
Lobos 65-60
Saturday, Feb. 18 at the Thomas & Mack Center.
UNM was 6-of-12
from the
line - outscored by 16 from that stripe - but the stat sheet
didn't really lean
toward the Lady Rebs in too many areas beside the free-throw
line -- and the
scoreboard.
"UNLV was more
the
aggressor," said Lobo Coach Yvonne Sanchez, down playing the gap
at the
line. "They got the ball inside more. Our 16 turnovers were too
many and
we missed a ton of point-blank shots and layups."
The win gave
the Lady Rebels
a sweep over UNM for the first time in 10 years. UNM fell down
by five points
at the half (29-24), but played the Lady Rebs even in the second
half.
"We had a
chance and we
did some really good things," said Sanchez. "The chances were
there.
We got a little stagnant on offense. We have to learn from this
experience."
The Lobos got
19 points from
Caroline Durbin and 10 points from Lauren Taylor. Porche
Torrance had nine
points and nine boards, but was handicapped by foul trouble
throughout the
game. UNLV was led by Mia Bell with 22 points, Kelli Thompson
with 17 points
and 6-foot-3 Lenita Sanford with 12 points.
(Courtesy
UNM SID)
SDSU 57, UNM
44: The Lobo women
came alive in the second half but
could not overcome a poor first frame, falling 57-44 to the top
team in the MWC,
San Diego State, on Wed. Feb. 15
The Lady Aztecs
held New
Mexico to its lowest first-half score on the season. The Lobos
logged just 10
first-half points on a combined five baskets by Porche Torrance
and Caroline
Durbin. This first half stat is the lowest first-half score for
New Mexico in
several years. UNM turned the ball over 12 times in the first
20, surrendering
11 points off miscues and 10 points off the San Diego fast
break.
By halftime,
the Aztecs were
up 24-10. Clements, the MW's leading scorer, had only two points
at the break.
Malia Nahinu had 10 points and eight boards for SDSU. Neither
team hit a
3-pointer with UNM going 0-of-4 and SDSU going 0-of-2. However, the Aztecs
were going inside
or attacking the basket and outscored UNM 18-to-6 in the paint.
In the second
half, the
Lobos looked like a completely different team. San Diego's
offense slowed in
the second half as the Aztec bench ran the floor. Meanwhile, it
looked as
though New Mexico was the team that had replaced its entire
starting lineup. After
being down as many as 20 points early on in the second half, New
Mexico
actually won the points battle in the second half, outscoring
the Aztecs 34-33
on the half. The Lobos were able to battle back to within six
points multiple times,
shooting at a 44.8 mark to SDSU's 39.3 percent. UNM also scored
16 points in
the paint in the second half to SDSU's 14.
"I felt like
they
fought and they left everything out in the second half," head
coach Yvonne
Sanchez said. "There is a reason that San Diego State is number
one in our
conference. They are very good. I told them the second half
score was 33-34 on
our side.
"It was a good
second
half for us. It was something that you don’t walk away from this
with a bad
taste in your mouth. I’m proud of the way they fought in the
second half."
Senior Porche
Torrance led
all scorers with 20 points and pulled in a team-high six
rebounds. Caroline
Durbin and Lauren Taylor both added eight points. Malia Nahinu
scored a team
high 16 points for SDSU.
(Courtesy
UNM SID)