Women’s University of New Mexico basketball player ends in short skid with blisters in Nevada

(Nevada-UNM Basketball Photo Gallery)

This time around, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team didn’t have a bad start.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

After two trips out of the starting gate on last week’s 0-2 road trip to Wyoming and Colorado, the Lobos had a full spring in the pits Wednesday night. A visit to Nevada never caught up.

LaTascya Duff and Viané Cumber scored 15 points each and UNM shot 62% in the first three quarters to win 88-58 in front of a jubilant crowd of 4,607.

Ratra Duff (12 points, 6 assists), Paula Royce (11 points, 8 rebounds) and Anya Augmon (career-high 11 points) also scored in double figures for the Lobos (10-7, 2-2 Mountain West). rice field. UNM’s offense was electric during his first three quarters as home his team shot 62% of his and led by as much as 38 points.

Lobos coach Mike Bradbury said of his team’s enthusiastic start. “Obviously it was important and I thought we did really well offensively. The two days of practice were really good and what we’ve been working on has carried over.”

UNM’s ball movement was particularly effective against the Wolf Pack’s heavy-handed defense. Lobos beat the pressure with a backcut to the basket and built a comfortable lead that gave him a 3-point chance.

Cumber missed the last two tries after starting 5-5 from a 3-point range, and the Lobos looked largely unperturbed when top scorer Sheichel McGruder returned to the bench with two early fouls. rice field. UNM saw him lead 24-9 after one quarter, and at halftime he led 49-22, but McGruder said he only had two points.

“It was good,” Bradbury said of his team’s shared production of wealth. I really didn’t miss a beat.”

Augmon also showed a strong performance from the bench, and after the match, he was full of smiles. The sophomore said it was important to bounce back after the team’s disappointing trip.

“It was really nice to play like this from the road game,” Augmon said. “We wanted to have a high energy match and we had that energy tonight. There was a lot of emphasis on starting the game strong — winning his first five minutes and (Wolf his It put pressure on Puck.”

Lobos hit that target 11-0 midway through the first quarter. Amaya Brown scored on a backcut pass from Latasia Duff, who followed it up with a fastbreak layup and a three-point play to ignite the rally.

Duff, who hit two 3-pointers to reach 199 in his UNM career, credited the team’s defense for setting a positive tone. Lobos limited Nevada (5-10, 2-2) to his 32.4% shooting and outscored the visitors 41-39.

“Our offense definitely had a click,” Duff said. He played with energy on defense and that carried over into attack. ”

UNM led 76-38 after the third quarter, with Bradbury already emptying the bench. The starter made a brief comeback after the 6-0 Nevada run, but was soon back on the bench.

Alyssa Jimenez scored 14 points and Victoria Davis scored 13 with the Wolf Pack.

Box scores: New Mexico 88, Nevada 58

Saturday: UNM Women at UNLV, 7pm, FS1, 610am/95.9pm