by ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team’s 10-game home winning streak looked to be in jeopardy as a Nevada basket with 5:47 remaining in the third quarter bolstered the Wolf Pack’s lead to a game-high 12 points at 41-29 – tied for the Lobos’ largest deficit at home this season.
But after severe shooting struggles up to that point (the Lobos started the game 12-for-47 from the field), UNM got rolling as the Lobos drained seven 3-pointers and outscored Nevada 34-11 over the next 10 minutes to take an 11-point lead – eventually holding on for a 72-68 victory Saturday afternoon at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.
“I give Nevada a lot of credit – they are one, very talented, and two, extremely well coached,” UNM coach Mike Bradbury said. “That is exactly what we expected from them – although I wished we would have done a little better, especially on the boards. It seemed at times they wanted it a little more than us. With that being said, I am very proud of our kids. The last quarter and a half we really competed and found a way to win. We hit some big shots even though we didn’t shoot very well today. That stretch we played like we are capable of playing.”
It was Alex Lapeyrolerie who got the Lobos (14-1 overall, 2-0 Mountain West) going in the third quarter as after a Madi Washington (who played a huge part in keeping UNM afloat early) basket cut the Lobo deficit to 10, the senior drained back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Nevada (8-5, 1-1) lead to four at 41-37 with 4:09 remaining in the quarter.
The Lobos kept it close over the next few minutes before a Tesha Buck 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining tied the game at 48-48 and a Jaisa Nunn putback gave the Lobos the lead (for what turned out to be for good) with 39 seconds left to give the Lobos a 50-48 advantage. Cherise Beynon scored for UNM just before the third quarter buzzer to give UNM a 52-48 lead going into the fourth quarter.
UNM kept rolling to start the fourth as a trio of Lapeyrolerie free throws, a Nunn layup, a Lapeyrolerie 3-pointer and a Buck 3-pointer gave UNM a 63-52 advantage to get the loud crowd of 6,342 (the second-largest of the season) to its feet with 5:36 remaining in the game and cap the 34-11 Lobo run.
“Coach told us at halftime to figure out a way,” Lapeyrolerie said. “As a team we had to pick it up. I give it to my teammates and my coaching staff for getting me the ball and Madi (Washington) to get the spark going.”
Nevada didn’t go away, however, as the Wolf Pack cut the deficit to as little as four points, but UNM was able to put the game away with free throws from Beynon, Buck and Nunn in the final minute to move the Lobos to 11-0 at home this season. It’s the eighth-longest home winning streak in UNM history (the longest verified home winning streak is 24 set 1998-99).
