by ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In a matchup of the only two teams unbeaten in Mountain West play, The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team outlasted Boise State by using a 17-5 run to end game to defeat the Broncos 100-83 Wednesday night at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.
The Lobos (15-1 overall, 3-0 MW) held an 83-78 advantage with 4:10 left in the game after a bucket by Boise State’s Shalen Shaw – but Tesha Buck answered 16 seconds later with a 3-pointer on a nice find from Cherise Beynon to ignite the run that saw the Lobos hold the Broncos (8-6, 2-1) scoreless over the final 1:41 to put away the game.
“That game was probably everything that both teams expected – I know it’s what we expected,” UNM coach Mike Bradbury said of this intense contest. “Clearly this was not a 17-point game, it was a one-possession game. It seems like every time we play Boise, they’re so good and they are as well-coached as anyone we play all year long or that I ever play. Nothing is ever going to be easy, but I thought we played hard, we competed and we made a bunch of shots in the second half – and we needed every one of them.”
After the Buck 3-pointer in the fourth quarter ignited the run, the Lobos extended the lead to what at the time was a game-high 11 points on an interior bucket by Jaisa Nunn at the 3:17 mark and a free throw from Beynon with 2:59 left to make it 89-78 UNM.
Boise State answered as five quick points from Marta Hermida – including a 3-pointer – made it a single-digit game at 91-83 with 1:41 left in the contest. But UNM scored the final nine points – including Buck, Beynon and Alex Lapeyrolerie going a combined 6-for-6 from the free throw line – to put the game away and score 100-plus points for the third time this season, the first time since being a member of the Mountain West (which began in 1999) and the first time in a conference game since beating BYU 100-51 on Feb. 1, 1996.
“We were just focusing on our offense because in the Nevada game we shot so poorly,” Beynon said. “Our focus throughout practice and for this game was to get the ball moving and just attack like coach (Bradbury) said. I’d attack and put so much pressure on their defense that it left Jaisa, Alex, or Tesha open for a wide-open three or a layup, so we just played unselfishly tonight and found open people.”
The Lobos opened the game on a 7-2 run capped by a free throw from freshman Antonia Anderson before Boise State rallied and took a its first lead of the game at 13-11 on a Braydey Hodgins 3-pointer with 46 seconds left in the quarter. UNM scored four points in the final 26 seconds – capped by a Lapeyrolerie bucket with 10 seconds left – to take a 15-13 lead into the second quarter.
Boise State took one final lead a few minutes into the second quarter, but the Lobos took the lead for what turned out to be for good when Lapeyrolerie drained a 3-pointer with 5:09 left in the second to take a 26-23 advantage.
But the Broncos never went away as UNM held a 44-38 lead at the half and a 66-62 lead going into the fourth as the Lobos never led by more than nine and had its advantage down to as little as one during that stretch.
The Lobos had five players finish in double figures with Lapeyrolerie leading the way with a career-high 23 points. Nunn finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, Beynon had 18 points and tied her own Lobo record with 15 assists to go along with four steals and four rebounds, Buck had 15 points, a season-best eight rebounds, five assists and three steals and Anderson scored a career-high 13 points to go along with a block and two steals.
Both teams shot it well as the Lobos finished shooting 52.3 percent from the field (34-for-65), 38.5 percent from 3-point range (10-for-26) and 91.7 percent from the line (22-for-24). Boise State shot 50 percent from the field (32-for-64), 48 percent from 3-point range (12-for-25) and 53.8 percent from the line (7-for-13).
The Lobos outrebounded the Broncos 36-33 – a Boise State team that leads the conference in rebounding margin by a significant amount at 8.8 per game.
“I think rebounding is just the will to want to get the ball,” Buck said. “Going into this game and going into every game, I try to just remind myself to just crash the boards.”
UNM hits the road to take on San Jose State 3 p.m. (MT) Saturday
