Lobo women take down Arizona on the road
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TUCSON 鈥� This time the nail-biter went New Mexico鈥檚 way.
A week after dropping a three-point decision versus Cincinnati, the UNM women鈥檚 basketball team pulled out a 72-69 road win over Big 12 member Arizona in an entertaining battle at the McKale Center.
Joanna Magalh茫es came up with a clinching steal to prevent the Wildcats from attempting a tying 3-pointer as the Lobos improved to 7-3 and earned their first win in four tries over a Big 12 opponent this season. Alyssa Hargrove scored 16 points, and Laila Abdurraqib had 13 to pace UNM.
The ending was considerably more stressful than Lobos coach Mike Bradbury and his players would have liked. UNM led for more than 34 minutes and held an 11-point advantage early in the fourth quarter.
But the Lobos鈥� offense sputtered in the final five minutes, turning the ball over five times as the Wildcats (6-2) chipped away at the lead. UNM appeared to catch Arizona by surprise with a zone defense on the final possession, setting up Magalh茫es鈥� critical steal.
鈥淭his win was very important for us,鈥� Hargrove said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been playing these Big 12 teams, getting better every game and we needed a breakthrough. We studied (Arizona) and we knew we would have a chance if we just stayed within ourselves. Getting a win like this on the road feels really good.鈥�
It was not a perfect performance. UNM hurt its cause with turnovers (20) and fouls, sending Arizona to the free-throw line 27 times. (The Lobos attempted 11). Still, Bradbury credited his team for executing well against the Wildcats鈥� 2-3 zone defense 鈥� the first large dose of zone UNM has faced this season.
鈥淚 thought we played hard and were disciplined,鈥� Bradbury said. 鈥淥ur offense wasn鈥檛 great at times, but we got contributions from players one through 10. We also studied what (first-year UA coach Becky Burke) had done at Buffalo and before she got here. (The Wildcats) hadn鈥檛 played zone all year, but we were prepared for it.鈥�
Rebounds, which ended up plaguing the Lobos against Cincinnati, were a key to UNM鈥檚 success on Sunday. The Lobos outrebounded Arizona 44-32 鈥� paced by sophomore Emma Najjuma, who racked up 16 rebounds, eight points and two blocks in her first UNM start.
鈥淎t first I was a little scared,鈥� Najjuma conceded, 鈥渂ut I just focused on what the coaches told us we needed to do to beat (the Wildcats). We did a good job defensively. Every point we got on offense came from our defense.鈥�
UNM came out firing early, getting 3-pointers from Hargrove, Destinee Hooks, Magalh茫es and Nayli Padilla as it built 26-19 first-quarter lead. Arizona answered by pounding the ball inside to posts Nora Francois and Daniah Trammell, cutting the deficit to 42-39 by halftime.
The Wildcats amped up a crowd of 6,014 by grabbing a 44-42 lead on a Trammell three-point play early in the third quarter. UNM answered with a Najjuma put-back and consecutive driving baskets by Magalh茫es to regain the lead.
The visitors held a 59-52 edge after three quarters and extended it to 69-58 on a Hargrove 3-pointer with 4:58 left. But one more Hargrove 3 was all the Lobos鈥� offense managed down the stretch, and the senior fouled out after a turnover with 1:08 left. UNM managed to get just enough stops to secure the win.
鈥淚 had to apologize to my teammates for making things more stressful,鈥� Hargrove said. 鈥淔ortunately, they were able to bail me out.鈥�
Hooks finished with 10 points, while Antonio and Magalh茫es had nine apiece for the Lobos, who won in Tucson for the first time since 2009. Noelani Cornfield paced Arizona with 20 points.
The Lobos close out their non-conference schedule Saturday with a 7 p.m. home game against Big 12 foe Houston.
