Using a great defensive effort and frontcourt scoring, the UNM women's basketball team moved into the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitation Tournament after ousting the University of Arizona 75-62 Saturday night at The Pit.
The Lobos (20-12) were carried offensively by the production of senior forward Miranda Sanchez, sophomore center Jordan Adams and sophomore forward Chelsea Grear, and the UNM defense held the Wildcats (20-12) to 17 points below its season average.
Sanchez, Adams and Grear combined for 48 points to help lead the way. All three played more than 30 minutes and each attacked the Wildcat defense in different ways, making the Lobo offense hard to contain.
"We knew their whole game was inside, so the post players had to step up our game," Sanchez said. "We were passing the ball well all night and finding the open player. We play well when we have our inside and outside game going."
The Lobos played with a lot of energy and intensity in front of a crowd of 5,938, keeping its hopes of a WNIT championship alive.
"We beat a very good team," head coach Don Flanagan said. "We played with a lot of energy and we played well on the inside, in terms of scoring, rebounding and defense."
The Lobos trailed 58-55, their biggest deficit of the game, before junior guard Molly McKinnon started a 20-4 run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. UNM scored 13 of the next 14 points to go up 71-59. After an Arizona 3-pointer, point guard Nikki Heckroth hit four free throws to close out the scoring. The Lobos lived at the free throw line during the run, connecting on 11 of 14 attempts down the stretch.
Coming into the game, the Wildcat frontcourt seemed to have an advantage against the smaller Lobos. With six players at 6-feet-1 or taller, Arizona's post players were expected to provide most of the offense. However, the Lobos' inside players responded to the challenge in a big way.
Sanchez inflicted damage from the outside, scoring 13 points on four-of-eight shooting from behind the 3-point arc. She scored 12 of those points in the first half, giving the Lobos an early boost. She opened the game's scoring with a three at the top of the key and helped open up the inside for Adams.
Adams carved up the inside, giving the Lobos a much-needed low-post threat. She scored 17 points, showing an array of post-up moves that had her defenders befuddled. She helped neutralize the Wildcats' height with 11 rebounds to give her a double-double.
"I thought Jordan maybe had her best game of the year," Flanagan said. "The way she blocked out, the way she played with intensity. She just had an awesome game."
Grear finished with a career-high 18 points on seven-of-10 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds, with four on the offensive end.
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Also aiding the win was another stellar defensive performance by UNM.
In Thursday night's 72-49 win over the University of Houston in the opening round of the NIT, the Lobos held the Cougars to 25 points below their average and to only 13 points in the first half.
Saturday's performance was just as impressive. The Wildcats averaged 79 points per game and 47 percent shooting from the field, but were held to 62 points and 40 percent shooting.
Arizona shot only three-for-21 from the 3-point line for 14 percent, and its guards shot a woeful 10-of-36 from the field.
"We're playing pretty good defense right now," Flanagan said. "I don't think we were as good a defensive team this year as in the past, but it is obvious we are improving on defense. We are helping each other out better."
UNM shot 42 percent for the game and its aggressive attacks to the basket helped rack up 35 free throw attempts, making 25. McKinnon was seven-for-eight from the charity stripe to finish with 12 points.
Adams led the way in the rebounding battle for UNM, which held a crucial 38-33 advantage over the Wildcats in that department.
"Our blocking out, I thought, was the best we had all year," Flanagan said. "We felt like rebounding was the key. We blocked them off the glass very, very well."
Arizona did have some success in the paint as forwards Veranda James and Elizabeth Pickney both scored in double figures. James scored 19 points, many of those on putbacks off of six offensive rebounds. Pickney contributed 14 points on five-of-seven shooting from the field.
With the win, UNM reached the 20 win plateau for the third time in school history and is the third-most wins for the program. UNM registered 26 wins in the 1997-1998 season and 24 wins in 1998-1999.
"We feel excited about playing in the tournament," Adams said. "We have a lot of confidence and we are having a good time. We just want to keep playing."
UNM will continue its NIT run Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at The Pit against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
