by Rob Jenkins and Audra Meiklejohn
Daily Lobo
The University of New Mexico women's basketball team earned its fourth win of the season against intrastate rivals, the New Mexico State University Aggies Tuesday night at The Pit.
The victory marks the 13th straight victory for UNM over the Aggies and the Lobos' fourth home victory of the season as they outscored NMSU 86-75 in front of a season high crowd of 8,920 fans.
The Aggies started the first half slow and the Lobos were eager to take full advantage going on an eight-point run to start the game. It would not be until 15:12, almost five minutes into the contest, that the Aggies would get on the scoreboard. By that time, it was too late.
The Aggies did, however, fight back with accurate outside shooting to get back in the game. They cut the lead to 38-29 by the half. Overall in the first half, the Aggies hit seven 3-point field goals out of 23 attempts -- scoring more first half points than any other opponent that the Lobos have faced this season. In fact, the Aggies set a single-game 3-point NCAA record last season, making 21 against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in February 2002.
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The Lobos dominated the game on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court outscoring and out-rebounding the Aggies in the paint. UNM pulled in 44 rebounds to the Aggies 33 and outscored NMSU 32 to 14 under the basket. The Aggies out-shot the Lobos from 3-point land, but in the end, it would take more than long range shooting to beat UNM at home. At the final buzzer, the Lobos had out-shot, out-rebounded and out-assisted NMSU and earned their fourth home victory.
Lobo sophomore Mandi Moore and senior Cristal Garcia shared high scoring honors with 24 points apiece. Moore also added four rebounds. Garcia pulled in five boards herself. "We know we can count on her," Moore said of Garcia after the game. "She always gives a great effort."
Other notable performances included Chelsea Grear's 12 point, seven-rebound effort and Melissa Forest's 18 points and nine boards.
Despite its admirable shooting, NMSU never got ahead of the Lobos. Playing strong man-to-man defense, UNM was able to stay in control of the game and held the lead the entire night. The Lobos made four-of-12 3-point shots overall, two coming from point guard Mandi Moore, and two from senior Cristal Garcia.
While many women's Lobos fans viewed this game as a victory, Head coach Don Flanagan saw otherwise.
"We did not play a very smart game tonight," Flanagan said. "We did not play a very poised game. We did not play a very aggressive game, that bothers me."
Moore agreed with Flanagan.
"A win is a win, but we definitely need to play much better," she said.
However disappointing the overall performance may have been, Flanagan said he glimpsed some upsides.
"Cristal's been playing well," Flanagan said. "She defended well tonight, she hit the open shots, she attacked the open basket. She was one of the few aggressive players out there. She really had a terrific game."
The Lobos look to improve their play and their record this weekend as they take on the University of Texas at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, and the University of Texas at San Antonio the following day, also at 2 p.m.
