The Lobos made a statement in their 74-54 victory over the Colorado State University, Saturday.
The Rams (14-11, 5-6 MWC) needed to be humbled after beating the top two MWC teams earlier in the week. The Lobos (16-7 6-4 MWC) took it upon themselves to do just that.
On its home floor, CSU triumphed over BYU and Utah. The Rams are the only MWC team to beat the Utes so far this year. Unfortunately for the Rams, however, they weren't in Moby Arena, Saturday night -- they were in The Pit -- and they were in for a surprise.
After beating the Lobos by 66-53 in Fort Collins, Colo., last month, perhaps CSU underestimated UNM.
According to point guard Mandi Moore, effort was the biggest difference in the two meetings between these teams this season.
"We just wanted it a lot more," she said. "We were watching film from last time -- it was just bad."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Both teams came out looking sloppy, opening the game with four turnovers and a couple of fouls. Senior forward, Chelsea Grear scored the first points of the night from the free-throw line.
The Rams matched the free throws on the next play and the Lobos followed with the first deadly 3-pointer from senior guard Cristal Garcia. Garcia foreshadowed what was to come.
Later, UNM ended a four-minute scoring drought when center Jordan Adams took a pass from point guard, Mandi Moore, for a layup to get the Lobos back on track.
Sophomore forward Melissa Forest, Grear and freshman guard Abby Letz all contributed to build a six-point lead for UNM.
Playing confidently and aggressively as the period wound down, Garcia took a hard tumble on a drive, drawing a foul, and scoring at the line. Garcia gave UNM a nine-point advantage.
However, buckets from CSU's Shannon Strecker and Joy Jenkins rapidly cut UNM's lead down to one and the Lobos appeared to be in trouble.
With the first half clock running down to 25 seconds, Garcia broke the Rams' 10-0 run with another 3-pointer to give UNM a 24-20 advantage at the break.
The second half started with a pair of free throws from Adams and a 3-pointer from Garcia.
The Rams tried to counter Garcia's shots, with long distance attempts of their own.
At times, their offense was successful, getting open looks for Strecker, forward Jackie Campbell and guard Katie Borton. Though they were wide open looks, CSU could only hit brick after brick.
There was no stopping Garcia, she hit six-out-of-seven from behind the 3-point line and three-for-four from the free-throw line.
Head coach Don Flanagan commended Garcia on getting herself open and on her sharp shooting.
"What I really liked was that she didn't force anything," he said. "She has been playing admirably."
Garcia finished with a career-high 21 points.
"I just try to go in and help my team," Garcia said. "I always try to be confident and have fun."
Grear had a stellar night as well, recording 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists and a steal. Adams also contributed 12 points and nine boards and sophomore Lindsey Ardnt added 11 points and six rebounds.
The Lobos shut down CSU's renowned offensive weapon, Ashley Augspurger, holding her to only two points on the night -- both of which came from the charity stripe.
UNM fans at The Pit are notorious for intimidating visiting opponents and they were especially merciless to the Rams.
At the two-minute warning, University Arena was overwhelmingly filled with echoes of jingling keys and 14,561 proud Lobo fans chanting "load up the bus."
The Lobos will be on the road this week, traveling to Las Vegas to face the Rebels on Thursday, and the San Diego State Aztecs, Saturday. UNM finishes up the regular season next week with two home games, hosting BYU and Utah.
