Melissa Forest had 19 points and 15 rebounds in the Lobos' route of the Wyoming Cowgirls, 58-39 Thursday at The Pit.
Forest went 6 of 8 from the floor and 7 of 7 from the free-throw line and did not miss a shot until there was 3:46 remaining.
UNM head coach Don Flanagan said Forest plays best in physical games. He said he strategically got after her early on for not blocking out and getting rebounds.
"I try to get her a little bit mad," he said. "And then I hope she goes in and takes it out on them."
The Lobos' win paired with Utah's loss to UNLV on Thursday, brings UNM into a tie for first in the Mountain West Conference. If the Lobos beat Colorado State on Saturday at The Pit, they will go into next week's conference tournament as the No. 1 seed. The 11-2 Lobos have not lost a conference game at home this season.
But in the first half of Thursday's game, it looked like the Lobos would take their first blow in front of the home crowd.
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UNM was struggling and the University of Wyoming was the definition of sharp-shooter in the first, as the Cowgirls came out strong and scored on five of their first six shots. Wyoming forward Kristen Lenhardt made three consecutive 3-pointers and had nine points in the first four-and-a-half minutes.
"When that girl banked in that shot I was like 'It's going to be a long night,'" junior guard Mandi Moore said.
Lenhardt was accountable for 14 of Wyoming's first 19 points.
Moore set a school record Thursday night and became the UNM all-time leader in assists. She finished the night with a 472 career assists, besting the school record by three.
Wyoming led nearly the entire first half and the Lobos would not have been able to keep up had they not been crashing the boards and getting second and third shots on each possession.
Lenhardt had 15 points in the first half, including 6 of 8 from the floor and 3 of 3 from the perimeter.
Finally, midway through the first half freshman guard Katie Montgomery hit a three for UNM, to even the score at 19. Sophomore guard Abbie Letz hit another trey with just under three minutes to play to give UNM the lead for the first time.
The Lobos went in to the break leading 35-31.
The second half was a completely different story. Whatever happened to Wyoming in the locker room at intermission remains a mystery, but a different team emerged in the latter period.
Wyoming shot an astounding 10.3 percent in the second for eight points, while the Lobos reeled off 23..
"They didn't shoot well the second half, but that was because we were right on them," Flanagan said. "I don't think you can say anything else other than we really played well on defense."
The Lobo women's basketball team will play its last home game Saturday afternoon when they play host to the Rams. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
