by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
The Lobos still had a bitter taste in their mouths after last week's 70-59 loss to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
So this time, they weren't going to let another second-half lead slip away.
The No. 3-seeded UNM women's basketball team sprinted out to a 21-point lead and never looked back in an 80-52 thrashing of the No. 6-seeded Runnin' Rebels on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
The win sets up a semifinal matchup for the Lobos with the Wyoming Cowgirls, who beat San Diego State on Wednesday in their opening round game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Guard Katie Montgomery said the Lobos didn't forget the last meeting with the Rebels.
"I think we were motivated," she said. "We knew we didn't play really well last time here. We kind of had the game, kind of let it slip through our hands, so we wanted to come out intense from the very beginning."
UNM (22-8 overall, 12-5 in the MWC) did just that, as it put a choke hold on the Rebels (14-15, 8-9) in the opening minutes, holding them scoreless for more than seven minutes.
UNLV, which had a 16-2 series advantage all time over UNM at home before Wednesday, did not score until the 12:45 mark and made its first field goal with 10:17 remaining in the first half.
While the Rebels couldn't find an offensive rhythm early in the game, the Lobos were cruising. UNM hit seven of its first 10 field-goal attempts and finished 58 percent shooting from the field.
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UNM head coach Don Flanagan said the impressive start was all the Lobos needed.
"We started out very well," he said. "We don't normally start out that well, but the beginning of the game was excellent for us."
Dionne Marsh put on a stellar performance for the Lobos, scoring 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. She also grabbed five rebounds, dished out five assists and was 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.
Montgomery had a solid all-around game, scoring 17 points to go along with eight assists. Julie Briody and Valeria Kast added 12 points each.
Brandi Kimble scored nine points and was a headache for the Rebels on the defensive end. She pressured UNLV's guards all game and finished with a game-high seven steals. Kimble also grabbed seven boards.
And while the Lobos forced the Rebels into 23 turnovers, UNM did not turn the ball over until the 13:05 mark in the first half.
Flanagan said keeping control of the game was vital.
"Our game plan was to take care of the ball in the backcourt - not give them any turnovers where they can score in transition," he said.
UNM took a 40-18 lead into halftime and used a 17-1 run in the second half to blow the game open. UNLV pressured late in the game, but it never slowed down the Lobo offense.
The Rebels failed to go on any extended runs as UNM scored from everywhere after halftime.
Flanagan said Wednesday's win might have been the most complete game this Lobo squad has played this year.
"We put together a whole game that I thought maybe was our best game of the whole season," he said. "I was real happy with the effort."
