It may not have been the prettiest win, but the UNM women's basketball team will take it.
In a contest that was close for more than 30 minutes, the Lobos pulled away late to beat San Diego State 63-54 on Wednesday at The Pit.
UNM looked sloppy at times, but head coach Don Flanagan said he didn't expect a win to come easy against the Aztecs.
"It's going to be a grind anytime you play them," he said. "It's going to be a sloppy contest. It's going to be difficult for us."
Dionne Marsh led UNM with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Brandi Kimble added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.
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The Aztecs were led by Jene Morris, who scored 12 points and grabbed two rebounds.
Wednesday's game was a close-fought battle the majority of the time, until UNM started a 14-4 run at the 9:11 mark. The Lobos built up a 17-point lead with 2:09 remaining after an Eileen Weissman jumper.
Kimble said the Lobos were able to execute effectively in the paint, which led to the big run.
"I think we did a good job of hitting the middle and cutting off," she said. "But we still have to take care of the ball, myself included. That's what we've got to work on."
It was a mistake-prone game for both teams. San Diego State had 21 turnovers while the Lobos coughed it up 22 times.
And the errors put a damper on UNM's momentum. After building a 59-42 lead, the Lobos' breakdowns on offense let the Aztecs go on a 12-4 run to end the game.
Point guard Amy Beggin went out with three minutes left, and the Lobos struggled to move the ball against San Diego State's full-court press.
Flanagan said UNM needed to handle the end of the game better.
"I was disappointed in our last four minutes of the game," he said. "We had like a 15, 16 point lead and then we gave it right back to them. You have to watch out against a team like that, because they can run up lots of numbers, lots of points, in a very short period of time."
Still, Flanagan said he was pleased with how UNM broke away from San Diego State's tough defense to pull out the win.
He said it was an important step in moving forward in the Mountain West Conference.
"It's a good win," he said. "It's a win against a team that was in the same position as us. Puts us ahead of them. That's big for us."
Women's
basketball at TCU
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Fort Worth, Texas
