LAS VEGAS, Nev. — In order to make a big run in the postseason, the UNM women’s basketball team had to first make a little one.
And the Lobos can thank second-year guard Sara Halasz and post player Valerie Kast for the nice little flicker they provided.
Halasz helped UNM defeat Colorado State 67-54 in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Tuesday. Kast finished with 8 points and four rebounds, but had two crucial blocks at the end of the first half.
Still, CSU played inspired, not allowing the Lobos to pull away late, Halasz said.
“They are a good team, and you just have to come back and fight no matter if they hit shots or not,” she said.
But Halasz brawled furiously, especially against one of the MWC’s top scorers.
She was handed the task of guarding CSU forward Kim Mestdagh, the Rams leading scorer during the regular season with 16.4 points per game. Halasz also hit a career-high four 3-pointers, a first-round record.
Only 20 seconds into the second half, Halasz hit a 3-pointer to put the Lobos up by 10. Halasz scored five points within the first four minutes of the second half.
“I thought the key to the game probably was the first four minutes of the second half,” said head women’s basketball coach Don Flanagan. “We came out, played well, shot well, and then the momentum changed somewhere around 10 minutes to go. They’re very difficult to defend. They push the ball down the floor with good quickness at the little guards and good shooters at the big guards.”
After a pair of missed 3-pointers by the Rams, Halasz scooped up the defensive rebounds. UNM pushed up the floor, followed by another 3-pointer by Eileen Weismann, which put the Lobos up by 13 points.
The Rams battled back, getting most of their points from post play.
Chatilla van Grinsven took six of CSU’s first seven free throws, and at one point in the second half, had attempted 12-of-14 for the Rams. She finished with 16 points and six rebounds.
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Lobo center Valerie Kast forced CSU to take more perimeter shots down the stretch and eventually forced van Grinsven into foul trouble.
With 13:07 left in the game, van Grinsven was forced to sit with her third foul.
With the Rams’ lack of size, van Grinsven and CSU didn’t have an answer for Kast, who is four inches taller than anybody on the CSU roster.
Kast had two big blocks and a lay-up before the end of the first half.
“I thought Val’s block was a positive,” Flanagan said. “It got the crowd into it. That’s one thing I want to say. A lot of times when things happen good for your team late in the half, it gives you momentum.”
Back came CSU, pulling to within two points with 6:41.
But Halasz stunted Mestdagh and the Rams didn’t score for the last six minutes of the game, while UNM closed on a 11-0 run.
Halasz, however, was mum at the podium.
“(I was) just going and working hard,” she said. “Scoring, defense, everything. Just going in and not letting my opponent score on me.”
