The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team took down the Fresno State Bulldogs 84-77 on Wednesday, Jan. 24, making the Lobos third straight win.
The Lobos are now 14-6 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
The Lobos had a very balanced offense against the Bulldogs with four Lobos scoring in double-digits. Nyah Wilson led the team in scoring with 24 points and went 10-12 at the free throw line.
Wilson is going through Mountain West play for the first time this season. After the game, she talked about how fun it is to play against teams that have different styles.
“It feels great playing in this league because I feel like (there is) good competition,” Wilson said. “Everyone is good in this league, everyone has their own grit, everyone has their own way of how they run a team. I just think it’s really cool playing against teams that bring the same energy and actually want to win, and want to show that type of determination.”
Paula Reus had a hot start to the game and shot 4-4 from the three-point line – finishing the game with 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
After the game, Reus talked about her shooting performance. Along with fans encouraging her, Rues said she went into the game thinking of her grandfather.
“At the beginning of the game, I said a prayer that I was going to play for my grandpa, so maybe he helped me with that. I felt like it was my day,” Reus said.
Aniyah Augmon was the reigning conference player of the week, scoring 18 points and five rebounds. Vianè Cumber had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Bulldogs had three double-digit scorers. They were led by Mia Jacobs who scored 24 points with 4-8 shooting from the three-point line. She also had eight rebounds and four assists. Kylee Fox scored 16 points and made four of her nine three-pointers.
The University of New Mexico only had seven turnovers and, once again, won the free throw battle going to 21-25. Fresno State went 6-9 on free throws.
Turnovers were a point of emphasis going into the game, according to Head Coach Mike Bradbury.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“(Fresno) does a really good job of turning people over … So that was a big thing for us tonight – to make sure we took care of the ball, and we did that. We did it against the press and in the halfcourt as well,” Bradbury said.
Reus started the game with a layup and hit a three-pointer to put the Lobos up early. Wilson drove to the basket and hit a pair of free throws to put the Lobos up 9-3 at the first media timeout with 4:54 left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs started to get their offense going by driving the lane for layups. The Lobos were up 19-13 going into the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs hit four of their 11 three-pointers in the second quarter, but the Lobos were relentless with driving to the lane. Wilson and Augmon combined for 13 points in the quarter and 7-8 from the free throw line. UNM was up 37-36 at the end of the half.
Fresno took the lead early into the third quarter with a layup and later went on a 8-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers to go up by four, but Cumber hit a three-pointer to cut their lead to 48-47 with 4:39 left in the quarter.
The Lobos started getting back to the basket and got back their lead the way it was originally built – driving the land and making free throws. UNM finished the quarter up 58-54.
The Lobos were able to pull away in the fourth quarter by earning their free throws and Cumber and Reus combining for three three-pointers over a three-minute stretch of the game. The Lobos won 84-77.
The Lobos will play in Colorado against San José State on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
Thomas Bulger is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @thomasbulger10
Thomas Bulger is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @thomasbulger10
