The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team faced off at The Pit against its rival, the New Mexico State University Aggies, on Friday, Dec. 6. The Lobos fell to the Aggies 81-71.
The Lobos move to 5-4 in the season, unable to rack up some wins before facing conference rivals starting at the end of this month.
The tone for the night was set very early. It was a back-and-forth battle between both teams until the fourth quarter, when the Lobos couldn't keep up with the Aggies.
Head Coach Mike Bradbury said he was disappointed with the loss and that the Lobos were overwhelmed by the Aggies.
“They beat us for forty straight minutes,” Bradbury said. “We just stood in no-man’s land.”
The game was intense, with UNM and NMSU tying five times with 13 lead changes. The game could have gone either way, but the Aggies made more plays.
In the second half, trouble started brewing for the Lobos. The Rio Grande Rivalry game went point-for-point from 38-38, 42-42 and 44-44 in the third quarter. The Lobos were scraping by as the Aggies gained momentum on offense.
The Lobos gave NMSU 21 points from turnovers. In the third quarter, the Lobos outscored the Aggies 25-16 and allowed them to go on an 8-point scoring run. The Lobos struggled with offense, going 4 for 12 from the field and 1 for 2 on 3-pointers.
The Lobos plagued themselves with fouls and allowed the Aggies to rack up points off free throws.
Guard Destinee Hooks said she thinks the third quarter went sour because of Lobo mistakes.
“I think we just gave up a lot of shots on defense,” Hooks said. “We fouled too much and couldn't come up in the rebound in the end.”
Starting the fourth quarter down by 8, the Lobos made an effort to come back but still struggled with the same mistakes made in the third.
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The Lobos failed to capitalize on offense by missing free throws and shots, and losing the ball to turnovers. This allowed the Aggies to widen the gap, winning the game by 10.
Bradbury said he will do a better job at preparing the Lobos to face the Aggies again.
“I don’t think we were very motivated tonight. I did a poor job at having our team ready to play,” Bradbury said. “We were soundly beaten for forty minutes.”
On Sunday, Dec. 8, the Lobos faced the Aggies again in Las Cruces. They lost 68-60.
Izabella Kubiak-Reseigh is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobocom or on X @kubiakizabella
