Lobo women show progress, roll past Western New Mexico

A postgame basketball stat sheet doesn’t always tell the story. This time it did.

The University of New Mexico women’s basketball controlled pretty much every aspect of Friday night’s 85-56 victory over Western New Mexico at the Pit. The result was expected as the Lobos (2-2) steadily built a comfortable lead against the Division II Mustangs, but the contest gave UNM what it needed most — playing time.

All 12 Lobos in turquoise uniforms got at least five minutes of action and 10 scored. Destinee Hooks collected a game-high 15 points in 19 minutes, while starters Viané Cumber (13 points), Alyssa Hargrove (10) and Hulda Joaquim (12) scored in double figures.

But big numbers for the starters were not what UNM coach Mike Bradbury was looking for Friday. Getting important minutes for bench players, who figure to be needed as the season wears on, was a bigger priority.

“We’ve got a deep team and they can all play,” Bradbury said. “The last few years we’ve had kind of a short bench. Now we’ve got depth and we’ve got to keep a lot of people playing. You never know when an injury or something’s going to happen and we need to get our young players up to speed and ready to go.”

It was mission accomplished for the Lobos on Friday, who played effectively with various lineups. That included a group of five newcomers (three freshmen and two transfers), who finished the game and put an end to UNM’’s streak of shaky fourth quarters.

“That was really encouraging,” Bradbury said. “That group hasn’t played together a lot and they did a nice job closing it out.”

The Lobos won basically every statistical category except 3-point percentage. Western hit 6-of-16 from long range (37.5%), while UNM was 7-for-26 (26.9%).

But the most telling stats came in the “hustle” categories. UNM outscored the Mustangs 29-9 in points off turnovers, 56-28 in points in the paint, 21-2 in second-chance points, and 13-4 in fast-break points.

Hargrove got the hosts off and running with a strong first quarter. The senior scored nine of her 10 points and had four steals as the Lobos shook off an early 6-2 deficit and built a 21-14 lead.

“It’s a bit of an adjustment for me because I’m not used to starting that much,” Hargrove said. “I’m used to seeing how the game is going from the bench and just trying to impact it when I come in. Now I have to figure it out on the fly, so I kind of rely on defense to get me going.”

UNM effectively secured the outcome with a 16-5 run in the second quarter. Joaguim scored six points in the paint — two on a steal and fast-break layup — as the Lobos’ lead ballooned to 37-20.

From that point on, Bradbury began stacking up bench minutes for his team. The starters returned to open the second half, but reserves got most of the minutes in the second half.

“We’re still going day to day with our rotations,” Bradbury said. “I was happy to see 12 players get in tonight and we were still able to execute the way we wanted to.”

To its credit, Western New Mexico also executed well for much of the night and knocked down open shots when it had them. Nxerro Maluw had 11 points for the Mustangs, which used 13 players in what counts as an exhibition game for them.

“I’ve known (first-year WNMU coach) Brenda Nichols for a long time, and she’ll get that program up and running pretty quick,” Bradbury said. “They did a lot of things right tonight. Hopefully, both teams got what they needed from this game.”

The Lobos host South Carolina State on Wednesday, then begin a difficult stretch that includes Gonzaga, UC Irvine and North Texas, all at home.

UNM women's basketball team takes on Western New Mexico