Fourth-quarter flop dooms UNM women in loss to Fresno State

The UNM women’s basketball team got slapped with a painful reality check Saturday afternoon in the Pit.

Visiting Fresno State put four solid quarters together while the Lobos came up a quarter short. The result: Fresno State 77, New Mexico 64.

After trailing by as many as 10 points, the Bulldogs dominated the fourth quarter and finished the game with a stunning 24-5 run. FSU (13-8, 4-4 Mountain West) outshot, outrebounded and simply outplayed the Lobos over the game’s final minutes.

Standout junior Mia Jacobs led the way for Fresno State with an impressive stat line (20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals). Jacobs hit four of the Bulldogs’ 12 3-pointers, while UNM was a chilly 7-for-25 from long range.

Viané Cumber paced the Lobos with 19 points, and Destinee Hooks scored 17, but they were the only double-figure scorers for New Mexico. Four players scored 10 or more for Fresno State.

The one-sided fourth quarter was hard to see coming. UNM (13-8, 6-2) led 55-45 after a Joana Magalhães bank shot with 1:09 left in the third. The Lobos took a 57-50 advantage into the final 10 minutes, but made just two field goals, grabbed just two rebounds and were effectively swamped the rest of the way.

Lobos coach Mike Bradbury credited the Bulldogs for staying locked into their game plan, something he said UNM failed to do.

“Our mental approach was not good enough,” he said. “In the fourth quarter we got horrible shots, didn’t run the offense and (the Bulldogs) were in transition the whole quarter. Even before that, we were not really locked into what we were supposed to be doing. Fresno State’s good, they’re well-coached and they made us pay.”

Saturday’s result might have seemed unlikely as UNM was coming off a pair of impressive road wins at Colorado State and Utah State. The Bulldogs had suffered consecutive blowout losses to Air Force and UNLV.

Did the Lobos overlook Fresno State? Bradbury did not go that far but said he was disappointed in the Lobos mindset Saturday.

“We were so good in game prep Thursday and Friday,” he said, “then (Saturday) in shoot-around, it looked we didn’t want to play a ballgame. You have to be committed to knowing the game plan and being ready to execute it. I have to do a better job making sure we are committed.”

Fresno State cashed in early and often on UNM mistakes, beating the Lobos’ ball screen pressure for wide-open 3-point looks. It forced UNM to back off from its aggressive traps and allowed the Bulldogs to get comfortable in their offense.

The Lobos effectively matched FSU shot for shot in the first half. Cumber drained three 3-pointers, Hooks hit two more and a tight first half ended with the score tied at 37-37.

UNM then seemed to be gaining control in the third quarter. Hargrove cashed in a three-point play during a 12-3 run that gave the Lobos a 49-40 lead. Hargrove finished with seven points and seven assists.

But after Hooks hit a jumper to give the home team a 59-53 lead with 8:39 left, the wheels fell off. Jacobs and Danae Powell combined for 10 points during a 12-2 run that gave Fresno State a 65-61 lead. Things got worse when Magalhães turned the ball over, complained that she was fouled and picked up a technical with 3:44 left.

The Lobos scored just five points over the final eight minutes as the Bulldogs pulled away.

UNM will return to practice Sunday to begin preparations for a road game Tuesday at Boise State. Bradbury hopes Saturday’s late flop will serve as a wake-up call.

“That was the postgame talk,” he said. “We told the players they need to have a solid answer by (Sunday) about why our mental approach was what it was. I want to get back to practice right away and get better.”

With the loss, the Lobos slipped into a second-place MW tie with Colorado State, a 61-56 winner at Wyoming on Saturday.

UNM did not lose ground to first-place UNLV, which lost 59-58 at San Diego State. The Aztecs were coming off a home loss to San Jose State on Wednesday.

BULLDOGS 77, LOBOS 64

FRESNO STATE (13-8, 4-4 Mountain West):

Konstantinidou 5-8 0-0 10, Jacobs 6-18 4-5 20, Fox 2-6 1-2 7, Elohim 4-7 0-0 11, Ukkonen 5-11 0-0 13, Williams 3-4 0-3 6, Powell 3-3 0-0 9, LeSueur 0-1 1-2 1, Griffiths 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 9-15 77.

NEW MEXICO (13-8, 6-2 Mountain West):

Joaquim 4-6 0-2 8, Hooks 6-12 2-4 17, Hargrove 3-9 1-1 7, Magalhães 2-9 0-0 4, Cumber 7-15 1-2 19, Langermann 1-3 0-0 2, Jordon 0-0 0-0 0, Moreland 1-1 2-2 4, Lauro 0-3 0-0 0, Po 1-1 1-2 3, Padilla 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-59 7-13 64.

Fresno State 15 22 13 27 — 77

New Mexico 16 21 20 7 — 64

3-point FGs: FS 12-27 (Jacobs 4-10, Fox 2-4, Elohim 3-6, Ukkonen 3-7); NM 7-25 (Hooks 3-6, Hargrove 0-1, Magalhães 0-3, Cumber 4-11, Langermann 0-2, Lauro 0-2). Rebounds: FS 38 (Konstantinidou 9, Jacobs 10, Fox 3, Elohim 1, Ukkonen 6, Williams 3, Powell 3); NM 30 (Joaquim 6, Hooks 3, Hargrove 3, Magalhães 4, Cumber 3, Langermann 2, Moreland 4, Lauro 1, Po 1). Assists: FS 22 (Jacobs 4, Fox 3, Elohim 4, Ukkonen 4, Powell 7); NM 17 (Joaquim 1, Hooks 1, Hargrove 7, Magalhães 3, Cumber 2, Jordon 1, Moreland 1, Padilla 1). Steals: FS 5 (Jacobs 2, Elohim 1, Powell 2); NM 9 (Joaquim 1, Hooks 1, Hargrove 1, Magalhães 3, Cumber 1, Langermann 1, Moreland 1). Blocks: FS 2 (Jacobs 1, Ukkonen 1); NM 3 (Hooks 1, Moreland 2). Turnovers: FS 15, NM 9. Team fouls: FS 13, NM 16. Fouled out: None. Technical foul: NM Magalhães.