Deep freeze: Lobo women can't find shooting touch in loss to Aztecs

Sometimes a deep dive into the stat sheet is really not necessary.

The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team shot itself into an early hole Saturday in the Pit and just kept shooting. The Lobos didn’t hit much, especially from 3-point range, but one might say they shot themselves in the collective foot in a 59-46 loss to visiting San Diego State.

Ice-cold shooting by New Mexico accounted for the most significant stat. The Lobos shot just 22.7% from the field and did themselves no favors with shot selection. UNM was 3-for-29 from 3-point range (10.3%), including 0-for-12 in the second half.

“That was not by design,” Lobos coach Mike Bradbury said. “I’ll have to look at (game video) to see if we were running bad offense, taking bad shots or both. Give San Diego State credit but we didn’t make them work very hard with our offense.”

Freshman Nayli Padilla led UNM with a season-high 12 points off the bench, and Hulda Joaquim finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. But the shooting numbers for the Lobos’ other four starters basically told the tale: Destinee Hooks 2-for-11, Alyssa Hargrove 1-for-7, Joana Magalhães 0-for-7, Viané Cumber 3-for-13. The foursome went a combined 1-for-21 from 3-point range.

San Diego State (16-7, 5-5 Mountain West) did not shoot especially well (39.3%) until the fourth quarter, when UNM’s glacial shooting and poor shot selection helped break the game open. The Lobos trimmed an 11-point first-half deficit to 42-41 after three quarters, but the Aztecs started the fourth with a 9-0 run and never looked back.

It was the third straight loss for UNM (13-10, 6-4) and extended a baffling trend in which the Lobos’ offense effectively disappears for a quarter. New Mexico scored seven points in the fourth quarter of a 77-64 loss to Fresno State, managed just 10 points in the third quarter of Wednesday’s 89-80 loss at Boise State and was outscored 17-5 in the final 10 minutes Saturday.

The Lobos defeated San Diego State 68-59 at Viejas Arena on Jan. 4, but the tone for Saturday’s rematch was set right away. UNM’s first six possessions ended with four missed 3-pointers and two turnovers, while the Aztecs worked the ball inside and raced to a 12-0 lead.

SDSU led 19-10 after one quarter and by as many as 12 points in the second. Padilla helped UNM cut into the deficit with 12 first-half points, and Cumber beat the buzzer with her only made 3-pointer to pull the Lobos to within 30-24 at halftime.

UNM continued its comeback in the third quarter, working the ball inside and limiting the Aztecs to 4-for-14 shooting. A driving layup by Hooks with three seconds left cut SDSU’s lead to one point and drew a roar from a crowd of 5,186.

“We attacked the basket,” Bradbury said of his team’s rally, “stopped shooting so many 3’s. I have no idea why we took 29 3’s.”

Joaquim could offer little explanation for the Lobos’ willingness to keep launching 3-pointers on a day when they weren’t falling.

“Viané and I kept saying it on the floor, ‘Don’t settle, we have to drive the ball. Keep doing it, even when it’s hard.’”

The advice went unheeded. UNM started the fourth quarter much as it did the first, shooting and missing 3’s on six of its first eight possessions. The Aztecs took full advantage, breaking things open for good.

SDSU outscored the Lobos 38-20 in the paint, paced by Cali Clark, who had 13 points and 17 rebounds. UNM finished with a 42-24 advantage in the paint in its earlier win in San Diego.

The Lobos won the turnover battle 15-8 and scored 13 points off turnovers to SDSU’s two. The Aztecs finished with a 53-40 rebound advantage, but that statistic was a bit skewed, Bradbury said.

“We didn’t make any shots and (the Aztecs) are going to get most of those defensive rebounds,” he said. “They beat us up in the post on offense, though. Clark and (Kim) Villalobos killed us. We didn’t rebound on defense like we should have, and they made us pay.”

UNM has a short window to look for answers before hosting Colorado State in a nationally televised game Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.

AZTECS 59, LOBOS 46

SAN DIEGO STATE (16-7, 5-5 Mountain West):

Villalobos 5-12 2-4 12, Quezada 3-5 0-0 6, Sheffey 2-4 2-2 6, Martinez 0-4 0-0 0, Panganiban 7-11 0-0 17, Clark 6-12 1-3 13, Houpt 0-2 0-0 0, Fiso 0-2 0-0 0, Barnhard 0-2 3-4 3, Green 1-6 0-0 2, Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 8-13 59.

NEW MEXICO (13-10, 6-4 Mountain West): Joaquim 4-6 2-4 10, Hooks 2-11 4-6 8, Hargrove 1-7 3-3 5, Magalhães 0-7 1-2 1, Cumber 3-13 1-2 8, Padilla 4-11 2-2 12, Moreland 1-3 0-0 2, Langermann 0-5 0-0 0, Lauro 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-66 13-19 46.

San Diego State 19 11 12 17 — 59

New Mexico 10 14 17 5 — 46

3-point FGs—SDSU 3-13 (Martinez 0-3, Panganiban 3-4, Clark 0-1, Houpt 0-2, Barnhard 0-1, Green 0-2); UNM 3-29 (Hooks 0-5, Hargrove 0-5, Magalhães 0-4, Cumber 1-7, Padilla 2-5, Langermann 0-1, Lauro 0-2). Rebounds—SDSU 53 (Villalobos 5, Quezada 3, Sheffey 2, Martinez 8, Panganiban 4, Clark 17, Houpt 5, Barnhard 1, Green 2, Hamilton 1); UNM 40 (Joaquim 8, Hooks 3, Hargrove 3, Magalhães 2, Cumber 3, Padilla 7, Moreland 5, Langermann 1, Lauro 2). Assists—SDSU 16 (Villalobos 2, Quezada 2, Sheffey 1, Martinez 5, Panganiban 3, Houpt 1, Green 1, Hamilton 1); UNM 7 (Hargrove 2, Magalhães 1, Padilla 2, Langermann 1, Lauro 1). Steals—SDSU 5 (Villalobos 1, Quezada 1, Sheffey 1, Green 1, Hamilton 1); UNM 9 (Hooks 2, Hargrove 2, Magalhães 2, Cumber 1, Padilla 2). Blocks—SDSU 6 (Villalobos 2, Sheffey 1, Clark 2, Green 1); UNM 5 (Joaquim 1, Hargrove 3, Moreland 1). Turnovers—SDSU 15, UNM 8. Team fouls—SDSU 18, UNM 13. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None.