Lobo women stampede to exhibition win at UT Arlington

Different state, different competition level, similar results.

The UNM women’s basketball team dominated the second and third quarters and coasted to a 79-56 exhibition road win at UT Arlington on Tuesday. Five players scored in double figures for the Lobos, who led by as many as 33 points early in the fourth quarter.

Much like in UNM’s previous exhibition win, 81-35 over Adams State, coach Mike Bradbury gave extended minutes to all 13 players, mixing and matching his rotations ahead of next week’s regular-season opener against Northern Arizona. No Lobo played more than 20 minutes on Tuesday.

“It really was very similar to our first exhibition game,” Bradbury said. “We were solid defensively, rebounded everything and our offense looked pretty good for three quarters. The fourth quarter was a little sloppy, which needs to improve, but overall I thought we got a lot out of the trip.”

Joana Magalhães scored 15 points to lead the Lobos, who led 18-14 after one quarter and took command with a 20-10 surge in the second. Magalhães sparked an 11-0 run in the third quarter as UNM’s lead ballooned to 64-32, allowing Bradbury to finish things out with his starters on the bench.

Despite their relatively limited playing time, starters Destinee Hooks (13 points), Alyssa Hargrove (11) and Nayli Padilla (11) scored in double figures. Hargrove, Padilla and Magalhães combined to go 6-for-8 from 3-point range.

UNM finished 9-for-24 from beyond the arc, while UTA was an ice-cold 0-for-18.

The Lobos also forced 21 Lady Mavs turnovers, leading directly to 30 UNM points. Kira Reynolds scored 16 points to lead UTA.

Cacia Antonio chipped in 10 points and three steals off the bench for the Lobos, who also got seven points from Drew Jordon. Antonio is ineligible for UNM’s first three regular-season games due to her participation on a club team in her native Angola during the COVID pandemic.

Tuesday’s contest was not always a thing of beauty as the teams combined for 48 fouls and 56 free throws. But matching up against a talented Division I foe on the road provided the type of instruction Bradbury felt his team needed.

“Our flight (to Dallas) was late (Monday) night,” he said, “so we had to deal with that. Then, the game ran long so we had to hustle to get to the airport for our flight back — the normal travel issues we’ll face all year. This was really good for us, perfect preparation.”

The Lobos open the regular season at home against Northern Arizona on Monday at 7 p.m.