Lobos fall in surprise loss to Wolf Pack

The UNM women's basketball team and visiting Nevada basically ignored the script Saturday at the Pit.

The Wolf Pack blew off their usual offensive shortcomings and road woes and blew past the Lobos in the fourth quarter for a 70-61 victory.

Ahrray Young put on a show for the visitors with 20 points, seven assists, three steals and even lost her wig momentarily after battling for a loose ball in the fourth quarter.

Nevada (7-9, 3-3 Mountain West) looked nothing like the team that came in ranking last in the conference in several key offensive stats. Nor did the Wolf Pack look like a team that had been 0-8 in games away from Reno's Lawlor Events Center this season.

On the other hand, New Mexico (12-5, 4-2) came in having won six of its last seven, including an impressive road win Wednesday at Colorado State. The Lobos led the league in rebound margin and steals, and had been a disruptive force defensively.

You wouldn't have known it Saturday.

UNM got pummeled on the boards (42-30) and could not come up with defensive stops when it mattered. Nevada outscored the Lobos 22-8 in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of a scrambled Lobos defense for numerous layups and open jumpers.

"Disappointing effort all around," Lobos coach Mike Bradbury said. "Nevada played harder, was more physical and deserves all the credit. We've been ready to play every game, but today Nevada was more ready than we were. That's my job, to have us ready, and I obviously didn't do it well enough. The excitement and energy we usually have wasn't there."

Destinee Hooks scored 13 points, and Joanna Magalhaes had 11 to lead the Lobos, but no one was able to rise to the occasion for UNM down the stretch. Hooks and Magalhaes scored 22 of their combined 24 points in the first half.

The Lobos' other three starting guards, Alyssa Hargrove, Cacia Antonio and Nayli Padilla, combined for six field goals and nine turnovers.

"The biggest thing was rebounding," Hooks said. "Nevada got so many second-chance points and I feel like they just wanted it more than we did. We have to do a better job on the boards."

Second and third chances allowed the Wolf Pack to keep things close early. UNM led 26-17 after a Hooks 3-pointer with 3:36 left in the second quarter, but Nevada trimmed the deficit to 33-31 by halftime and appeared to be gaining confidence. Young drilled a pair of late 3-pointers in the closing minutes of the first half.

"We just let her do whatever she wanted," Bradbury said of Young. "We really took nothing away defensively. We spent two days working on two particular things and we didn't do either one."

Antonio was just 3-for-12 shooting on the day, but she scored seven straight UNM points late in the third quarter, including a long 3-pointer that gave the Lobos a 53-48 lead.

It didn't last long In the fourth quarter. Nevada reeled off 11 straight points to open the final period and snuffed out any momentum the home team might have had. While the Wolf Pack hit eight of its first nine shots in the fourth quarter, UNM went 3-for-15 from the field, 1-for-4 from the foul line and turned the ball over seven times.

"We kind of lost our composure on offense in the fourth quarter," Bradbury said. "We started going one-on-one, forcing up quick shots, and on the other end we couldn't get any stops.

Skyler Durley scored 15 points for Nevada, which won its third straight game after a seven-game losing skid. Antonio scored nine points, and Laila Abdurraqib added eight for the Lobos, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

UNM will visit Mountain West co-leader San Diego State for a noon tip Wednesday. It's the only meeting between the Lobos and Aztecs this season.