Lobos get blown out at Boise State

One bad shooting quarter tends to be a problem. Three in the same game is more like a nightmare.

That effectively sums up the UNM women's basketball team's Saturday afternoon in Boise, Idaho. The Lobos simply could not hit shots from anywhere and eventually landed on the wrong end of a 63-35 blowout loss to host Boise State.

UNM's four-game winning streak came to jarring halt, while the Broncos extended their hot streak to nine consecutive wins.

One-sided as the outcome was, the rout did not carry over to every area. The Lobos' defense was largely effective, racking up 13 steals and holding the high-scoring Broncos nine points below their season average. The 63 points matched Boise State's total in a 70-63 loss to UNM at the Pit on Dec. 17.

Nor did the Lobos throw up a lot of quick or contested shots. They worked for open 3-pointers and later attacked the basket for numerous layup opportunities — and missed nearly all of them.

UNM shot just 25% from the field and was limited to single-digit points in each of the first three quarters, finishing with one of its lowest point totals in recent memory.

"At some point you've got to make a shot," Lobos coach Mike Bradbury said. "For the majority of the game we played good defense and played hard. We got the shots we wanted most of the game, too. We just couldn't make anything. It was kind of unbelievable."

The Lobos narrowly avoided the program record for fewest points in a conference game — 33 in a 1975 loss to Arizona — and were held under 40 points for the first time since 2015. No one reached double-figure points for the Lobos, who were paced by Destinee Hooks with eight.

Hooks was as cold from the floor as the rest of her teammates (2-for-13) and spent most of the day in foul trouble. In fact, Hooks' third foul early in the second quarter seemed to tilt the Lobos' fortunes from bad to awful.

Boise State led 12-8 after a sluggish first quarter and the margin was just 14-13 after a Hooks three-point play with 8:24 left in the second. But UNM's leading scorer was called for a reach-in foul on the ensuing possession and spent the rest of the half on the bench.

The Broncos then went on a 14-4 run to take a 28-17 lead to halftime.

"That was absolutely the turning point," Bradbury said, "but it wasn't just that Destinee was out. (Magalhaes and Alyssa Hargrove) both picked up two fouls and we went without them for an extended stretch. It shouldn't have changed things as much as it did, but that's where the trouble started."

With their 3-point shooters struggling, the Lobos began attacking the basket regularly in the third quarter. Their drives were effective. Their shots were not.

UNM attempted — and missed — eight shots, five of them layups, before Boise State's first basket of the second half. Finally, the Broncos' offense began to warm up and BSU scored 14 straight points to make the score 42-17 and effectively lock up the win.

Natalie Pasco scored 16 points and Libby Hutton had 11 for Boise State as both teams substituted liberally in the fourth quarter. Magalhaes had seven points for the Lobos, while Cacia Antonio had six points and six steals. Jessie Joaquim grabbed 10 rebounds but did not score.

UNM wil look to hit the reset button with back-to-back home games. The Lobos host San Jose State on Wednesday and take on Colorado State on Valentine's Day.