UNM WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Lobos roll over Bulldogs, stay hot heading into Mountain West tournament
UNM routs Fresno State in home finale, head to conference tournament as 4-seed
The UNM women's basketball team checked all the requisite boxes Tuesday night at the Pit.
Fifth straight victory — check. The Lobos shot a sizzling 60.7% from the field and rolled to an 86-64 win over Fresno State in their home finale.
Mountain West tournament momentum-builder — check. Destinee Hooks poured in 22 points, Joana Magalhães added 19 and Cacia Antonio extended her recent hot streak with 13 points and nine rebounds to help send UNM off to Las Vegas on a high note.
Tournament bye secure — check. UNM (22-9, 14-6) wrapped up the No. 4 seed for the MWC tournament and will play the winner of Saturday's 5-12 matchup on Sunday at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center. Boise State visits UNLV on Wednesday with the loser finishing as the No. 5 seed.
Crowd-pleaser — check. Hooks, Magalhães, Antonio and Nayli Padilla all dropped in highlight-reel baskets, and a crowd of 4,452 gave the Lobos a standing ovation when coach Mike Bradbury emptied his bench with a little more than a minute left in the game.
"First thing, I really want to thank our fans," said Bradbury, who received a commemorative ball and a pregame round of applause for earning his 200th UNM win last week at Utah State.
"This is the end of 10 years here and it's been a really good 10 for me and my family," he added. "We've won a lot of games, had some success and I hope we have more success coming up in Vegas."
The Lobos enjoyed plenty of success Tuesday, trailing for only 29 seconds early in the first quarter. Hooks scored seven quick points and Padilla drilled a 3-pointer during a 12-0 run that gave UNM a 16-6 lead with 3:28 left in the first quarter. The visiting Bulldogs — despite some hot shooting from 3-point range — spent the rest of the night playing catch-up.
"Having a game like this is super big going into the tournament," said Hooks, who went 9-for-13 from the field. "We've had some struggles in the past but we stayed together as a team through the ups and downs. I think we all knew the shots would fall eventually."
Some of Tuesday's shots were on the dazzling side. Hooks cashed in a pair of driving scoop shots — one with each hand, Padilla swished a pivoting hook shot from 10 feet out, Antonio banked in a ridiculous shot over her shoulder while facing away from the basket, and Magalhães rattled in several of her twisting, turning shots over taller defenders.
"I'm always just looking for opportunities to score," Magalhães said with a smile after going 8-for-12 from the field and drawing five Fresno State fouls.
New Mexico led 21-12 after one quarter and stretched it to 44-29 by halftime. The margin could have been more but for Fresno State's hot perimeter shooting. Danae Powell racked up 27 points and Emilia Long scored 11 for the Bulldogs (14-17, 8-12), who hit 10 3-pointers to UNM's five.
The Lobos won pretty much every other key category, outrebounding FSU 34-29 and outscoring them 46-24 in the paint. UNM committed only nine turnovers against the Bulldogs, who came into the game leading the Mountain West in steals.
"We got good shots and took care of the ball," Bradbury said. "Fresno State's a tough team to play and they put a lot of pressure on you. That was a major concern coming into the game, but I give our players credit, they played with poise and played strong."
FSU effectively traded baskets with UNM in the third quarter but could not make an extended run. The Lobos took a 60-48 lead to the fourth and steadily pulled away to the delight of the Pit fans.
"The fans here are amazing," Hooks said. "They're here for us every game, win or lose, and it's getting to the point where we know their faces and they know our names. We're really grateful to our fans. Hopefully, we can give them something to cheer about next week."
