Long shots: Lobo women visit Mountain West-leading UNLV

Don’t be surprised if the UNM women’s basketball team takes a short walk down the corridor during Saturday’s visit to UNLV’s Cox Arena.

The Lobos know they’ll be back in Las Vegas, Nevada next month, playing in the the Mountain West Conference Championships at the adjacent Thomas & Mack Center. They don’t mind taking a quick peek ahead.

“That’s really our mindset right now,” Lobos coach Mike Bradbury said. “Keep working, keep getting better, compete harder defensively. Our goal is to be at our best when March rolls around.”

First things first, of course. UNM has a Saturday afternoon rematch to play against Mountain West-leading UNLV. The Lobos say they are looking forward to testing themselves against the talented Lady Rebels, who pulled away late to hand UNM an 88-73 defeat last month in the Pit.

It seems like a tall order for New Mexico (13-11, 6-5), which comes in mired in a four-game losing streak and has recently struggled to put four good quarters together. But these same Lobos started MWC play 6-1 and remain confident they can get back to their winning ways before next month’s conference tournament.

“We just need to keep working on the things we’ve been messing up,” UNM point guard Alyssa Hargrove said. “We’ve had a tough stretch back-to-back-to-back and it’s frustrating because we know what we’re capable of. We need to learn how to put things behind us and focus on the next game.”

In this case, UNM’s next game is a doozy. UNLV (18-5, 10-1) is unbeaten at Cox Pavilion this year and has lost there just once over the last three seasons. The Lobos provided that lone defeat (69-66) on Viané Cumber’s late 3-pointer last season.

New Mexico’s more recent struggles have coincided with a brutal portion of the schedule. Saturday’s game caps a four-game stretch that includes Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and UNLV. Still, the Lobos can expect a similar stretch if they are to make a Mountain West tournament run. Bradbury felt his team made progress in Tuesday’s 69-63 loss to Colorado State, but he knows UNM will have to play significantly better to stay with UNLV.

“Getting back on defense is probably the biggest thing (against the Rebels),” Bradbury said. “They play really fast and you have to get everyone covered because they can all drive and shoot the 3. I do think we played much better and competed against CSU, but UNLV is a different kind of challenge.”

UNM has been adding some new wrinkles in an attempt to energize its offense. One is giving more post-up opportunities to senior Amhyia Moreland, who responded with seven points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks in 15 minutes against CSU.

Freshman Nayli Padilla also has earned more playing time off the bench, scoring 25 points over the past three games after seven straight scoreless games with limited playing time.

“Nayli just gives us a spark off the bench offensively,” Bradbury said. “She’s improving defensively, too. She’s earning her minutes.”

UNLV has improved its bench play as well, with Meadow Roland earning the MW’s most recent Freshman of the Week honors. But the Rebels still lean heavily on their starters, including standout point guard and conference player of the year candidate Kiara Jackson.

“She’s a big-time player. She makes them go,” Bradbury said. “I don’t think you can really stop her but we have to keep her under control. That has to be a priority on defense.”

RECORD RANGE: Cumber had few legitimate looks but went 2-for-4 from 3-point distance Tuesday against Colorado State. She leads the MWC with 64 made 3’s this season and has 222 for her career.

The total leaves Cumber in second place on UNM’s career list for 3-pointers. With at least eight games remaining, Cumber needs 17 more to catch career leader LaTascya Duff, who hit 239 from 2020-23.