Underclassmen carry Senior Day as Lobos rout Falcons 

Senior Day wasn't all about the seniors, but a crowd of UNM women's basketball fans didn't seem to mind.

Four Lobos — all of them underclassmen — scored in double figures and UNM rolled to a comfortable 73-53 win over Air Force on Saturday in front of 5,505 appreciative supporters at the Pit.

Jessie Joaquim racked up a double-double (11 points, 13 rebounds), Destinee Hooks and Nayli Padilla scored 12 points apiece and Laila Abdurraqib chipped in 11 for the Lobos, who won their second straight game. 

Meanwhile, UNM's defense held the Falcons to a pair of single-digit quarters to help break things open.

UNM (19-9, 11-6) remained in fifth place in the Mountain West standings with three games left after fourth-place Colorado State defeated Wyoming 62-48 on Saturday. Perhaps more significant, the Lobos played their second strong game of the week and appeared to have put a recent scoring funk behind them.

"I'm proud of our focus and energy, bouncing back after a tough (70-68 win at Grand Canyon) on Wednesday night," UNM coach Mike Bradbury said. "Air Force is a tough team to play against. They always put up a fight. Our players were up to the challenge today."

New Mexico led just 31-28 at halftime, but opened the third quarter with an 18-4 run to take command. The performance was a far cry from a week earlier, when the Lobos couldn't get anything going in a frustrating 66-46 loss to CSU.

"I think we just focused on staying together and finally found some connection," Padilla said. "I think this week it started to show. We did a great job and we need to keep it going."

Saturday's show started with a pregame celebration for UNM's two seniors, Alyssa Hargrove and Clarissa Craig. Both transferred to New Mexico prior to last season, though the experience has been vastly different for the two Ohio natives. Hargrove has been a two-year starter, while injuries have sidelined Craig for all but 10 games.

"Those two came to us when we were undergoing a complete roster turnover," Bradbury said. "They helped us get things moving back in a positive direction. Unfortunately, Clarissa has been injured a lot and I hate that. She's rehabbing (from a knee procedure) now. Alyssa came here, changed to a new position and has handled it really well. She's meant a lot to us."

Hargrove scored just two points Saturday but delivered an otherwise strong outing with five rebounds, five assists, three steals and just one turnover. By the time it was over, all 12 Lobos in uniform saw action and 10 scored.

UNM led for more than 32 minutes and its offense generated quality shots for most of the game. The Lobos missed a few too many in the first half, allowing AFA to hang around. The Falcons' Jordyn DeVaughn banked in a leaning 3-pointer that circled the rim twice before falling in to trim New Mexico's lead to 31-28 at halftime.

Air Force hit another buzzer-beating 3 to end the third quarter, but by that time the game was nearly out of reach. Hooks and Abdurraqib swished 3-points, Antonio and Hooks scored on well-placed back-door passes, and the Lobos' lead ballooned to 49-31 before Keelie O'Hollaren's quarter-ending shot.

"I thought we did a pretty good job executing and getting good shots all day," Bradbury said. "When Air Force extended their pressure, we had to hit some back cuts and we did that. Attack, attack, attack was really the focus for this one."

UNM outrebounded the Falcons 47-32 and stretched its lead to as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter. The Lobos will play back-to-back road games this week starting Wednesday night at Utah State.

NM CONNECTIONS: Two Air Force players were back in familiar surroundings at the Pit. Bhret Clay, who helped Hobbs High School to three state championship games and one title during her tenure, had six points and four rebounds for the Falcons on Saturday, hitting two 3-pointers.

La Cueva High alum Eva Love had an eventful 12-minute outing with three points, four rebounds and a steal. Love also fouled out and got into a brief spat with UNM's Joana Magalhães in the fourth quarter. Both players picked up technical fouls.

FIRST START: Drew Jordon made her first start for the Lobos and scored four quick points in the opening quarter. Jordon started in place Cacia Antonio, who contributed nine points and nine rebounds off the bench.

"Cacia wasn't ready," Bradbury said of Jordon's start, "and I thought Drew played well."