UNM women's hoops: Lobos easily handle visiting UT Martin

UNM’s Joana Magalhães looks to pass the ball during the Lobos women’s basketball game against the UT Martin Skyhawks at the Pit on Thursday. The Lobos won the game 77-45.

Chancey Bush/Journal

Glen Rosales Glen Rosales Glen Rosales for the Journal

Published November 20, 2025 - 9:36 p.m. Modified November 20, 2025 - 10:56 p.m.

It was supposed to be a contrast between the New Mexico women’s inside power versus UT Martin’s outside shooting.

While the Lobos’ frontcourt did not disappoint, the Skyhawks 3-point shooting got lost in translation in UNM’s 77-45 win Thursday in the Pit.

New Mexico (5-1) outrebounded UTM 56-21, including 20-1 on the offensive glass, leading to a 21-2 advantage in second-chance points, providing a far bigger margin of victory than Lobos coach Mike Bradbury hoped to achieve.

“For us in this game, our biggest advantage was our size,” he said. “We talked about it in the two days leading up to the game that we really needed to dominate the boards. The goal was plus-10, plus-15. It was more than that but I thought we did a good job on the boards. That was one area where I thought we had an advantage. I wasn’t sure we had an advantage anywhere else.”

Coming into the game, the Skyhawks (1-2) were shooting nearly 40% on 3-pointers, but went just 3-18 from behind the arc as they constantly dealt with hands in their faces.

“We were trying to be a little bit disruptive. They run good stuff,” said Bradbury, pointing out that UTM held a second-half lead over Tennessee before losing by 11 earlier in the season.

“We needed to make them uncomfortable, as uncomfortable as we could without leaving leaving (Kenley McCarn) and (Grace Billington) open because they’ll make you pay,” he said of two of the Skyhawks’ leading scorers. “And I thought we did a good job of that and not leaving ourselves in bad positions.”

The Lobos spread their scoring around with Destinee Hooks leading the way with 15, while Alyssa Hargrove, Cacia Antonio and Laila Abdurraqib each added 11. Jessie Joaquim snared four offensive rebounds among her 10 boards.

Despite New Mexico controlling the paint, the game was still close early in the second quarter with the Lobos holding a 23-18 lead with seven minutes left.

UNM closed the half with a 9-0 run, all scoring from Hooks and Antonio. Hooks had a fast-break layup to start the run, and followed that with a put-back bucket and then Antonio hit a 3-pointer followed by a layup to send the Lobos into the break with a 32-18 lead.

New Mexico opened the second half with a 16-2 run to boost the gap to 48-20.

“I thought the whole game we were pretty good defensively,” Bradbury said. “A little sluggish offensively. We couldn’t make a shot in the first half. We made a few more in the second half, but just didn’t shoot very well. But really happy with our effort and our focus. That team’s a good team.”

The game was a good showcase for some of the adjustments the team has made since last year, Hargrove said.

“I definitely feel like with this team we can play a lot faster,” she said. “We did play fast last year in transition, but I feel like we have more options as we get it up the court, so that’s been a big difference for me, handling the ball. Our defense as well — pressing the whole game is new for us. I think it is a good adjustment.”

NEW MEXICO 77, UT MARTIN 45

NEW MEXICO (5-1): Craig 4-4 0-0 8, Antonio 4-8 2-2 11, Magalhaes 3-8 0-0 7, Hooks 6-13 2-2 15, Hargrove 4-6 0-0 11, Joaquim 0-2 1-2 1, Najjuma 0-0 0-0 0, Peixinho 0-0 1-2 1, Abdurraqib 3-7 2-4 11, Jones 0-3 0-0 0, Foster 0-2 0-0 0, Padilla 2-10 1-2 6, Jordon 1-1 4-6 6. Totals: 27-64 13-20 77.

UT MARTIN (1-3): Thompson 2-8 1-1 5, Clark 1-7 0-0 2, Wells 3-7 0-0 7, Billington 4-10 0-0 9, McCarn 5-13 0-0 11, Ward 3-6 0-0 6, Horton 1-3 1-2 3, Tong 0-2 2-2 2, Webster 0-1 0-0 0, Blackwell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-57 4-5 45.

UT Martin 11 7 16 11 — 45

New Mexico 16 16 28 17 — 77

3-point FGs: UNM 10-37 (Antonio, Magalhaes, Hooks, Hargrove 3, Abdurraqib 3, Padilla); UTM 3-18 (Wells, Billington, McCarn). Rebounds: UNM 56 (Craig 5, Antonio 5, Magalhaes 2, Hooks 4, Hargrove 5, Joaquim 10, Najjuma 2, Peixinho 3, Abdurraqib 4, Jones 2, Foster, Padilla, Jordon 3); UTM 21 (Wells 5, Billington 2, McCarn 4, Ward, Horton, Tong 3, Blackwell). Assists: UNM 15 (Craig 2, Antonio, Magalhaes, Hooks, Hargrove 4, Joaquim, Abdurraqib, Jones, Padilla 2, Jordon); UTM 8 (Clark 2, Wells 2, Billington, Tong 2, Blackwell). Steals: UNM 8 (Antonio, Magalhaes 2, Hooks 2, Abdurraqib, Padilla, Jordon); UTM 10 (Thompson, Clark 4, Wells, Billington, Horton, Tong, Webster). Blocks: UNM 3 (Craig, Hargrove, Najjuma); UTM 3 (Clark, Ward, Horton). Turnovers: UNM 17, UTM 14. Team fouls: UNM 11, UTM 21. Fouled out: UTM 2 (Thompson, Horton). Technical fouls: None.