Women's Basketball
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photo courtesy of Rick Yeatts
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New Mexico's Attack Too Much For North Texas |
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Mean Green (0-4) fought hard until the end, but New Mexico (5-0) was too much offensively for North Texas to overcome as the Lobos won 81-59. North Texas was slow out of the gate allowing New Mexico to go on a 11-0 run to begin the game. After an early timeout, head coach Mike Petersen was able to stabilize the unit, and they fought back to make it a two-point deficit at 13-11. Back and forth steals, breakaways and spread scoring was the story of the first half. A no-hesitation deep 3-pointer from junior guard Laura McCoy silenced the Pit with six minutes remaining in the first period. New Mexico fought back with hard play and good outside shooting to reclaim the lead. The lead changed four times, and the two units were even in the paint with 22 points each. Petersen utilized the 2-2-1 zone press to stop the bleeding early and slow the UNM attack as NT kept pace with The Lobos through a flurry of substitutions and full-court assaults. Nine different players for the Mean Green scored in the first half as McCoy hit a half-court buzzer beater to cut the New Mexico lead to four at the half, 39-35. The second half began with a set play that resulted in a wide-open trey from the corner by Desiree "Dez" Nelson. New Mexico gained the momentum following the Dez 3-pointer extending the lead to 58-46 with 10 minutes remaining in the second half. They primarily scored in the paint gaining an eight point edge underneath over the Mean Green. Freshman forward Alexis Hyder sparked the Mean Green with a smooth spin move and layup at the eight minute mark, but the Lobos got hot from deep. They pushed the score to 74-57 with three minutes left to play and never looked back. North Texas plays St. Bonaventure tomorrow, a team that fell to Georgia earlier today in the other first round match of the tournament, at 5 p.m. in the consolation game. Box Score attached up top. |
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