Freshman Bryce Owens scored just 2
points but dished
out 10 assists. Tara Johnson and Ashlee Pierson led Eastern with
six apiece.
ENMU took a 5-2
at the 16:42
mark of the first half but UNM responded with a 12-0 run over
the next 7:25.
And eventually led 23-18 at halftime.
New Mexico shot
just 25.8
percent from the field in the first half but rebounded to shoot
44.8% in the
second half. The first-half rebounding battle was a draw at 21
rebounds for
each team. UNM had a 23-15 rebounding advantage in the second
half to finish
with a 44-36 edge on boards for the game.
“The first
half… it’s
interesting because they played hard – Eastern came out and
played hard,” said
head coach Yvonne Sanchez. “They did a nice job. We were a
little tentative I thought.”
Sanchez again
used the
exhibition to take a closer look at her first-year Lobos and
also at potential
combinations she might use during the regular-season hoop wars.
Owens led UNM
in minutes played with 28 and ten Lobos logged double-figure
minutes.
“I played a lot
of players
so it probably wasn’t a great flow in the first half,” said
Sanchez. “(But) it
gave me an opportunity to see what I needed to see off certain
individuals.
Second half we came in with just more of a regular rotation and
then played better.
Didn’t shoot offensively well, but you know those games are
going to happen and
we have to rely on our defense. I thought our defense picked it
up in the
second half.”
Senior Jourdan
Erskine led
the Lobos with rebounds, pulling down nine. Vaughn finished with
five and
freshmen Khadijah Shumpert and Brea Mitchell each pulled down
four rebounds.
UNM finished
with 30 points
in the paint to 16 for the Zias and the Lobos got 26 points off
the bench while
the ENMU subs finished with 19 points.
Durbin shot
4-of-8 from the
field while and Chinyere Nnaji went 3-3 to score six points.
“Those shots we
missed
today, we shoot every day at practice,” said Sanchez. “I think
there’s just
some nerves there. Every single day we’re still got to work at
shooting and
getting that shot better.”
The Lobo women
open
regular-season play on Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. in The Pit vs.
Northern
Arizona.