ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – The HBU women's basketball team had a poor night shooting and never got in a rhythm from the floor in a loss to the New Mexico Lobos Tuesday night inside The Pit.
The Huskies (3-2, 0-0 SLC) could not get anything to drop early in the contest and the Lobos (4-1) jumped out to a quick 16-0 lead to open the game.
Marilyn Nzoiwu put the first basket in for the Huskies when she made a layup off of an offensive rebound with two minutes left in the first quarter. The Huskies were not able to get anything else to fall and the Lobos ended the quarter on a 7-0 run following the Husky layup.
An
Enya Maguire three pointer in the opening minutes of the second quarter would get the Huskies back into a rhythm offensively as
Timia Jefferson would score on the Huskies next trip down the court. After HBU forced turnover and had a few good defensive stops, Jefferson would drive through the lane and take the contact on a made layup for an and-one which she would convert. From there the Lobos would only allow the Huskies two more baskets in the quarter and they would go on an offensive run of their own to take a 43-16 lead into halftime.
The Huskies first half shooting woes were too much to overcome for the Huskies even after they were able to put a good quarter together on both sides of the ball. The Huskies opened the quarter on a 12-4 run including a three pointer from both Maguire and
Abbey Sutherland and a
Julija Vujakovic layup to cut the lead down to 19. The Lobos however would respond with an 11-3 run of their own to bring the score back to 58-31.
The Huskies wouldn't go away however, as they would finish the quarter on a 9-2 run and go into the fourth quarter down 60-40. In the fourth quarter, the Lobos jumped out on a 8-2 run which proved to be too much for the Huskies to overcome as they dropped the contest 76-58.
The Huskies were led on offense by reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week, Jefferson, who had a team high 15 points and added five rebounds and four assists. Nzoiwu had a double-double in the game, including a season high 13 points.
N'Denasija Collins added nine points and five rebounds while Maguire added six points. Sutherland added five points and two boards in the contest.
The Lobos were led in scoring by Shaiquel McGruder who had a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards and made nine of her 13 shots. Jaedyn De La Cerda dropped 17 points and four assists while LaTora Duff and Antonia Anderson each added 11 points.
The Huskies will have Thanksgiving Day off, before they participate in the GCU Women's Basketball Classic in Phoenix, Arizona. That round robin style tournament will begin on Friday at 1:00 p.m. for the Huskies, when they face off against Montana.
