The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team raged at The Pit on Tuesday 86-50 at Grambling State University. The victory came in the first home game of the UNM after three consecutive game days at the Van Chancellor Classic. This win makes UNM 6-3 in the overall standings and 5-0 in The Pit so far this season.
Grambling State shouldn’t be a particularly tough opponent for the UNM. Both teams beat the University of Louisiana Monroe, but UNM did so with 21 points while Grambling State beat Louisiana Monroe with just eight points.
The first 27 minutes of the game were largely devoted to the five starters – Shaiquel McGruder, Antonia Anderson, Jaedyn De La Cerda, LaTora Duff and LaTascya Duff – who dominated the Grambling State with the occasional help of Paula Reus, Vianè Cumber and Kath van Bennekom Bank.
As is often the case in basketball, shooting made all the difference in the game. Four UNM players – Anderson, De La Cerda, LaTora Duff and LaTascya Duff – made a threesome in the first quarter alone. The Grambling State guards were not an outside threat to the goal, which allowed the UNM to easily play against them and prevent them from offending.
LaTora Duff, LaTascya Duff and De La Cerda played as one would expect a trio of seasoned guards to do in their fourth year together – skillfully and in harmony with one another. Having all three in play at the same time was a luxury for UNM as De La Cerda had to be guarded even without the ball while the Duffs brought the ball across the pitch. De La Cerda is uniquely good at scoring chances in two-on-two or three-on-three situations and the Lobos have been keen to get her the ball in midfield.
McGruder had her second double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds and three steals. Anderson was very efficient and shot 5-6 out of the field.
After the game, head coach Mike Bradbury said that while the two strikers did not make a concerted effort during their season to switch to either McGruder or Anderson, the two strikers were able to be productive in the flow of offense and transition.
Reus, who struggled to shoot efficiently at times this season, scored six points, grabbed four rebounds and counted out four assists, the best of which was an impressive skip pass from the post to a wide-open Mackenzie Curtis on the opposite wing Find. Bradbury is particularly enthusiastic about passes like this, even if Reus is still learning to score points in Division I.
“I don’t know if we have anyone else on the team who can make this pass,” said Bradbury. “She can just play, and I’m telling you … She does all of these shots in practice. They just didn’t go into a game. “
The last three minutes of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter stood on the lobos bench, which includes six newbies and two second graders. The bank still managed to win the fourth quarter 16:14, despite a few difficult spots.
Although the freshmen and sophomores have less experience, the group also currently lacks a reliable ball handler, with Aniyah Augmon and Rebekah Renczes being the next contenders. Augmon is a fantastic defender, but she needs to tighten her grip on an offensive well. Renczes is still not aggressive enough. Zeyno Șeren is a good athlete, but her shot needs improvement. And while Mackenzie Curtis has a phenomenal shot, she still needs improved pedaling speed to be reliable in defense.
Tuesday’s victory also marked Bradbury’s 100th as UNM head coach, a milestone reached only once in the history of UNM women’s basketball.
UNM will take a short break this week before playing at The Pit at New Mexico State University on Friday and Las Cruces again on Sunday.
Matthew Salcido is the Sports Editor for Daily Lobo. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @baggyeyedguy
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