WNMU women's basketball had some very strong stretches in their exhibition season opener but the UNM Lobos proved to be too much in gaining the 78-41 win.
New this season for women's basketball is the change from two 20 minute halves to four 10 minute quarters. The Lady Stangs started strong in the opening quarter as Desiree Smith opened the scoring with an early bucket. Myla Woods-Brown would stop a Lobo 7-0 run with a three point bomb. Then the Lady Mustangs turned it on as Jordan Gutierrez and Smith each hit jumpers followed by a pair from the charity stripe for Jade Botelho. Western cut the lead to 4 at the end of the first quarter, 15-11.
UNM would turn up the heat in the second quarter holding Western New Mexico to just 4 points while they tallied a blistering 26 for a 41-15 half time advantage.
Similarly to the first quarter, UNM came out of the break hot, tallying 9 straight points before the Lady Stangs got their first basket. But Woods-Brown stopped the onslaught and started a WNMU run with a fast break layup and a quick three pointer off of a defensive stop. Cristiana Yepa would put together a personal 5-0 run for Coach Rusty Kennedy's squad as she hit a pair from the foul line then a three point shot. Western put up 17 points in the third stanza to stay with UNM.
But the fourth quarter proved to be another low scoring for both teams as UNM held a 13-9 advantage in the final stanza. WNMU was able to stay within 11 of the Lobos in the second half, due to solid shooting, 50% from beyond the arc, 4-8, and 35%, 10-29, overall.
Gutierrez led WNMU in scoring with 9 while Woods-Brown added 8 going 3-4 from the floor.
WNMU will begin the regular season on Friday, November 13, at Oklahoma Panhandle State.
