Fast finish: Cumber, Wilson lead UNM women past Texas Southern

Nov. 6—Room for improvement? You bet.

Positive signs? Plenty of them.

The University of New Mexico women's basketball team battled through some shaky moments, came up with the big plays it needed them and pulled away for a 76-59 win over Texas Southern at the Pit on Monday.

Viané Cumber scored 22 points (13 in the fourth quarter) and Nyah Wilson had 20 in her UNM debut as the Lobos opened the season with a victory in front of 5,055 fans. Aniyah Augmon added 17 points, six rebounds and six assists in her first game as starting point guard.

Still, it wasn't always an artistic success as the visiting Lady Tigers managed to hang around until the final five minutes. UNM coach Mike Bradbury was quick to point out the areas where his team needs work.

"Offensively, we were a little sloppy," he said. "We turned the ball over too much (19 times). Defensively, we were mostly okay but we didn't finish it with rebounds. We have to rebound better than that."

Still, there were upsides, particularly for a season-opener that included some nerves among the Lobos' newcomers. Wilson, who made a sterling first impression by hitting 4 of 4 from 3-point range and posting a career high with 20 points, laughed when asked about her first game in the Pit.

"There were a lot of nerves going around," she said, "but it felt great playing in front of our fans, very exciting. We're obviously going to get better, but I thought we executed pretty well offensively for our first game."

Cumber agreed.

"Yeah, we have a lot to work on," she said. "But we have a lot of new players and this was our first game together. There were a lot of positives."

Bradbury referred to the game as "choppy," in part because both teams had numerous new faces and neither knew what to expect from the other. The Lobos were determined to keep TSU away from the basket and outscored the Lady Tigers 38-14 in the paint.

But that strategy also left the Tigers with lots of open jumpers, and they cashed in with eight made 3-pointers and numerous mid-range jumpers. Daeja Holmes and Jordyn Turner scored 15 points apiece for TSU, which trailed just 62-54 with 4:42 left.

"We wanted to force them to shoot over us and they shot it well," Bradbury said. "Even their numbers are a little skewed because they missed their last seven or eight."

The Lobos also shot reasonably well, despite missing some point-blank opportunities in the first half. UNM went 9-for-22 from 3-point range, with Cumber and Wilson hitting four each.

But turnovers and spotty rebounding kept the hosts from putting things away earlier. New Mexico led by as many as 16 points on several occasions in the second and third quarters only to have the Lady Tigers battle back.

"The game got close because we didn't rebound," Wilson said. "That's going to be a focus at practice."

UNM turned to Cumber to finally put things out of reach, twice running plays to get her the ball inside after TSU closed to within eight points with 4:42 left. The Albuquerque native converted on both — and buried a pair of 3-pointers to seal the outcome.

"Those were designed plays, absolutely," Bradbury said of Cumber's key post baskets, "and V finished them."

Paula Reus finished with nine points, and Charlotte Kohl added six points and nine rebounds for the Lobos. UNM got just two points from its bench (a Hulda Joaquim layup) despite playing 11 players. Hannah Robbins chipped in six rebounds, two steals and two blocks but had a pair of 3-point tries rattle out.

UNM will play its first road game of the season Thursday at Pepperdine.

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