Dec. 19—Viané Cumber didn’t like what she was seeing late in the third quarter of Thursday’s women’s basketball game in the Pit.
UNM’s senior guard did something about it.
Cumber poured in a career-best 25 points — 12 in the fourth quarter — and helped propel the Lobos to a 69-57 win over Sacramento State in round one of the Lobo Invitational. She also racked up eight assists, three assists and a steal as UNM won its second straight to improve to 7-5.
Sacramento State (7-5) made things more than a little uncomfortable for the Lobos and an announced crowd of 4,260. After trailing by 18 points midway through the third quarter, the Hornets reeled off a 15-0 run to trail just 48-45 going to the fourth.
That’s when Cumber caught fire. The Sandia High School alum buried two 3-pointers, including a long pull-up dagger in transition, scored twice on post moves and found Hulda Joaquim with a nifty pass for a layup as the Lobos steadily rebuilt their lead.
“I think it’s just taking shots with confidence and realizing the moment,” Cumber said. “We obviously had a rough end to the third quarter. Coach (Mike Bradbury) did a good job pulling us together and getting everyone refocused. I just knew we needed to find some offense.”
Bradbury was more than happy to feed the ball to Cumber down the stretch.
“She was really locked in tonight,” Bradbury said. “When she got it going, I think we must’ve run five or six sets to get her the ball. Thank goodness V (Cumber) made a bunch of them.”
Destinee Hooks added 14 points for the Lobos, while Joana Magalhães scored nine. Amhyia Moreland chipped in seven points, six rebounds and three blocks off the bench as UNM won the rebound battle 35-27.
The home team controlled much of the contest but was plagued by fouls and turnovers, which helped the Hornets keep things interesting. UNM turned the ball over 22 times against a team that came in forcing 20.1 per game. The Lobos also forced 18 Sacramento State turnovers.
Contributing to the choppy affair were 36 foul calls, 22 of them against UNM. Magalhães fouled out, and both Hooks and Alyssa Hargrove spent long stretches on the bench — most notably late in the third quarter.
UNM led 48-30 after Cumber hit one of her five 3-pointers with 4:30 left in the third. The Lobos would not score again in the quarter, turning the ball over five times as the Hornets reeled off 15 points in a row. Katie Peneueta and Madison Butcher hit 3s during the Sacramento State run.
“We had some foul trouble and I was trying to get to the fourth quarter with Alyssa and Destinee on the bench,” Bradbury said. “Obviously, that didn’t work out too well.”
But UNM quickly regained the momentum in the fourth. Magalhaes swished a 3-pointer as the Lobos went 3-for-3 from long range in the fourth. The Hornets, meanwhile, went 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.
UNM shot 52% from the field on the night, 7-for-15 from 3-point range, and limited Sacramento State to 37% shooting, 5-for-19 from 3-point range.
“Overall, I thought we were pretty good,” Bradbury said. “We turned the ball over too much, but we were pretty good defensively and rebounded well. Except for that final stretch of the third quarter, pretty good.”
Sacramento State and Abilene Christian will play a neutral game Friday at 2 p.m. as the tournament continues. Admission to the game is free. The Lobos will then take on Abilene Christian on Saturday at 1 p.m.
LOBOS 69, HORNETS 57
SACRAMENTO STATE (7-5): Martin 7-17 3-6 17, Jaiteh 0-3 0-0 0, Versteeg 3-10 6-10 12, Alonso 0-0 0-0 0, Falk 2-5 0-0 5, Butcher 3-5 0-0 7, Gray 0-1 0-0 0, Peneueta 5-11 3-4 16, Amoore 0-1 0-0 0, Lee 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-54 12-20 57.
NEW MEXICO (7-5): Joaquim 2-4 2-2 6, Hooks 5-12 3-4 14, Hargrove 0-2 1-2 1, Magalhães 4-6 0-0 9, Cumber 9-13 2-2 25, Langermann 2-3 0-0 4, Po 0-1 2-2 2, Moreland 3-8 1-1 7, Padilla 0-1 1-2 1, Mwamba 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-48 12-15 69.
Sacramento State 11 9 25 12 — 57
New Mexico 17 13 18 21 — 69
3-point FGs: SS 5-19 (Martin 0-4, Versteeg 0-2, Falk 1-2, Butcher 1-1, Gray 0-1, Peneueta 3-8, Amoore 0-1); NM 7-15 (Hooks 1-3, Magalhães 1-2, Cumber 5-8, Langermann 0-1, Padilla 0-1). Rebounds: SS 27 (Martin 4, Jaiteh 2, Versteeg 3, Falk 2, Gray 2, Peneueta 3, Lee 5); NM 35 (Joaquim 3, Hooks 4, Hargrove 6, Magalhães 3, Cumber 8, Langermann 3, Moreland 6). Assists: SS 13 (Martin 2, Jaiteh 1, Versteeg 8, Butcher 2); NM 13 (Joaquim 1, Hooks 2, Hargrove 2, Magalhães 2, Cumber 3, Langermann 1, Moreland 1, Padilla 1). Steals: SS 10 (Versteeg 1, Falk 2, Butcher 2, Peneueta 3, Amoore 1, Lee 1); NM 9 (Joaquim 2, Hooks 1, Magalhães 2, Cumber 1, Langermann 2, Padilla 1). Blocks: SS 3 (Jaiteh 2, Falk 1); NM 4 (Hargrove 1, Moreland 3). Turnovers: SS 18, NM 22. Team fouls: SS 14, NM 22. Fouled out: Magalhães. Technical fouls: None.
