Anchorage Daily News

The University of New Mexico scored the last 12 points of the game to pull away from a more-than-game UAA women's basketball team in an exhibition contest Sunday in Albuquerque.

Click to enlarge

Nicci Miller

Story tools

Comments (0)

E-mail a friend

Print

Share on Facebook

Digg this

Seed Newsvine

Send link via AIM

Follow on Twitter

Font size : A | A | A

The Lobos won 60-49, ending UAA's five-game winning streak against Division I opponents that stretched back to last season.

The Seawolves were in the hunt for a sixth win but were derailed in the final 3 1/2 minutes. They were done in by three missed field goals, two missed free throws, two turnovers and New Mexico's perfect 10 of 10 performance at the foul line.

Though touted as the Clash of the Kielpinskis -- UAA's senior center Rebecca Kielpinski against New Mexico's sophomore forward Jessica Kielpinski -- the sister-versus-sister storyline became a mere sidenote to a hotly contested game.

UAA's Kielpinski had seven rebounds but managed just three points on 1-of-5 shooting. New Mexico's Kielpinski had no points and four minutes and played sparingly, although she came up with a steal with her team ahead by three points with less than 2 1/2 minutes to go.

The teams traded the lead five times and were tied six times in the second half. UAA led for the last time at 49-48 on Nicci Miller's layup with 3 minutes, 22 seconds left, but that was also the last time the Seawolves scored.

Fueled by a handful of UAA misses and turnovers, New Mexico went on a 12-0 run to avoid a homecourt loss to a Division II team. Other than a layup by Amy Beggin at 1:54, all of New Mexico's points at the end came at the free throw line. Beggin and Angela Hartill both hit all four of their foul shots in the run.

Away from the foul line, the Lobos struggled. They shot at will -- launching 62 attempts -- but missed nearly as often, finding the net just 16 times for a dismal 25.8 shooting percentage.

The Seawolves held a slim rebounding edge, but turnovers doomed them. New Mexico racked up 10 steals, and UAA coughed up the ball on 12 other occasions.

Because the game was an exhibition, the loss won't count on UAA's record. The Seawolves are 2-1 going into Saturday's home opener against fellow Division II team Georgian Court of New Jersey.

UAA (49)

Miller 2-6 1-2 5, Basova 4-10 0-0 11, Kielpinski 1-5 1-1 3, Harris 1-7 1-1 3, Taylor 2-7 3-4 8, Thiel 0-0 2-2 2, Gruwell 2-4 0-0 6, Aden 1-2 2-3 4, Johansson 2-4 3-6 7. Team totals: 15-45 13-19 49.

NEW MEXICO (60)

Weissman 1-3 0-0 2, Adamson 2-7 3-5 7, Hartill 4-12 9-10 19, Beggin 5-15 6-6 18, Halasz 1-11 2-4 4, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Nelson 1-4 0-0 2, Ansley 0-0 0-1 0, Jackson 0-1 2-2 2, Best 1-6 2-2 4, Kast 1-2 0-0 2, Kielpinski 0-0 0-0 0. Team totals: 16-62 24-30 60.

Halftime score -- UAA 28, New Mexico 25.

3-point goals -- UAA 6-23 (Miller 0-3, Basova 3-7, Kielpinski 0-1, Harris 0-4, Taylor 1-3, Gruwell 2-4, Aden 0-1); New Mexico 4-21 (Weissmann 0-1, Adamson 0-2, Hartill 2-5, Beggin 2-8, Halasz 0-2, Nelson 0-2, Best 0-1). Rebounds -- UAA 43 (Kielpinski 7, Taylor 7), New Mexico 39 (Hartill 7). Assists -- UAA 9 (Johansson 3), New Mexico 9 (Adamson 3). Turnovers -- UAA 22 (3 with 4), New Mexico 9 (Taylor 2). Steals -- UAA 3, New Mexico 10 (Beggin 3). Fouled out -- Miller, Gruwell.

ADVERTISEMENT