Nov. 6—Thursday will be something of a blast from the past for Mike Bradbury, but the UNM women’s basketball coach prefers to stay focused on the present.
New Mexico will host Morehead State for a 7 p.m. contest at the Pit. The Lobos will be looking to turn the page after a frustrating 80-78 loss to Northern Arizona in Monday’s season-opener. UNM’s revamped cast did a lot of things right but was forced to watch the Lumberjacks celebrate a dramatic victory.
Next up is Morehead State, a program Bradbury coached from 2007-10 — his first head job in Division I women’s basketball. There’s a bit of nostalgia, Bradbury said, but it’s secondary to Thursday’s top priority, which is earning the Lobos’ first win of 2024-25.
“I really like Morehead (Kentucky),” Bradbury said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity they gave me and there are still people there I talk to regularly. But, yeah, the basketball program’s totally different now and our focus is on getting better and trying to win. That’s plenty for me to think about.”
Bradbury was generally upbeat about UNM’s performance against NAU. Eleven players saw action for the Lobos, including seven newcomers, and the home team showed considerable potential against a Lumberjacks team that ranked among the national leaders in pace of play last season and is picked to win the Big Sky in 2024-25.
“Our pace was good and I thought our offense was pretty good until the fourth quarter,” he said. “We got a little stagnant for a few minutes, ended up forcing things and it cost us. But I want to see us continue to work and improve on team defense. This game will be a challenge in that regard.”
Morehead State is coming off a 92-80 win over Division III Asbury on Monday, one that got Bradbury’s attention because of the Eagles’ frenetic pace. MSU hit just four 3-pointers in the game but scored 64 points in the paint, forced 29 turnovers (with 19 steals) and scored 34 fast-break points.
“I’ll just about guarantee the pace will be at least as fast (as in Monday’s game),” Bradbury said. “Morehead likes to get up and down, and we will, too.”
Bradbury expected to stick with the starting lineup UNM employed against Northern Arizona: Viané Cumber, Destinee Hooks, Alyssa Hargrove, Joana Magalhães and Hulda Joaquim.
MORE TO COME: No one made a stronger first impression for the Lobos than Hooks. Not only did the 5-foot-9 sophomore score a game-high 21 points, she stepped up at crunch time.
Hooks hit a driving layup to pull UNM to within 73-72 with 1:22 left, then buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the score at 75 with 49 seconds remaining. After NAU grabbed a one-point lead with 4.9 seconds left, Hooks made a strong move inside to draw a foul and hit one of two free throws.
“Destinee’s really talented and she wants the ball in big moments,” Bradbury said. “She’s one of those players who’ll shoot 30% from (3-point range) but she’ll hit big ones. That’s her. Now we’ve just got to get her to play more minutes.”
Hooks was on the court for 23:35 against Northern Arizona, picking up four fouls and coming for occasional breaks.
HITTING THE ROAD: After Thursday’s contest, UNM will play its first road game of the season Tuesday at Texas Tech. The Lady Raiders blew out Incarnate Word 78-48 in their opener and are scheduled to host Houston Christian on Thursday.
The Lobos will play six straight home games after their trip to Lubbock, Texas.
