RIO RANCHO, N.M.—Amy Beggin scored 25 points and Angela Hartill added 18 as New Mexico beat Nebraska 54-43 Wednesday night to advance to the third round of the women’s NIT.
New Mexico will face Oregon State on Friday at the Santa Ana Star Center.
With the Lobos (24-10) playing away from their usual home venue, most of the players struggled to adjust to the new site. The Cornhuskers (15-16) had an even more difficult time, shooting just 11-46, including an 11-minute, second-half drought without a field goal.
Cory Montgomery led Nebraska with 12 points. She was the only Cornhusker in double figures.
Nebraska coach Connie Yori said her team simply wasn’t in game shape.
“The biggest factor in the game was sitting for two weeks,” she said. “That’s a long time off at this time of the year. We got fatigued a lot earlier than we usually do.”
New Mexico coach Don Flanagan said the Lobos, on the other hand, enjoy practicing and playing this far into the spring.
“Not every team enjoys playing this time of year,” he said.
Had it not been for Beggin and Hartill, the Lobos might have ended their post season. New Mexico was 4-31 without the pair, which combined to score all but two of the Lobos’ 26 second-half points.
“We pass it around so everyone gets a look,” Flanagan said. “We wanted Angela to take it up high so it would draw their big girl out and get some shots for other people. But if they don’t score, it’s not my fault.”
UNM jumped out to a 12-1 lead as Nebraska missed its first seven shots. The Cornhuskers then showed their only spark, rallying to take a 16-15 lead behind a pair of free throws from Kala Kuhlmann with 7:45 left in the first half.
It was short-lived as New Mexico took a 28-23 lead into half.
After Nebraska scored the first five points of the second half, New Mexico went on a game-deciding 19-4 run that pushed the its lead to the largest of the game, 46-33. Hartill scored 11, including three 3-pointers, and Beggin collecting the other eight.
Nebraska went more than 11 minutes of the second half between field goals, with just a pair of free throws to show for its effort in between 3-pointers from Montgomery.
This marked the second time this season the Lobos have beaten Nebraska in New Mexico.
