No. 25 New Mexico relied on a smothering full-court press and late-game heroics by sophomore forward Dionne Marsh to notch a 56-52 come-from-behind win against Oklahoma State.
The Lobos trailed by six at the with seven minutes remaining, but stepped up its defense. New Mexico also attacked Oklahoma State's two-three zone defense, passing inside to Marsh, who either scored or was fouled.
New Mexico coach Don Flanagan said the Cowgirls survive in the talent-rich Big 12 Conference by playing a physical brand of basketball. The aggressive play of the well-coached team threw the Lobos off. The team fired away from the perimeter but was hesitant to drive or pass inside.
"We needed to be more aggressive running our offense and really trying to split or overload their defense," Flanagan said.
He said it was good to see the Lobos pull off a late surge to earn a win, forcing a turnover and shot-clock violation to jumpstart the rally.
"I thought the press we we used in the last three minutes or so was perfect because a lot of times you can turn to it too early and it fades," Flanagan said. "We were able to sustain that intensity until the end of the game and it was effective at really making them think about whether they could get the ball up the floor."
The score was tied at 50 with 2 minutes remaining when Marsh stepped up her game.
She deflected a pass on the full-court press, blocked a shot and sank four free-throws to seal a New Mexico win. Marsh finished with 14 points and four rebounds.
"Dionne seems to need pressure situations to be at her best," Flanagan said. "She did some amazing things tonight when we really needed it."
New Mexico is idle until Wednesday, when it takes on No. 12 Minnesota in The Pit.

Here's the all-tournament team:
Dionne Marsh, Lobos, MVP
Jana Francis, Lobos
Whitney Pegram, Oklahoma State
Meg Dahlman, Marist
Leilani Mitchell, Idaho

New Mexico's Julie Briody came up just short of making the team. She scored in double figures in both games and played a major role in both wins but her turnovers along with Dionne's late surge hurt her chances of cracking the top five.

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