Beynon scores 28, but Lobos fall at Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. — The iron was unkind to The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team from long range Wednesday night as the Lobos went 3-for-16 from 3-point distance – including several that rimmed in and out in the fourth quarter – as they fell to Wyoming 66-55 at Arena-Auditorium.
 
Despite the shooting struggles, UNM (15-3 overall, 3-2 Mountain West) had cut what had once been a 16-point, fourth-quarter lead for Wyoming (10-5, 3-1) to 60-53 after Cherise Beynon drained a 3-pointer with 3:56 left in the contest.
 
The Lobos looked as if that lead would get down to four a minute later when an Alex Lapeyrolerie 3-pointer from the wing went halfway down the basket before rimming out to keep the score at 60-53. The Cowgirls answered with their own 3-pointer on the next possession to push the lead back to double figures for good.
 
“I thought we defended, rebounded and ran our offense well – and we played hard enough,” UNM coach Mike Bradbury said. “We just didn’t shoot it well tonight. We got the shots we wanted – they just didn’t fall.”
 
The Lobos finished the game shooting 35.4 percent from the field (23-for-65) compared to 43.6 percent (24-for-55) for Wyoming. The Cowgirls shot 7-for-20 (35 percent) from 3-point range.
 
UNM got a strong effort from Beynon as the senior finished with a game-high 28 points, going 11-for-20 from the field and hitting two of the Lobos’ three 3-pointers in the contest. The only other UNM player in double figures was N’Dea Flye with 10 points while Madi Washington came off the bench for nine.
 
The Cowgirls were led by Liv Roberts who had 19 points on 8-for-16 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds while Bailee Cotton had 13 points and Taylor Rusk had 10 points.
 
The Lobos return to action 2 p.m. Saturday as they host Fresno State – which lost to Boise State on Wednesday night.