ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After a slow first half that saw the Lobos down by 12 points at the break (29-17) The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team (2-2) roared back in the second half and nearly overtook the visiting Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-3), falling by a final score of 67-64 in the last few minutes at WisePies Arena – The Pit Friday night. UNM outscored Tulsa in both the third and forth quarters but it wasn’t enough to claim the win. The Lobos will play in the consolation game of the Lobo Thanksgiving Tournament against St. Joseph’s on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
Senior Richelle van der Keijl registered a new career-high on Friday with her second double-double of the season. She scored 21 points and brought down 17 boards to lead all scorers and rebounders on the night. She was followed by junior Cherise Beynon who came out of her scoring rut on the night, hitting 15 points as the third-highest scorer in the game.
“Mentally we weren’t as sharp a we had been in the previous three games and that affected us shooting, that affected our effort,” head coach Mike Bradbury said. “I thought we got out-coached, I thought we got out-played and when those things happen, you get beat … We started playing better when we got the right five people out there. Once we did that, we were able to get ourselves back in the game.”
The Lobos finished shooting 30.3 percent from the floor despite an underwhelming 7.1 percent in the second quarter (1-for-14).
Tulsa dominated in the first quarter, getting out to an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes. The Lobos began to find a little rhythm to close the period when van der Keijl rattled off five straight points on a layup and three free throws to cut the Hurricane lead from eight to three. Tulsa increased it again, this time to four, before junior Laneah Bryan, who has been out in the beginning of the season due to injury, hit a three to make it 16-15 heading into the second.
The Lobos were heating up in the first quarter, but went cold in the second going just 1-for-14 from the floor as a team. Beynon nailed a jumper to tie the score at 17-17 before Tulsa went on a 12-0 run over the last 8:40 of the half to make it 29-17.
Seventeen points marks the least the Lobos have scored in a half this season.
Junior Alex Lapeyrolerie gave the Lobos and the WisePies Arena crowd new life in the third quarter when she hit her 13th three-pointer of the season 3:32 into the frame. It was one of only two buckets of the night for the junior but it brought UNM back within 10 to spark the Lobo offense.
Sophomore Jaisa Nunn went off for 10 points after Lapeyrolerie’s three, marking all 10 of her points in the game in the third quarter alone. Tulsa matched a few but Nunn kept answering, eventually chipping the lead to single digits with the help of van der Keijl and Bryan.
#44 Jaisa Nunn with her third straight bucket off the dish from Cherise. @LoboWBB still trailing Tulsa 44-32 #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/0VGXVgmsL6
— New Mexico Lobos (@UNMLOBOS) November 26, 2016
The teams headed into the final quarter with Tulsa holding a more narrow 49-40 advantage and the Lobos spent the final 10 minutes fighting to close the gap. Lapeyrolerie hit another three to make it 55-54, Tulsa, and a van der Keijl layup put the Lobos on top for the first time in the game, 58-57 with 4:31 left to play.
The final four and a half minutes were back-and-forth as the teams proceeded to change leads five times in just over two minutes. Bryan made a layup with 54 seconds left to give UNM a 64-63 advantage but it was deemed an offensive foul and called back to keep the Lobos down by one, 62-63. A three-pointer by Tulsa’s Alexis Gaulden extended the Hurricane lead to four, 66-62, with just 32 seconds on the clock to put the game out of reach for UNM. A single free throw shot put New Mexico down five before a last-second layup by Beynon left the final deficit at three.
The contest marks the first time this season that the Lobos did not hold their opponents under 35 percent from the floor. However, UNM keeps it’s 20-point scorer streak alive as the Lobos have had at least one player score over 20 points in each of its four games this season.
UNM returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 26, at 2:30 p.m. vs. St. Joseph’s at WisePies Arena – The Pit in the consolation game of the 2016 Lobo Thanksgiving Tournament. St. Joseph’s fell in Friday’s earlier match by a final score of 71-56. Live video will be available for the Lobo game on The Mountain West Network while both games will have live stats available.