ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team cut a nine-point, fourth-quarter Wyoming lead down to a single possession in the final minutes, but couldn’t catch or make the break it needed as the Lobos fell to the Cowgirls 63-62 Wednesday night at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.
UNM (20-8 overall, 8-7 Mountain West) in fact cut what was a 47-38 lead down to two after a Cherise Beynon drive and score with 3:52 remaining in the game made it 51-49.
4Q | The Lobos are within two! Beynon with the nice drive to cut the Wyoming lead. #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/qzC3RJq1yo
— Lobo Women’s Basketball (@UNMLoboWBB) February 22, 2018
But the Lobos wouldn’t get any closer until Jaisa Nunn drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the final score 63-62 as Wyoming (19-7, 12-3) hit the shots – and got the offensive rebounds – it needed to hold off UNM.
“We didn’t control what we were capable of controlling,” UNM coach Mike Bradbury said. “I feel like I didn’t do my job in making sure that the plan was clearly understood.”
Wyoming hurt the Lobos from beyond the arc as the Cowgirls were 10-for-20 from 3-point range (50 percent) compared to 10-for-33 (30.3 percent) from inside the arc. On the flip side, UNM was 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) from 3-point range and overall shot 38 percent (19-for-50) from the field – well below their season averages.
Nunn led the Lobos with 19 points and nine rebounds, going 7-for-9 from the field.
1Q | Nunn does what she does best and works the offensive glass for two points to give the Lobos an 11-5 advantage. #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/Cc141XWnli
— Lobo Women’s Basketball (@UNMLoboWBB) February 22, 2018
“We have to focus on our game plan,” Nunn said. “Our mental game plan wasn’t all the way there as you can see from the results. We have to buckle down in practice and make sure we get everything the way that we want it.”
Beynon had 13 points, four rebounds and four assists while Tesha Buck had 11 points – including a pair of 3-pointers that gave her the UNM single-season record for 3-pointers at 83. N’Dea Flye had eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals as well for UNM, which jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the game before a 14-1 Wyoming run made it 19-14 in the second quarter and eventually led 25-24 at the half.
Selale Kepenc came off the bench to lead Wyoming with 15 points, including going 4-for-4 from 3-point range. The Wyoming bench finished with 28 of its 63 points (the Lobos had four points off of their bench).
UNM looks to bounce back when it travels to take on the other co-Mountain West leader in UNLV 4 p.m. Saturday in Las Vegas.