Lobos come away with 74-71 win in overtime at Wyoming

LARAMIE, Wyo. – Close games have been anything but uncommon to the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team this season, especially in Mountain West games. Coming into Saturday afternoon’s game at Wyoming, the Lobos had played seven games total and five in the MW that have been decided by four points or less. Their record in those game was 1-6 overall and 0-5 in league games.
 
That changed for the Lobos (13-12, 4-8 MW) in Laramie, however, as they grinded out a 74-71 win in overtime over the Cowgirls (11-11, 7-6 MW). The overtime game was also the Lobos third of the season with all coming in conference play. The subsequent victory was their first.
 
In what played out as an evenly matched game that saw 15 tie scores and 11 lead changes, the Lobos were clutch down the stretch.
 
Trailing by six points with just over 4:30 left to play, Aisia Robertson knocked down a clutch three-pointer to cut the deficit in half. Jordan Hosey then made good on a layup at the 3:39 mark to bring the Lobos to within a point, 63-62. With just under two minutes left, the Cowgirls worked the ball inside and got a layup by Taylor Rusk to make it a three-point game.
 
Now with under a minute left in regulation and trailing by three points, Jaedyn De La Cerda buried a trifecta from the wing to knot the score at 65-all with 49 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, Wyoming dwindled the game clock down to 28 seconds and answered back with a painted jumper to take a 67-65 lead.
 
With the shot clock off, the Lobos called a timeout to draw up potentially the final play of the game. Once they got the ball into the front court the Lobos called another timeout with 10 seconds left. Upon getting ready to inbound the ball, Wyoming used a timeout as well to set their defense.
 
After all of the timeouts were taken, the Lobos got the ball in the hands of De La Cerda, who then drove the lane and got the game-tying basket to fall with six seconds. The Cowgirls would have the final shot at the horn but drew iron as the game was forced into overtime.
 
In the overtime, neither team was able to score through the first three minutes of play as the first bucket was a De La Cerda layup at the 2:12 mark. That two-point lead suddenly became a one-point deficit on the next trip down the court as Alba Sanchez Ramos knocked down a three-pointer.
 
On the Lobos’ ensuing possession, Shaiquel McGruder came down with a monster offensive rebound off a miss layup by Robertson. After the Lobos secured the extra possession, Robertson nailed a three-pointer with 1:03 left to give the Lobos a 72-70 lead.
 
With 41 seconds left in OT, the Cowgirls went to the free throw line with a chance to tie the game. Tereza Vitulova made the first but bricked the second keeping the Lobos out in front by a point, 72-71. Hosey came away with the defensive rebound off the Vitulova miss and then made it a three-point game as she got a tough bucket to fall with 14 seconds left.
 
The Cowgirls would have a couple of looks from three-point range in hopes of tying the game, but both hit the rim as the Lobos came away with the hard-fought victory.
 
Statistically the Lobos had four players score in double figures and were led by De La Cerda’s 17 points. All but five of her points came in the second half and overtime. Robertson was next with 15 points. McGruder added an important 13 points off the bench as she did not miss a shot, going 5-of-5 overall from the field, 1-of-1 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe. McGruder also added eight rebounds to tie for the team-lead with Hosey. Antonia Anderson rounded out double figure scoring for the Lobos with 10 points.
 
The Lobos will now prepare for a home game on February 12 against San Diego State. Tip-off against the Aztecs is set for 7 p.m.