UNM Comes Up Just Short as Lobos Fall to Falcons
USAFA, Colo.— Junior LaTascya Duff made a layup with 44 seconds left in the game to bring The University of New Mexico within one at 74-73, but the Lobos were unable to get the go-ahead basket in the final two possessions and fell 75-73 on Wednesday night to Air Force.
Duff again led the Lobos, now 10-3 overall and 7-3 in conference play, with 20 points, while seniors Jaedyn De La Cerda and Antonia Anderson scored 16 and 13, respectively, as the trio tried to will the Lobos to the win.
The Samson, Ala., guard also led the team with seven rebounds, Corina Carter came off the bench and provided a spark with a game-high seven assists to go along with eight points and Anderson recorded a team-high three steals.
Duff continued right where she left off in Tuesday’s game, opening the scoring with a three-pointer 38 seconds into the game, but the Falcons scored the next four points to take the lead. A layup by LaTora Duff gave UNM a 7-6 lead with a little over seven minutes remaining in the quarter, to which Air Force used a 6-0 run to reclaim the lead.
The Lobos answered by scoring the next five points to tie the game at 12, but much like Tuesday’s game, the first quarter ended with the Falcons in front 20-16.
In similar fashion, LaTascya led the Lobos in the first quarter with seven points, with LaTora closely behind at five points, as the Duffs accounted for five of the team’s seven made baskets.
A Carter three on the first possession of the second quarter cut the margin to one at 20-19, however, Air Force answered with a three of its own to keep some distance. From there, De La Cerda led a personal 7-0 Lobo run to give UNM back the lead at 26-23, and scored the next Lobo points on a layup following a LaTora offensive rebound to push UNM back in front 28-27.
Air Force went on a 8-0 run to take a 36-28 lead with a little over a minute to go, but LaTascya was able to hit a three-pointer as time expired to cut the deficit to five at 38-33 at the break.
Through the first 20 minutes, De La Cerda was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor for nine points, which all came in the second quarter. The New Mexico native was just one point behind LaTascya, who led all scorers at half with 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
In addition, there were nine lead changes and one tie through the first two quarters, with four lead changes occurring in the second quarter.
An Anderson fast-break layup off of a LaTascya steal 56 seconds into the third quarter cut the deficit in half and gave a slight flashback to Tuesday’s third-quarter comeback, but the Falcons stopped any further momentum with a 9-0 run that pushed the margin to 12 points at 47-35.
However, the Lobos responded, closing the quarter on an 11-0 run to bring the game within one at 49-48 before a Falcon layup closed the quarter to make it a three-point game through three quarters.
De La Cerda continued to be perfect in the third quarter, going 3-for-3 for seven points, as the Lobos outscored the Falcons 15-13 in the quarter.
Three LaTascya free throws 12 seconds into the fourth tied the game at 51, but again, Air Force used a run to pull ahead 56-51. Each time the Falcons went on a run, the Lobos chipped away, twice getting the game back within a point before tying the game again at 60 on an Anderson layup off of her own miss. The senior drew a foul on the putback and converted at the line, putting the Lobos in front 61-60 for their first lead since it was 28-27 with 4:24 remaining in the second quarter.
Air Force answered to go back ahead 65-61 and the Lobos responded to tie the game at 65. After the Falcons went back ahead 68-65, UNM went on a 4-0 run with an Anderson jumper and a Shaiquel McGruder layup to go up 69-68 with 2:24 left in the game. A De La Cerda defensive rebound on the next possession led to an Anderson layup that gave UNM a three-point lead, which the Falcons evened the score on the next possession following an offensive rebound.
A three by Kaelin Immel put the Falcons up three with 50 seconds remaining and out of a Lobo timeout, LaTascya made a layup to cut it back to a one-point game.
The Lobo defense got the stop on the next Falcon possession, and with 13 seconds remaining, the Lobos had an opportunity to take the lead. McGruder drove the lane, similar to the game-winning play against Fresno State, but this time the shot attempt would rim out.
Fouling put Air Force on the line, resulting in the Falcons making one out of two, and gave the Lobos enough time to run one more play to tie or win. However, the Lobos were unable to get a shot off as the buzzer sounded.
Duff capped off the night with seven points in the fourth quarter, but Anderson went 4-for-6 from the floor for nine of her 13 points coming in the final quarter.
The Lobos have a short turnaround, traveling to Utah State to play the Aggies on Sunday and Monday in make-up games from earlier this season.