Lobo Comeback Falls Short in Loss to Stephen F. Austin
KATY, Texas— A fourth-quarter rally led by Jaedyn De La Cerda, LaTascya Duff and LaTora Duff made it a two-point game with 19 seconds left in Friday’s game against Stephen F. Austin, but the Lobos couldn’t complete the comeback in the 71-66 defeat.
UNM scored 32 points in the fourth quarter alone, with LaTora and De La Cerda scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively, and De La Cerda a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor and 3-for-3 from three-point range. LaTascya’s eight points accounted for the remaining Lobo points.
De La Cerda finished with 18 points, LaTora with 17 and LaTascya with 15 points, while Antonia Anderson led on the boards with eight rebounds, while adding five assists, two blocks and five points. LaTora also had three steals and De La Cerda two steals.
For the first time this season, the opponent scored first in the game, but De La Cerda tied the game with a layup. After an Anderson layup created a tie at six-all, the Ladyjacks went on a 9-2 run to close the quarter, with the Lobos trailing 15-8 through the first quarter.
Of the eight points, De La Cerda had four, Anderson had two and Shaiquel McGruder had two.
The Lobos responded in the second, with Viané Cumber opening the frame with a three and De La Cerda adding a three to cut the deficit to three at 17-14. Following a SFA layup, the Lobos went on a 7-0 run that included three free-throws by LaTora and an Anderson three that gave UNM its first lead of the game at 20-19 with 5:16 remaining in the quarter. Another LaTora free-throw pushed the lead to two before the Ladyjacks retook the lead at 24-21. A Cumber jumper followed by a layup by Paula Reus provided another lead change at 25-24 in favor of the Lobos, but SFA scored the final three points of the quarter for the 27-25 halftime score.
Cumber led all scorers in the second quarter with five points as the Lobos outscored the Ladyjacks 17-12.
SFA came out of the break with a 14-0 run that put the Lobos behind 41-25, to which LaTascya ended with a three-pointer. A second LaTascya three brought the Lobos within 12 with 2:56 remaining in the quarter, but again SFA closed on a run and led by 19 at the end of the third.
LaTascya led the Lobos with seven points in the quarter, with five of UNM’s points coming off of turnovers.
The Lobos fell behind by 20 with 8:23 left in the game before UNM started its comeback, led by back-to-back threes by De La Cerda and LaTascya, with Duff drawing a foul on her three for the four-point play. The run continued with a LaTascya layup and a LaTora jumper to get the Lobos back within single digits, and finished with a LaTora free-throw on an and-one opportunity and a LaTora jumper that made it 59-53 with 5:40 to play.
A LaTora three closed the gap to within four with a little under two minutes on the clock and a De La Cerda steal and fast-break layup made it a one-possession game at 65-63 with 52 seconds remaining. After SFA pushed the margin back to five, another De La Cerda three with 19 seconds left got the Lobos back within striking distance at 68-66. The Ladyjacks split a pair of free-throws to keep it a one-possession game, but the Lobos missed a three to tie. SFA added two more free-throws for the final score.
UNM scored almost half of its total points in the fourth quarter, outscoring SFA 32-18.
The Lobos fall to 4-2 on the season, and are set to play Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT/ 5:30 p.m. MT. The game can be heard on 95.9 FM or 610 AM.