By Liam Cary-Eaves
Emotions ran high for New Mexico in a physical 78-69 loss to Duquesne in the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament final Saturday night. The blistering fans roared “high school refs” on numerous occasions throughout the championship contest.
Head coach Yvonne Sanchez was not pleased with the officiating, either.
For the first time in her coaching career, Sanchez was required to watch the remainder of a game from the lockerroom after two technical fouls sent her up the WisePies Arena ramp early. Coming into the contest, Sanchez only had one prior technical foul, which she received against UTEP on Dec. 20, 2012.
“I’ve coached for 26 years and have received three technicals my entire career, but I’m going to defend my players,” Sanchez said. “If we’re going to go out there and work hard, I think everybody on the court needs to go out there and work hard.”
For Duquesne (5-1), it was April Robinson who went out to work hard for the visiting Dukes. The senior guard, who didn’t sit a single minute in the contest, could not be touched on her way to a game-high 34 points and 11 rebounds for the only double-double of the night.
Sanchez said there was only so much the Lobos could do to contain the sharp-shooter who went 7-14 from behind the arc and scored 14 points in the fourth quarter alone.
After a 20-point first half, it appeared New Mexico had answers for Robinson’s solid performance. UNM shut down the versatile guard completely in the third quarter, not allowing her to score a single point and igniting a comeback to take the lead at the start of the fourth.
After trailing by as much as 11, New Mexico turned to its post play to get back in the game. Khadijah Shumpert, who had been dormant for the majority of the first half, scored nine consecutive points for UNM inside the final five minutes of the second quarter.
Shumpert would wind up with a career-high 23 points in UNM’s losing effort. The senior forward said it doesn’t matter how good a game any member of the team has if it translates to a loss.
“Having a career-high isn’t as important to me because we lost,” Shumpert said. “Now we can’t be undefeated in The Pit this year.”
The problem, Sanchez said, wasn’t the offense that tallied 69 points, it was the defense. Sanchez said the amount of screens Duquesne was able to place caused confusion on the defensive side of things.
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In order to limit the confusion, she said her squad no longer switched on the screens, which worked tremendously, allowing for the Robinson shutdown in the third quarter.
Sanchez said that although 69 points should be enough to win a game, her team’s inability to hit easy layups down the stretch allowed for Duquesne to take control.
“It was a difficult situation because the game was right there and was right in our grasps, and it got away from us,” Shumpert said.
New Mexico possessed a 53-49 lead at the early stages of the fourth quarter, but would be outscored 29-18 in the final 10 minutes of the contest.
“I knew this would be a tough game, it would be a grind game,” Sanchez said. “We just didn’t finish in the fourth quarter.”
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on twitter @Liam_CE.
