Women's basketball: Late letdown leads to consecutive losses

The Lobos dropped back-to-back games for the first time in nearly 11 months on Wednesday night with a 70-62 loss at UTEP.

After falling to Duquesne in a 78-69 fourth quarter let down, the Lobos responded with a sluggish first half in El Paso. It was the first time the Lobos faltered in consecutive games since opening conference play with losses to Fresno State on Dec. 31, 2014 and to Colorado State on Jan. 3, 2015.

“We started out really slow. We talked about it as a staff at halftime and I needed to switch things up,” head coach Yvonne Sanchez said in a statement. “We have to play smarter. I don’t think we are a very tough team mentally and that is what is hurting us.”

UNM (4-2) got off to a cold 8 of 29 effort from the field, just under 28 percent. While the Lobos did hold the unblemished Miners (6-0) to a mere 34.4 percent from the field, the team’s poor shooting dug the squad into an early 34-22 hole.

While Sanchez said in the release that her team may not be mentally tough, the squad did attempt to stage a second half comeback. But the first half deficit was just too much to overcome.

On a night when not much else was going right for the Lobos, senior forward Khadijah Shumpert led the second half charge while collecting her second double-double on the season with 20 points and 10 boards. Her 7 of 10 shooting from the field allowed her to reach 20 points for the second consecutive games.

“I thought they fought and that shows me a lot of character. And I can build on that,” Sanchez said in the statement. “I saw other teams just fold when I was watching film and I was proud they didn’t.”

Lulu Mckinney for UTEP led all scorers on the early 4:15 weekday tipoff with 22 points. The sophomore guard wasn’t the only one doing all the scoring as Cameasha Turner aided with 16 points of her own.

Heading into the fourth quarter, UNM turned the ballgame into a two possession contest, only trailing 47-42. However, for the second consecutive game, the Lobos melted in the final 10 minutes of the game. The defense gave up 20 points, the most of any quarter, while the offense could only muster up a mere 13.

Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on twitter @Liam_CE.