It took the entirety of the game, plus some, for the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team to pull out a victory on the road at Fresno State, 93-89.
And the Lobos got scoring out of a trio of players — Cherise Beynon, Tesha Buck and Jaisa Nunn — in the process.
Beynon led UNM with a triple-double performance, putting up 22 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. It marked the third triple-double of her career.
Buck, however, was a problem on offense for the Bulldogs. She scored a team-high 30 points while going 12-of-23 from the field. She also had two threes, though she attempted a total of 10.
Nunn scored 22 points and added 11 rebounds, ultimately giving her the 17th double-double of the season.
Though the numbers look great, UNM still trailed Fresno State most of the game. In fact, the Lobos didn’t get their first lead until after the end of regulation.
Beynon, in the fourth quarter, grabbed a rebound, passed it to Buck and got it back on the pass again to score a bucket and bring the game within six points with a little under four minutes to go.
UNM then tied it with 1:21 left in the game when Madi Washington hit a dagger from 3. After that, the Lobos were able to put up five more shots but made none. The game ended with a tie, forcing it into overtime.
That’s when Nunn, with 1:51 left in the extra time of play, gave UNM an 85-84 lead. Fresno State’s Candace White then answered back with a shot of her own to take a one point lead.
Beynon scored again to put UNM up. After the Bulldogs were able to get to the free throw line, they missed both. UNM, in response, sank all six of its free throws in the last 21 seconds of the game. Fresno State added a 3, but it was too late as the Lobos pulled away for the win.
For Fresno State, White scored a game-high 32 points while also adding 10 rebounds and five assists.
The Lobos made 42.4 percent of their shots compared to 51.5 percent for the Bulldogs.
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UNM, though, had just six turnovers. Fresno State had 15.
The Lobos, who were already the sixth seed regardless of the outcome at Fresno State, will now face San Jose State, the 11th seed, in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament on Monday at 8 p.m.
UNM, in its two meetings with the Spartans, lost on the road to them early in the season but avenged that loss at The Pit later in the season win a 30-point victory.
The winner of UNM/SJSU will then play third seed Wyoming on Tuesday.
Matthew Narvaiz is a senior sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s and women’s basketball and baseball. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz.
