LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The UNM women’s basketball team’s NCAA Tournament hopes are now in the hands of a selection committee after losing 71-58 to Brigham Young University Friday in the second-round of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
The Lobos built an early lead, but saw it disappear because of a poor offensive showing and an aggressive Cougar offense.
UNM head coach Don Flanagan said that the difference in the third Lobo-Cougar match-up of the season was that BYU finally played to its potential.
During two earlier meetings against the Cougars, UNM shut down BYU and star guard Erin Thorn shot poorly, while the Lobos excelled offensively.
This time UNM was not as lucky and it was the Lobos turn to catch the poor shooting bug.
The Lobos shot only 30 percent from the field, while the Cougars finished with 42.6 percent field goal shooting.
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Junior center Jordan Adams led the way for the Lobos with 11 points. Thorn exploded for the first time against the Lobos this season, scoring 22 points, dishing four assists and going 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said has learned a lot coaching against Flanagan.
“Make people beat you, don’t beat yourself,” Judkins said, echoing the UNM’s coach’s motto.
The Lobos bolted out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, with a jumper and 3-pointer by junior forward Chelsea Grear. That lead began to quickly disappear after guard Stacey Jensen drained a 3-pointer that ignited an 18-3 BYU run.
“We never were able to close the gap,” Flanagan said. “You can’t trade baskets with a team that is down by 15.”
The punishment finally ended when BYU forward Jennifer Leitner fouled Adams with about 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Adams sank both of her free throws to minimize the Cougar lead to 18-12.
BYU answered back by easily breaking the Lobos full court press and feeding forward Danielle Cheesman for an easy two, making the score 20-12 with 10:07 remaining in the first half.
The Lobos then mounted their only significant rally of the game, that was capped by a Daja Adams layup off a Grear pass. UNM cut the margin to 22-19 with 8:22 on clock, but would get no closer.
Cheesman crushed the Lobos’ momentum with 8:02 in the half on a basket that pushed the lead to 24-19. UNM went on to score only nine more points in the first period on eight-of-24 shooting in contrast to the Cougars 16-of-27 from the field, giving BYU a 39-28 advantage at the half.
Thorn wasted no time in the second half, adding to the lead by hitting a 3-pointer on the Cougars’ first possession, making it 42-28. Seconds later, Lobo guard Molly McKinnon completed a three-point-play of her own, scoring in the paint while being fouled and hitting the free throw. After Adams laid in a McKinnon pass and a short jumper by Moore, the Lobos cut the deficit to nine, 44-35, with 17:39 remaining.
But BYU was not going to let their championship hopes be threatened by the Lobos, capitalizing on a charging foul against Moore and a 3-pointer by Cougar forward Melanie Pearson to put the game out of reach.
With the momentum in their favor, the Cougars coasted to a 16-point lead after Pearson drove through the Lobo defense to lay the ball in with about 12 minutes remaining, putting the Cougars up 53-37. Though the Lobo defense was lackadaisical all afternoon, the Cougars defense gave UNM headaches.
Flanagan said that the Lobos were unable to get their inside game going because of the Cougars effective zone and box-and-one defense.
“They disrupted our offense with their defense,” he said.
The Lobos called a timeout to re-group and came back out with a quick basket by forward Melissa Forest. However, that basket at 11:32 would be the only field goal by either team for the next six minutes. The drought was sprinkled with free throws by both teams and was not broken until the 5:24 mark when BYU forward Jennifer Leitner scored on a layup. Adams scored within the next 20 seconds to beak the Lobos dry spell, but the gap had already extended to 63-46.
Adams said the Cougar defense gave her difficulty all afternoon.
“At the beginning of the game they double and triple teamed me,” she said. “They locked me up, and I couldn’t see out of it. Most of it was my fault not posting up strong enough.”
The Cougars built the lead to as much as 19 points in the final minutes.
Flanagan said he is not sure whether the loss will affect the Lobos’ chance at an NCAA Tournament bid.
“Anytime you leave it up to a committee, that is not the way to go, not the sure way to go,” he said. “There are four teams in the league with NCAA caliber. Whether they choose us, I don’t know.”
To complicate the post-season picture for the Lobos, who are a bubble team, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas upset top-seeded Colorado State University 72-58 Friday. CSU is ranked in the top 25 and is expected to receive an at-large bid. The conference tournament champion receives an automatic bid, meaning UNM is depending on the Mountain West getting an unprecedented third team into the NCAA Tournament.
The Lobos’ will find out if their NCAA dreams will come to fruition Sunday when the NCAA Women’s Selection Show airs on ESPN at 3 p.m.
