After the 89-18 destruction of the Tennessee State Tigers Friday, UNM ultimately fell to the University of South Carolina Gamecocks in the championship game of the Southwest Airlines Lobo Shootout Saturday at The Pit.
The Lobos overcame an ugly start and an early 10-point deficit to storm back and give the Gamecocks a match. But South Carolina was 17 points better with a final score, 69-52.
The crowd, which usually stands until the first Lobo basket is made, waited until the first timeout was called before sitting. The Gamecocks were up by six points before junior forward Lindsey Arndt drove to the baseline to pull up for a jump shot and UNM's first score.
From there, the Lobos scrambled to catch poor passes and tossed up shots of desperation. They had a season-high 17 turnovers in the match.
Midway through the first period, guard Mandi Moore heaved up a shot from behind the 3-point line to avoid a penalty as time expired on the shot clock. But head coach Don Flanagan couldn't take it anymore and called for time.
"I don't think we had a lack of confidence," he said. "But we were letting them dictate the game. When I called the timeout I told them to calm down, take the open pass and take the open shot."
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Flanagan's words put a charge into the Lobos, who looked alive after the pep talk, and went on a nine-point run, including seven from senior Lauren McLeod. Guard Abbie Letz gave UNM its first lead of the night, knocking down two points at the free-throw line to lead by one at halftime.
The lead went back and forth nine times early in the second half before Sarah Burgess drove in from the baseline to give the Gamecocks a 39-37 lead. South Carolina never looked back.
Flanagan attributes the loss to a combination of a poor offensive effort by the Lobos and an outstanding performance by the South Carolina guards.
Burgess and Cristina Ciocan led the Gamecocks with 19 and 18 points, respectively.
Flanagan said he matched several players up against Ciocan, but no one could stop her.
"She's really an outstanding player," he said. "We knew she was good, but I just had no match-up for her. We were hoping someone could hang in there."
McLeod finished with a career-high 15 points and four rebounds. Arndt was the only player in the game to post a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Arndt said it was difficult to come back and play intense after beating Tennesse State by 71 in the first round of the tournament.
"It's so different when you face a defense that's not even fazing you like last night and then face a defense that's strong and good like tonight," she said.
Arndt said even though losses are tough, they are good learning experiences for the Lobos, especially at the hands of teams like Villanova and South Carolina.
"I think it's good when we bring teams like these in," she said. "It's not like we're losing to bad teams. They're really good teams and hopefully we can learn a lot from them."
UNM fell to the Villanova Wildcats at the Lobo invitational in November.
The Lobos travel to California Thursday to play the University of San Francisco. They will return to The Pit Nov. 14 when they welcome the NMSU Aggies.
