With 2:57 left to play, UNM forward Melissa Forest hit a 3-pointer to bring the Lobos within one possession of leading the Florida Gators for the first time Saturday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The Pit erupted in an indescribable deafening blare as UNM faithfuls kept their hopes alive after watching the Lobos struggle from behind the entire game.
But the ruckus was immediately silenced after Florida guard Tishona Gregory took the ball from Fatima Maddox, scored on a fast break and drew a foul. Suddenly, Florida had a five-point lead with 2 minutes remaining.
UNM tried desperately to regain possession by fouling in the final minute, but the Gators took advantage of the free opportunities and ended the game - and UNM's hopes of advancing to second round - on a 10-0 run.
"One thing we didn't want to do was play from behind," UNM head coach Don Flanagan said. "And that's exactly what we did."
Flanagan congratulated the Gators for coming into such a tough environment and turning in a stellar performance. He said the conditions that have slowed down other teams at The Pit seemed to make the Gators play even harder.
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Senior All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year Vanessa Hayden said it wasn't easy to work in such conditions.
"On the outside you can say all day that it wasn't intimidating," she said. "But it was intimidating. We couldn't hear anything out there."
Right after Forest's crowd-teasing score, UNM forced the Gators to run down the shot clock and when the buzzer sounded, not even the players on the floor were aware of it, as the sound was drowned out by wild fans.
"They were so loud at times I couldn't communicate with my coaching staff," Florida head coach Carolyn Peck said. "But I am extremely proud of this team. If you're the University of New Mexico, that's going to be a nightmare."
The athletic Gators, led by 6-foot-4, 220 pound Hayden and 5-foot-11 Natashia Morehead, dominated the interior in the first half, even though Hayden played only eight minutes.
UNM only managed to grab three rebounds with 10 minutes to go in the first, and the Gators didn't allow UNM to get any looks on the interior and forced UNM to take 15 of its first 26 shots from the perimeter. The cold-shooting Lobos were only good for three of those attempts.
Meanwhile, the first half was essentially a one-woman show for Florida. Morehead scored 16 of the Gators' 33 first-half points, including the first eight.
In the second half, spectators were finally able to see Hayden in her true form. After resting most of the first period and having only two points to show for it, she came off the bench and took over, scoring 15 of her 17 points in the second.
But behind Maddox and junior forward Lindsey Arndt, the Lobos were able to get back into the game and went on their own 14-4 run late in the second.
But their efforts were futile, and 12th-seeded UNM ended the season, and an 11-game winning streak, at the hands of the No. 5 seed Gators.
Arndt had 11 points for UNM, Forest had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Maddox added eight points.
