The UNM women's basketball team had No. 18 Utah on the ropes but faltered in the closing minutes, falling 57-53 on Saturday at The Pit.
The defeat marked the second time this season that the Lobos held a double-digit lead against Utah. UNM dropped a 60-57 road game at Utah on Jan. 23.
UNM point guard Amy Beggin said the Lobos have yet to overcome losing close games.
"We just haven't broken over that hump yet," she said. "It's just close games, and we kind of fold and get soft at the end and just stop playing aggressive. To lead for, like, 38 minutes and lose it at the end is frustrating."
With 4:48 left in the game, the Lobos were up by 12 points when the Utes went on a 16-4 run to tie the game at 48-48. During Utah's late-game run, the Utes were 4-of-4 from the 3-point line.
The Utes have won 18 games in a row - tying their school record - and remain undefeated in the Mountain West Conference at 12-0. Utah is 23-3 overall.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
UNM dropped to 14-12 overall and 6-7 in the conference.
Lobo head coach Don Flanagan said each late-game loss is a mental drain on the players.
"I thought we played well for about 37 minutes," he said. "We've done this before. It's kind of unfortunate. When that happens, you see a trend, and it's hard to stop it because they lose confidence every time they lose a game."
Utah guards Kalee Whipple and Morgan Warburton accounted for Utah's offense during the 16-4 run.
Whipple started the run, making eight-straight points for the Utes and finishing the game with 21 points. She went 5-of-8 from 3-point land.
Then Warburton put together her own eight-point stretch and finished the game with 17 points.
UNM didn't trail Utah until the last 1:11 of the game, when Ute guard Leilani Mitchell took the ball the length of the court for a layup after a missed Lobo free throw.
Flanagan said his team had a strong effort, but it needs to work on closing out games.
"I am happy with the fact that we played them very well. We played them very hard. We gave a nice effort," he said. "We just have to be able to hit clutch free throws and hit clutch shots. As of this time now, we haven't been able to do that."
Lobo forward Dionne Marsh finished the game with 21 points and five rebounds.
Marsh said she won't be satisfied until her team improves its resiliency.
"We just have to get mentally tougher," she said. "That's it. There's no other excuses. There's no other explanation. Everyone on this team, from point guard to down to the last post position - we've got to get more mentally tough."
UNM will go on a two-game road trip before ending the regular season at home on March 8. The Lobos sit at fifth place in the MWC standings.
Beggin said UNM proved it can hang with any team in the conference, but finishing the regular season with momentum is vital.
"There's definitely encouragement going into the conference tournament, but it kind of just comes to the point now that we have to start beating them," she said. "Obviously, we can play with them, but if we keep losing by a couple points, it's not going to do any good when we get to the conference tournament."
