There is a simple answer to why the UNM women's basketball team has dropped three straight games: The Lobos pulled a Phil Hellmuth. UNM went on tilt.
In poker, someone is said to go on tilt when they get a bad beat and, in turn, adopt a less-optimal strategy, resulting in over-aggressive play.
Take into consideration how the Lobos lost two of their last three games: They were beat on the river card.
Against Utah, the Utes had to catch runners to beat the Lobos - the first on Fourth Street.
The Utes somehow pulled it out.
An improbable turnover with 41 seconds by Amanda Adamson led to an uncontested 3 by the Utes, tying the game at 50 apiece.
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"I felt like the girl tackled me," Adamson said. "I didn't feel like there was a whole lot I could have done. I mean, I could've tackled her back, (but) I didn't really shoulder it like that."
Then, the Utes deposited another trey in regulation, and the Lobos left the court steamed.
In the two games after that heart-wrenching loss to Utah, instead of methodically looking for closer shots, the Lobos seemed content with bombing away 3s, even though they weren't making very many of them. UNM was 8-of-39 from beyond the arc.
"Missing 3s is contagious," head coach Don Flanagan said. "Your teammate misses one; you start pressin' a little bit."
Flanagan said the loss affected the way the Lobos played against Wyoming and UNLV.
"It took a little bit of our confidence away," Flanagan said. "It's hard to measure something like that. That was a game that we had, and we should have won. When you lose a little confidence in being able to close out games, then you have two more close games. We didn't close out either of those. At this time of the year, everything gets a little tougher."
As titanium.
The Lobos lost to a .500 Wyoming and followed that by blowing a game against a sub-.500 Runnin' Rebels team.
And the manner in which UNM lost to the Cowgirls was just as gut-wrenching.
After playing miserably for almost the entire game at Wyoming, UNM stormed back and knotted the game at 50. The Lobos caught the one card they needed to give them what appeared to be an insurmountable advantage.
But Wyoming still had 19 seconds. Randi Richardson missed a long jumper, but Hillary Carlson got the easy putback and the Lobos lost 52-50.
That river card.
Flanagan said if the Lobos would have boxed out, they might have won that game.
"You (have) to go back to basics," he said. "You can't let them carry around negativity, because before you know it, (the) confidence is gone."
It's not gone, but it might have taken a vacation.
Then again, Adamson said things would have turned out differently in UNM's two-game road trip had the Lobos beat Utah at home.
"Honestly, I can say if we would have pulled out the win (against) Utah, we would've had a different record right now. I don't think we would've lost our last two games. It was like, 'Are we really good?'"
We will find out tonight, when the Lobos host the Falcons, who are winless in the Mountain West Conference.
