It all vanished.
A 50-45 lead for the UNM women's basketball team with 1:23 left in the game - gone.
Quickly, it turned into a 53-50 loss to Utah on Sunday at The Pit. The Lobos can thank Utah's Morgan Warburton for that, as the last 3-pointer of her 18 points proved to be the game winner.
Head coach Don Flanagan can add another sour memory to his list of sickening Utah losses.
Win No. 300 for the long-time coach was almost etched in the UNM record book. So was first place in the Mountain West Conference and the Lobos' best start in school history.
"It dissipated in a hurry," Flanagan said. "My hat's off to them. They look like the best team in the conference."
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But for more than 18 minutes, Utah didn't look like the best team in the conference. The Lobos did.
Utah came into Sunday's matchup undefeated in league play at 6-0. UNM was a step behind with a 5-1 record.
"We had control of the game," Flanagan said. "And all of a sudden, it was gone."
Soon, the Lobos' control was erased. As the Lobos did last season - UNM had a sizeable 14-point first-half cushion but lost 49-48 at The Pit - they gave away the game.
This time, the Lobos had grabbed their largest lead of the game, 50-45.
Katie King hit a jumper to reduce UNM's lead to three.
Then, a turnover by Amanda Adamson led to a 3-pointer for the Utes. Kalee Whipple hit the triple to knot the game at 50-50.
And when the Lobos needed a bucket, they didn't even get a good shot attempt.
Instead, Beggin tried to draw a foul and forced up a 12-footer that didn't even nick the rim.
"There probably was a better shot out there," Flanagan said. "I'd rather have Amy taking the big shot, though. There probably was a better shot, but I'm not sure who could've taken it."
Utah rebounded with 13 seconds left, and then the most painful three points of what turned out to be an 8-0 burst ensued.
Taking off from behind the 3-point line, Morgan Warburton floated up the game winner with six seconds remaining.
Angela Hartill bricked a desperation three, and Utah sneaked by, 53-50.
Jubilation for the Utes, a look of consternation from Flanagan and the Lobos.
"You have to finish it," Flanagan said. "That was the problem with that game. I had that (type) of loss to Utah. One time, they threw it in from half court. I have a long memory of Utah games here."
If his memory serves him well, then Flanagan can recall that he is now 13-23 against the Utes - by far his worst all-time record against a conference opponent. The next closest competitor that has gotten the best of Flanagan's Lobos: Colorado State. Flanagan is just 15-16 against the Rams.
So, it seems almost fitting that it would be the Utes that would foil Flanagan's 300-win festival.
"I'm bitter about that," he said, cracking a wide grin. "No, I'm not bitter. It's one of those things that it could be San Diego State; it could be any team. Some teams have your number a little bit. I felt like that was our game to have, and we didn't take care of it."
Beggin took it particularly hard.
"It felt like we had all the momentum," said Beggin, her voice quivering. "It's crazy how fast a game can change."
On that fateful jumper, Beggin appeared to dart ahead and had a step on her defender. Her defender recovered.
"I spun, and I just tried to shoot it," Beggin said. "I was just trying to put the ball in the basket, and if there was a foul - whatever. It doesn't matter now."
But from here on out, the rest of the MWC games do matter if the Lobos want to garner the first or second seed in the conference tournament in March.
"We have to make sure now we don't have any slip-ups," Flanagan said. "We can't lose to anybody that we should beat. Just can't do it."
