LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Take three against Utah was just like take one and two for the UNM women's basketball team in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Friday.
The Lobos came ever-so close to winning, only to be edged 55-54 in the last few seconds of the game. There won't be a three-peat for the Lobos as tournament champions.
Despite finishing 22-11 and 11-8 in the MWC, head coach Don Flanagan said he doesn't know if UNM's résumé is good enough for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament,.
"We didn't beat Utah, and we had three opportunities," he said. "I think we have the ability to play with NCAA teams. We got some good wins over Depaul, Nebraska, Texas Tech. If I was on the committee, I'd vote for us. Of course, I'm not on the committee."
After being held to nine points on 3-of-11 shooting, Utah star Morgan Warburton erased all her previous struggles by hitting the game-winning shot with 2.7 left in the contest. Warburton finished with just 11 points, after torching the Lobos for 39 in the last two games between the two teams.
Amy Beggin had an opportunity to put the Lobos up three with 12 seconds left, but the 88 percent free-throw shooter saw both her attempts rim out.
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"I stepped up there with confidence," Beggin said. "Both of them felt good. They gave it, like coach said, to Warburton. She converted. I take all that responsibility on me. I have to step up there and hit the free throws. I've been in those situations many times before. Just frustrating to know that if I would have hit the free throws, we would have won the game."
Warburton raced down the court, jimmied through the lane and banked home a floater. Beggin took the inbounds pass and chucked up a prayer while being bumped in the air by Warburton, but no foul was called.
The Lobos entered the half up by 10 points, 30-20 and pushed their lead to 16 in the first two minutes of the second half. At the 10 minute mark, UNM had a 46-32 advantage, but the Utes rallied, going on a 20-4 burst to capsize the Lobos' lead, turning it in the Utes' favor, 52-50.
"They do seem to have a great deal of poise," Flanagan said. "They have two players that are very difficult to stop. In fact, I don't think anyone stops them. With those two players, they're exceptions. We have to help out of the man, creating other players on their team to have opportunities."
Georonika Jackson knotted the game at 52 with 2:44 left. On the next possession, the Lobos forced Warburton into a difficult 15-footer, which she missed, but Kalee Whipple secured the rebound and the putback, pushing the Utes ahead 54-52.
Sara Halasz cut the lead to one by making one of two free throws. At the other end, Whipple missed two free throws, leaving the door open for the Lobos.
Whipple, who is normally a reliable free-throw shooter at 81 percent, was 2-of-8 from the charity stripe.
"I think I just got in my own head," Whipple said. "Just thinking about it too much. 'Don't hit short,' and it'd hit short."
UNM took advantage of Whipple's misses, and Harthill put the Lobos up 55-54 before a near-steal by Halasz seemed to set UNM up to win the game.
Beggin was fouled on the inbounds, but couldn't convert her free throws,
"They fouled our best free-throw shooter," Flanagan deadpanned. "I think there's a little bit of luck in winning games from time to time. They won the game. From time to time, you're going to get a lucky bounce. We had a game against Colorado State. Amy shoots a 3 it goes straight up in the air and straight down through the basket. I don't think I've seen a shot like that. In a one-point win, the ball could bounce anybody's way in a one-point win. There could be an element of luck in it."
Warburton said she was at a loss for words.
"You can't really explain it," Warburton said. "This game was a lot better than most. It was us coming together and realizing that this was our last chance to do something - been against New Mexico all three times."
