The UNM women’s basketball team didn’t have enough speed or force to stop Oklahoma State on Wednesday.
The Cowgirls tired out the Lobos in the semifinals of the preseason Women’s National Invitational Tournament at The Pit, 70-56, putting the Lobos 2-1 in the season.
“We played a good first half, but in the second half we couldn’t shoot,” said head coach Don Flanagan. “We solved their zone in the second half and they went back to man (defense) and all of the sudden we can’t shoot. We were 2-17 from 3-point range and 25 percent from the two and that is not going to win you games.”
Flanagan was mistaken about his team’s 3-point shooting abilities against the Cowgirls. The Lobos finished hitting only six 3-pointers of the 27 attempted.
The 3-point shots missed wouldn’t have mattered down the final stretch of the game. The Lobos converted only two field goals in the final five minutes.
Guard Andrea Riley was an honorable mention All-American at OSU last season. She shot poorly herself, but it was enough to keep the Cowgirls undefeated at 3-0 on the season.
Riley made only 6-of-22 field goals but finished the night with 22 points. She was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line.
OSU head coach Kurt Budke said he had never seen Riley deliver such a weak shooting performance.
“Andrea had one of the worst nights of her life but still came up at money time,” Budke said. “Right now we are really leaning on our seniors to carry us as we mature with the youth.”
Riley took control in the second half and tired out Lobo senior Amy Beggin. With 3:30 left in the contest, Riley drove down the court off of a steal. She converted the lay up on the fast break that put the Cowgirls up eight.
The Riley lay up was on a 16-4 run late in the game that sealed the Lobos’ fate.
“(Riley) didn’t do much in the first half, but in the second half she showed why she is such a quality player,” Flanagan said. “It was very difficult because of her quickness and aggressiveness and she attacks the basket so well. She is a real quality point guard.”
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OSU was more hostile on the boards.
In a game that demanded physical presence by UNM, the Lobos didn’t deliver.
The Cowgirls out rebounded the Lobos by 11, 45-34. It’s the second time in the young season that the Lobos have been beaten out on the boards. The Lobos were out rebounded against Northern Colorado 41-37 last week.
“They were stronger and more determined on the boards than us,” Flanagan said. “Other than that, there were times when I was pretty happy with what we were doing. We just have a ways to go and we just have to compete against good teams and just beat the bad teams. I felt like that was a good team and they had a lot of depth and talent.”
