For the first 36 minutes of Saturday’s contest, the UNM women’s basketball team went toe-to-toe with league-leading TCU.
But the Lobos were outscored 13-3 down the final 7:13 of the game to lose 84-71 at The Pit.
“We played a good offensive game,” freshman forward Morgan Toben said. “It just comes down to making stops, and we didn’t make enough.”
UNM dropped to 10-16 overall and 4-10 in Mountain West Conference action, while TCU improved to 20-9 overall and 12-3 in conference.
Toben had a career-high five 3-pointers and finished the game with 15 points.
Led by senior All-MWC players Helena Sverrisdottir and Emily Carter — who scored 24 and 22 points, respectively — TCU essentially shot down any chance of a Lobo win.
The Horned Frogs went 16-of-24 from the field in the second half, including 5-of-8 from the 3-point range.
“They were just the better team,” head coach Don Flanagan said. “I thought we played pretty well and forced them to play well to beat us. We just weren’t quite good enough at the end of the game.”
Sverrisdottir scored just five points in the first half, but she was nearly unstoppable in the final minutes. With the game on the line, the native of Iceland hit a 3-pointer with 5:31 left to give TCU a 71-64 lead.
“They have incredible scorers,” guard Lauren Taylor said. “You just can’t go back-and-forth scoring with them, because they’re going to wear you out.”
Four points from the free-throw line by sophomore guard Caroline Durbin trimmed UNM’s deficit to 71-68 with 4:11 left in the game. But that was as close as the Lobos came, as Sverrisdottir and Carter scored the next six points en route to the 13-point victory.
“We got into a shooting contest with a much better shooting team,” Flanagan said. “Carter gave us trouble all day, and Sverrisdottir is just so smart about finding ways to break you down.”
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Taylor led the Lobo offense with 17 points, tying a career-high with five 3-pointers. Junior forward Porche Torrance added 15 points.
But even the Lobos’ 14 three-pointers — one shy of the program record — and 42 percent shooting from the field were not enough to get a win.
Lobo freshman guard Jasmine Patterson and senior forward Amanda Best struggled offensively.
Patterson was 0-for-8 from the field and failed to score for the second time this season. Best had nine points, nine rebound and seven assists, but was just 3-of-8 from the field and 1-of-4 from the free-throw line.
The duo was instrumental in Wednesday’s road win against UNLV, with Patterson scoring 24 and Best adding 22 points.
Taylor said the Lobos didn’t have an answer for Sverrisdottir and Carter.
“Sverrisdottir and Carter were the two X-factors in this game,” she said. “If they are both dropping their shots, you’re in for a very long day.”
