The women’s basketball team came out cold against the University of Texas El-Paso on Saturday and never warmed up, falling to the Miners 53-43 at The Pit.
Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said the team let itself down; she said the Lobos lacked offensive rhythm on Saturday.
“Shooting 25 percent and having 22 turnovers — it’s just disappointing because I know they’re better than that,” Sanchez said “I know they’re disappointed because they know they’re better than that. It just seemed like when shots weren’t falling we got a little bit more into a rut.”
Senior forward Porche Torrance scored the first basket of the game with 18:26 left in the first half, but UNM would not score again until the 12:49 mark. UTEP didn’t sink a shot until 13:40 left to play in the first half, as it cut the lead to 3-2.
At 12:49 in the first half, the Lobos took a 7-2 lead after a free throw from senior guard Lauren Taylor. The five-point lead would be the Lobos’ biggest lead of the game.
With the score tied at 30 with 16 minutes left, it looked as if UNM would be able to take control of the game, but then the team fell was blown away by another cold front.
Senior guard Nikki Nelson said it might have been a bad shooting night, but the team still tried to make plays.
“We didn’t shoot well, and it’s hard when everybody’s not shooting well, but I felt like we still tried to attack and get to the rim,” Nelson said. “We tried, but we didn’t get the calls we would have liked to, but that’s with any game. It was just an off night.”
The Lobos would not make another shot until 11:37, to make the score 38-32 for UTEP. After that, the Miners took control of the game for good.
With four minutes left in the game, UTEP was up by 12, its biggest lead of the game. UNM looked hapless on offense as it squandered every opportunity.
For the 6:27 to 1:25 stretch, the Lobos didn’t score a point, and helped the Miners improve to 8-0 while UNM dropped to 3-6 for the year.
Torrance had a career high in rebounds with 18 (five offensive, 13 defensive), and the Lobos outrebounded UTEP 47-40.
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The Miners had three double-digit scorers: Kelli Willingham and Briana Green both with 10, and Gloria Brown with 12. Junior guard Caroline Durbin was the only Lobo who made double figures, with 13 points.
Sanchez said she was pleased with the Lobos’ defensive effort as it held UTEP to 30 percent shooting the entire game, but said she wished some of the regular shots would have fallen.
“I was proud of effort on defense because they’re a team that averages 75 points a game. We just needed to hit some shots,” Sanchez said, “I have confidence in them and we’ll get back. It’s the same shots we shoot every day in practice, but they just didn’t fall.”
