Down 67-62, with just one minute left in the game, the Lobo women’s basketball team had three layup opportunities to win — none of them rolled in.
“We missed a lot of easy shots,” head coach Yvonne Sanchez said.
UNM fell to the Boise State Broncos 68-64 Saturday afternoon at The Pit, despite a resurgent effort from the Lobos, who closed the gap to five points after being down 68-43 with 4:17 left in the game.
“Boise State is a good team, and they’re better than their record indicates,” Sanchez said. “But again, it’s a game we could’ve won. It’s a game that was close down at the end. And it’s a game that, had we not had 20 turnovers, it might have been a different story.”
In the first half, the Lobos (7-15, 1-7 MWC), turned to junior guard Caroline Durbin and senior forward Porche Torrance to stay in the game and trail 29-26 at halftime.
Both players combined for 20 of the 26 points UNM scored in the half. Torrance neared a double-double with eight rebounds.
UNM kept the game close early thanks to Bronco forward Lauren Lenhardt’s trouble with fouls.
Back in January, the Lobos lost to the Broncos by 19 points at Boise, Idaho. Lenhardt led all scorers with 23 points in only 24 minutes.
Lenhardt picked up two fouls in the first five minutes and sat the bench for the remainder of the half.
And in similar fashion, Lenhardt played most of the second half and dominated the Lobos with 16 second-half points off of 6-of-10 shooting.
“(Lenhardt) was pretty smart to stay out of trouble in the second half,” Sanchez said. “She definitely was the difference.”
With 12:14 left in the game in a 40-40 game, it was Lenhardt who sparked a 23-8 run with a 3-point basket.
The Lobos then clawed back and went on a 14-4 run of their own to cut the lead to five points with 1:44 left.
Durbin scored 11 of the team’s 14 points in the stretch, but it wasn’t enough.
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UNM then missed the three opportunities it had to complete the comeback.
“I wasn’t being patient down low, I was kind of rushing my shots,” Torrance said. “I think that made a huge difference.”
Durbin led all scorers with 27 points. Torrance recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 17 points and 15 rebounds.
UNM shot 40.4 percent for the game, making 23-of-57 field goals.
The Lobos are only one game ahead of last-place TCU in the conference standings, but still have the Mountain West Conference tournament to look ahead to, Torrance said.
“As a team we are frustrated,” she said. “You’re not always going to have a winning season, so we just have to keep our confidence up and play as a team.”
