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For the second game in a row, the UNM women’s basketball team had a chance at stealing a game at the buzzer. But once again the Lobos came up short.
Senior guard Caroline Durbin released a 3-pointer with less than two seconds left, but the ball rimmed out to give Fresno State a 51-50 victory over UNM at The Pit on Wednesday night.
Durbin, who paced the Lobos with 13 points on 6 of 14 shooting, said she thought the shot was on the line.
“That’s a shot I’ll shoot any time, and I felt like I was in range and I just let it go,” she said.
On Saturday, UNM lost 58-57 to UNLV after freshman point guard Bryce Owen’s last-second jumper didn’t hit. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said this loss doesn’t hurt her as much as the one to the Rebels.
“I’m a little bit better today than Saturday and maybe that’s because of the team, too,” Sanchez said. “Vegas is just a team that gets under your skin.”
Freshman post Whitney Johnson said the loss to the Bulldogs was just as hurtful as the one to the Rebels on Saturday.
“To lose by one (point) is heartbreaking because we put all effort into it and we play to win,” she said. “Hopefully we can learn from this and come back strong.”
The Bulldogs (16-7, 8-2 MWC) came into the game tied for second place in the Mountain West with Wyoming. Sanchez said the Lobos played some of the best defense they have all season.
“I’ll take the effort from our kids,” she said. “That’s a team that usually averages 69 points a game and we held them to 51.”
With the game tied at 48, Fresno junior guard Bree Farley made a layup and was fouled on the play. Farley converted the free throw to give the Bulldogs a 51-48 lead with 55 seconds. The Lobos answered when junior guard Sara Halasz hit a layup of her own to cut the lead to one. After forcing a Fresno turnover, Durbin pulled up with four seconds left but her trey rimmed out to give the Bulldogs the win.
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UNM (12-11, 4-6 MWC) hit 2 of 11 free throws (18.2 percent) to the Bulldogs’ 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) and Sanchez said those missed shots came back to haunt the team in the end.
“That’s what lost us the ball game,” she said. “I’ve never been around a basketball team that shoots free throws poorly. It’s one of those things that they have to learn from.”
For the game, UNM shot 23 of 53 (43.4 percent), while Fresno shot 19 of 44 (43.2 percent). On the boards, UNM outrebounded Fresno 30-29.
Fresno junior forward Ki-Ki Moore had a game-high 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Three other Bulldogs had eight points apiece.
Junior forward Deeva Vaughn was tied for second on the team with eight points with Johnson. Vaughn tallied a team-high seven rebounds.
