The New Mexico women's basketball team didn't get the Black Friday deal they were hoping for on Friday night: a win over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
A crowd of 4,894 fans roared their support in a close fourth quarter game, but were silenced in the end after Tulsa (2-3) walked away with a 67-64 win.
New Mexico (2-2) had chipped away at a double-digit halftime deficit to take the lead with under three minutes to play, but Tulsa guard Alexis Gaulden buried a three-point dagger into the hearts of Lobo fans with 32 seconds left.
The shot gave the Golden Hurricane a 66-62 lead and the Lobos weren’t able to keep pace, missing a couple of looks from three-point range.
It wasn't a smooth shooting night for the Lobos, as they went 30 percent from the field and registered a season-low 19 percent from three-point range.
Alex Lapeyrolerie — who had led the team in scoring in the first two games of the season — hit another shooting slump Friday night. Lapeyrolerie shot 2-for-8 from beyond the arc, her only two made field goals of the game in 32 minutes of playing time.
Freshman guard Mykiel Burleson suffered similar shooting woes. She shot 0-for-9 from the field with five of those shots coming from distance. Burleson scored all three of her points at the free throw line, where she went 3-of-4.
Despite the loss, the Lobos can take away at least one positive. Guard Cherise Beynon, who had only put up 10 total points in her first three games, found her shot and played arguably her best game so far this season.
Beynon scored 15 points on 6-for-17 shooting and sunk 1 of 2 shots from the charity stripe. She came close to registering a triple-double as she also brought down eight rebounds and dished out seven assists.
Beynon said she felt that, although her scoring improved, it didn't directly lead to helping her team. She played with foul trouble, picking up her fourth personal early in the third quarter, forcing her to the bench.
“I think I've done better scoring wise than the last three games I've played in,” Beynon said. “Defensively I got in foul trouble, so that doesn’t help… I just got to find ways to stay on the court.”
The Lobo who has been the most consistent so far this season did not break the pattern Friday. 6-foot-5- inch senior center Richelle van der Keijl towered over Tulsa’s post players and poured in a game-high 21 points for the Lobos on 7-for-13 shooting.
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As usual, van der Keijl posted a dominant presence in the rebounding category, bringing down 17 boards — eight of them on the offensive end. But she also struggled from the free throw line, knocking down just 7-of-14 attempts.
The Golden Hurricane had explosive guard play that seemed to shock the Lobos’ defense, especially in the first half. In the first quarter of play, Tulsa jumped out to an early 5-0 lead off of a Gaulden 3-pointer and pair of free throws. But the Lobos were able to keep things close, trailing the Golden Hurricane by just one point at the end of the first quarter.
A combination of sloppy play and bad shot selection allowed Tulsa’s lead to grow in the second quarter. New Mexico was outscored 13-2 in the period, which put the Lobos at a 29-17 deficit entering halftime.
The teams played about even in the third quarter, but the Lobos began to cut into the lead, trailing 49-40 at the end of the period. Center Jaisa Nunn kept UNM afloat, exploding for ten points in the quarter — her only points of the night.
The fourth quarter was a seesaw affair for several minutes as Tulsa maintained control up 55-45 with under eight minutes remaining in the game.
But the crowd seemed to disrupt Tulsa’s offensive approach as the Lobos reeled off nine straight points to pull within one.
New Mexico took a 58-57 lead with 4:31 left off of a van der Keijl layup. There would be five more lead changes throughout the duration of the game, but a critical charging foul — a questionable call on Lobos’ guard Laneah Bryan — turned the tide in the direction of Tulsa.
That turnover led to the Gaulden 3-pointer that ultimately sealed the victory.
UNM head coach Mike Bradbury said he wasn't too impressed with his team’s overall play, but praised the fans for their support saying he thought they were tremendous.
“We weren't as sharp as we have been in the previous three games,” Bradbury said. “I thought we got out-coached, I thought we got outplayed and when those things happen you get beat.”
With the loss, the Lobos will play Saint Joseph’s Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at WisePies Arena, directly after the championship game between BYU and Tulsa which starts at 12:30 p.m. The Lobos’ game against Saint Joseph's will determine who finishes in third place in the tournament.
Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women's basketball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz.
