Lobos' season ends in WNIT's third round

Mar. 25—It's the end of the road for college basketball in New Mexico.

Dispatched to the Pacific Northwest for the third round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, the University of New Mexico women's basketball team was eliminated with a heartbreaking 78-73 loss against Oregon State.

The Lobos nearly doubled the Beavers' point production through the first 15 minutes before a slow and steady collapse that ended with a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds from homegrown talent Jaedyn De La Cerda.

With Oregon State clinging to a 76-73 lead, the Lobos sent a cross-court pass off an inbounds play to De La Cerda. Positioned behind the arc, her shot was just off with three seconds on the clock, ending UNM's season — and that of the careers of its five seniors in the starting lineup.

"This team really competed," said UNM coach Mike Bradbury. "We came on the road with no prep and we competed against a really good team. Couldn't be more proud, these five seniors are unbelievable."

The Lobos missed out on the chance to potentially play at home for this game because The Pit is being used for the Ty Murray Invitational, a regular stop on the annual Professional Bull Riders Tour.

Bradbury expressed his frustration with not having access to his own arena earlier this week. In Oregon State, the Lobos were facing a team with a much deeper and taller lineup, and one that had been to seven straight NCAA Tournaments before this postseason.

It didn't matter early on. The Lobos were red hot to start the game, hitting

14 of their first 23 shots to build what felt like a commanding 40-22 lead midway through the second quarter.

Nine of those were 3-pointers, including a perfect 5-for-5 effort from senior guard LaTascya Duff. Her 18 points were more than twice as many of any of her teammates at the break.

"We kind of shellshocked them," Bradbury said. "I think they knew we could make 3s but they didn't know we could make them that quick."

The news wasn't all good for New Mexico.

The Beavers responded to that hot start by closing the half on a 14-4 run to get within eight. The UNM collapse continued in the third quarter as the poor shooting coincided with Oregon State's dominant play on the glass and solid defense.

The Beavers (17-13) finally took the lead with two minutes left in the third quarter when Ellie Mack converted a three-point play to put them in front, 53-51. The Lobos scored the final five points of the period to stop the bleeding but it set the tone for a back-and-forth sprint to the finish.

The lead changed hands five times to go along with two ties in the final nine minutes. A

De La Cerda driving layup with 1:18 remaining tied the game

at 71, a sequence followed

14 seconds later by a hoop and harm by Mack. It proved to be the game-winning points as the Beavers led the rest of the way.

Duff finished with a game-high 20 points after being held to two points in the second half. She was 0-for-4 from 3-point range in the third and fourth quarters.

De La Cerda had 17 and

Shaiquel McGruder 16. The

five seniors combined for

70 of the team's 73 points. Four of the five starters logged at least 36 minutes. Freshman reserve Paula Reus had the other three points.

The Lobos finish 26-10, one win shy of what would have been a school-record 27 wins.

NOTES

Although the WNIT's field of 64 is split into four 16-team regional-like brackets, the regions don't officially have names. For what it's worth, the region the Lobos were in featured teams located in the western part of the country.

The regional semifinals Thursday night featured another Mountain West-Pac 12 matchup as UCLA traveled to Laramie, Wyo., to face Wyoming. The game dragged into three overtimes before UCLA held on for an 82-81 win.

The four regional finals will be this coming Sunday and Monday. On Sunday, Alabama travels to South Dakota State with a WNIT Final Four bid on the line. Monday's games have Middle Tennessee traveling to Toldeo, and Seton Hall at Columbia.

UCLA will visit Oregon State at a date and time to be determined.

The tournament's semifinals are Wednesday, with the championship game April 2.