'Perfect' last play ends with miss; Lobo women fall in Mountain West quarterfinals
Mar. 6—Everything was positive except the finish.
That was the unhappy story narrative for the University of New Mexico women's basketball team, which suffered a painful case of deja vu in a 69-68 loss to San Diego State in Monday's Mountain West Conference tournament quarterfinals in Las Vegas, Nevada.
What was most difficult for the Lobos and their fans to swallow? Take your pick.
UNM (20-12) led for more than 34 minutes — never by much — and trailed for just the final 45 seconds.
Down by a point in the final 30 seconds, UNM forced a turnover and got exactly the shot it was looking for with a chance to win. Aniyah Augmon broke free on a back-cut, took a bounce pass from LaTora Duff and turned for a layup. Her shot bounced off the back iron with 2.1 seconds left and SDSU grabbed the clinching rebound.
"It was perfect," Lobos coach Mike Bradbury said of the final play in a postgame phone interview. "We got the high ball screen, Aniyah beat the defense with a back cut and we got a wide-open shot. It just didn't go in."
UNM had its six-game winning streak snapped and must wait until Monday, March 13 to find out if it will receive a WNIT bid. Bradbury was confident the Lobos will get an invitation.
"We've had a great year and there are still games to play," he said, "but this one absolutely stings."
Monday's contest was much like other recent battles between the Lobos and Aztecs (23-9), who traded punches and big shots throughout most of the contest. UNM grabbed an early 15-6 lead, the largest for either team, but SDSU rallied to tie the score at 27 with 3:30 left in the second quarter and it remained tight the rest of the way.
Viané Cumber and Shaiquel McGruder scored 15 points apiece for the Lobos, who had all five starters score in double figures.
Longtime Lobo antagonist Sophia Ramos had 15 points, seven rebounds and eight assists to pace the Aztecs, who advanced to face top-seeded UNLV in Tuesday's semifinals.
Monday's outcome was familiar for the Lobos, who led for 37 minutes only to suffer a 65-61 loss to the Aztecs earlier this season in San Diego. UNM answered with an 83-78 win at the Pit on Feb. 4.
While the Lobos were forced to deal with another heartbreaking finish, the Aztecs were understandably elated after Monday's win.
"What a great basketball game," SDSU coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said in a postgame media conference. "It's such a pleasure to compete in the Mountain West with talented teams like New Mexico. ... It really just came down to getting that last defensive stop."
The game was tied four times in the fourth quarter, the final time at 62 on a jump shot by San Diego State's Abby Prohaska.
UNM scored the next four points on an Augmon layup and a Cumber jumper to take a 66-62 lead with 2:21 left.
The lead was still four points with 1:29 left when SDSU's Mercedes Staples buried an open 3-pointer. The Lobos turned the ball over on their next possession, one of just seven UNM turnovers in the game, and the Aztecs took their first lead on Asia Avinger's contested turnaround jumper with 49 seconds left.
"We gave Staples too much room on the 3," Bradbury said, "and we paid for it."
UNM had two final possessions with a chance to regain the lead, but McGruder missed a contested jumper and Augmon's last shot did not fall.
LaTascya Duff scored 14 points, while LaTora Duff and Amaya Brown had 10 apiece for UNM. Ramos led six players in double figures for SDSU.
Postgame press conference
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MW Quarterfinal by Albuquerque Journal on Scribd
