There’s a template for the UNM-Utah women’s basketball game.
This one, more or less, was a reproduction of the teams’ past encounters — a loosely officiated, rough-and-tumble, fast-paced contest.
But, as has become an enduring trend, the Lobos ducked out in the second round of the Mountain West Conference tournament on Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center, falling short to the Utes for the eighth consecutive time, 51-45.
Utah skidded by in overtime, compliments of a coffin-sealing 3-pointer by Kalee Whipple after the Lobos trimmed the deficit to 44-43. Whipple, to that point, was 1-of-11 from the field and 0-of-5 from 3-point range.
“It just felt like one was bound to fall,” Whipple said.
All the Lobos could do, meanwhile, was search for answers — again.
“If we could pinpoint one thing, I don’t think we’d be sitting here right now,” said point guard Amy Beggin.
It was a keep-’em-on-their-tippy-toes bonanza, which saw both teams hog-tied at the end of regulation. In overtime, the Lobos won the tip — but the Utes won the game, invoking not-so-distant memories of the last several matchups between the arch nemeses.
To get there, Utah needed a zillion prayers answered — a few favorable whistles — and some help from the Lobos.
Down the stretch, UNM played alternatively well and poorly.
Eileen Weissmann buried a 3-pointer to give the Lobos their first lead of the second half, 38-35, with 4:09 left in the game, followed by a Utah shot-clock violation. Everything pointed to a Lobo victory. Whipple couldn’t hit a beach ball into the ocean and had a potential tying shot rattle in and out.
At the other end, the Lobos missed out on an opportunity to extend the lead. Jessica Kielpinski took an ill-advised and contested shot that grazed the backside of the backboard. Later, a charging call that went against Beggin positioned Utah with one more possession to tie.
Lobo head coach Don Flanagan couldn’t comment on the nature of the officiating, other than to say that UNM entered expecting it to be a hard-fought game.
“One of the things about officiating is they’re part of the game and you have to make adjustments,” he said. “You really don’t have control over that part of the game, other than understanding the way they’re calling. Sometimes it seems like you’re not getting the calls. To me a lot of times when I’m looking at it, I’m not very objective when I’m looking at the game.”
Utah signaled for timeout, drawing up a play for Whipple. She missed badly but hustled and got the rebound, strafing the sideline before kicking out to her teammate Janita Badon.
Boomshockalacka!
Badon buried it with 1:07 left in the game, forcing an overtime period.
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“I knew when that shot didn’t go in, we needed a rebound,” Whipple said. “I saw Janita open at the 3 and had all the faith in the world that she would hit that 3.”
The Utes took control of the OT session immediately, as Taryn Wicijowski scored six of her game-high 22 points in the period.
It was far from done, though.
Kielpinski hit an impossible, fading 12-foot jumper that banked off the backboard, all while picking up the foul. She hit the free throw, giving UNM a 41-40 lead with 3:30 to go in overtime.
Wicijowski, however, was not to be outdone, hitting two pressure-cooker free throws in a one-and-one situation that boosted the Utes’ lead to 44-41.
UNM cut it to one, but then came Whipple’s triple, basically spelling the end for the Lobos.
“That’s about as good as it gets, and then she hits that final 3,” Flanagan said. “We had defended that particular play several times throughout the game.”
Exasperated, the usually talkative Flanagan was short at the podium.
Meanwhile, Utes’ head coach Elaine Elliott was elated, having been the victim of similar circumstances in the past against UNM.
“These types of things can be cyclical,” Elliott said. “When it was the other way around, I knew it was completely mental. One day we had them at our place and they beat us at least three or four in a row. You just knew that there was that kind of stress thing, worry thing. We didn’t practice the day before. We played wiffle ball … and, actually, we won that next game.”
