It came down to the final shot, but New Mexico’s hopes of upsetting No. 25 Colorado State at WisePies Arena on Wednesday night were dashed with senior Khadijah Shumpert’s last second miss.
The Lobos outscored the top team in the conference in the first and final quarter of the contest, but the squad’s offensive lull in the middle quarters of the game gave CSU (25-1, 15-0 MW) the advantage it needed in what resulted in a 49-48 thriller.
Even with scoring only 13 points in the second and third quarters combined, the Lobos were in position to pull off the upset.
“The right person took the right shot, I think,” head coach Yvonne Sanchez said. “Khadijah’s made that several times. We had a bunch of different options... but I thought that was the best option.”
With just 3.2 seconds left, Bryce Owens took the inbounds pass and skipped it down low to Shumpert, who had a one-on-one look at the basket in the paint.
“The team trusted in me to take the last shot,” Shumpert said. “It sucks that I couldn’t put it in, but it was what was drawn up and what the team had faith in.”
It took a lot for the Lobos to even get into the position it did at the end of the game. Down by 12 with 5:43 left in the game, the Lobos went on a 13-2 run to close out the game.
Cherise Beynon had eight of UNM’s final 13 points in the game. Her 23 points were just one off of her career high when she scored 24 against Utah State on Feb. 10.
“I feel like my role on the team is to get us started in the game,” Beynon said. “I don’t need to always take the shots, but if I get us going, it helps.”
Sanchez said the Lobos weren’t ready to pull the trigger from the outside. She said CSU recognized that and was able to protect the paint while pressuring UNM to take outside shots.
“I think CSU just did a heck of a job of really packing it in and daring us,” Sanchez said. “I don’t think we were ready to shoot in terms of our perimeter. We need to be better at that.”
Owens and Shumpert were battling the flu before the game, and Sanchez said that Owens was a game-time decision after not practicing for two days. Owens was one of just five players to get on the scoreboard for the Lobos. Shumpert and Beynon were the only players to hit double digits scoring 13 and 23, respectively.
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Though New Mexico (14-12, 7-8 MW) would have preferred to head into its two game road trip with an upset victory, Shumpert said the Lobos opened some eyes by holding the second most potent offense in the league to just 49 points.
“It definitely says a lot. It’s a statement, especially to any other team in the conference,” Shumpert said. “We’re not here to mess around. We can play and hang with anyone. A lot of teams are not expecting that from us.
Overall, Sanchez said her players shouldn’t hang their heads, despite the evening being labeled a loss. She said all she can ask for is that her team leaves it all on the court, which is what the head coach said happened.
“I thought it was two pretty good teams battling it out,” Sanchez said. “I’m very proud of them.”
Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He covers volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
