Wild finish leaves Lobos one point short in San Diego
Mental error leads to game-winning FTs
SAN DIEGO — Twenty-four made free throws, 5,000 screaming youngsters and one costly mental mistake added up to agony for the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team Wednesday.
San Diego State’s Sophia Ramos hit two free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to lift the Aztecs to a wild 75-74 victory over the Lobos in a matinee game at Viejas Arena. Ramos scored a careerbest 32 points and finished 16 for 16 from the foul line.
UNM’s Aisia Robertson had an opportunity to win it, but her pull-up 10-foot jumper banked off the backboard and rattled off the rim in the closing seconds. The Lobos (12-11, 3-7 Mountain West) have three one-point losses and an overtime defeat in MWC play this season.
“I’m at a loss,” UNM coach Mike Bradbury said in a phone interview. “I’m proud of the way our team never quit, but man!”
Wednesday’s ending was especially painful after UNM took a brief lead with a furious late rally. Two Ramos free throws gave SDSU (10-14, 5-6) a seemingly safe 73-65 lead with 24 seconds remaining.
After Bradbury called his final timeout, Jaedyn De La Cerda and Robertson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 73-71 with 16 seconds left. Robertson’s 3 came after Ramos fumbled the ball to UNM’s Jordan Hosey.
The Lobos then came up with a steal, and Hosey was fouled with 9 seconds remaining. She hit her first free throw, missed her second, and Robertson grabbed the rebound and scored to give UNM a 74-73 lead with 7 ticks left.
Then came the mental mistake. Thinking her team still trailed, Hosey purposely fouled Ramos in the backcourt to set up her winning free throws.
“Jordan’s OK now,” Bradbury said. “Her teammates and coaches rallied around her in the locker room. She’s frustrated but when you’re out there playing hard, sometimes things like that happen.”
De La Cerda scored 24 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, to pace UNM. Hosey added 16 points, and Robertson collected 15 points and eight rebounds.
The Lobos made six more field goals than did the Aztecs and hit 13 3-pointers to the home team’s seven. But SDSU went 24 of 27 from the foul line while UNM was just 5 for 10.
“We had a hard time guarding Ramos and (Taylor Kalmer),” Bradbury said. “When you keep getting beat off the dribble, it always leads to free throws and they didn’t miss.”
The “Field Trip” game set a SDSU women’s basketball attendance record with an announced crowd of 5,320, most of them youngsters from local elementary schools.