Regent erupts as UNM athletics debt grows to $7.5 million

ALBUQUERQUE — There really was no way to know it at the time, but basketball season in New Mexico began its steady fade into extinction when Cherise Beynon was called for a foul late in the first half of Thursday’s Women’s National Invitation Tournament game in The Pit.

The best player on The University of New Mexico’s roster, the senior guard went to the bench with the Lobos up a dozen on visiting TCU.

It was all downhill from there. The Lobos (25-11) missed 26 of their next 31 shots and eventually lost, 81-72. It sends the Horned Frogs into the WNIT’s quarterfinals this weekend against South Dakota, and ends one of the best seasons in UNM history one win short of tying the school record for wins.

“If you get time and look at the big picture, which I’m not there yet, we’ll see that it was pretty special,” said Lobos head coach Mike Bradbury. “It hadn’t been done too many times before. It’s kind of hard to sink in right now.”

Beynon did manage 20 points and five assists with four steals in her final game at UNM, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome her team’s ice-cold shooting in the second half.

The Lobos were just 3-for-16 in a third quarter in which TCU outscored them 29-16, then fell behind 65-56 early in the fourth quarter after a series of turnovers and missed shots opened the flood gates for the Horned Frogs.

It all changed, Bradbury said, when Beynon picked up her third foul with 3 minutes, 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Up 34-20 just moments before that whistle, the Lobos started to fall apart without her.

“Yeah, we played without one of our best players,” Bradbury said. “A lot changes every time she’s not in the game. That’s why she plays 37 minutes a game.”

Beynon wasn’t happy about that third foul.

“If that was the case, I would have got the same call all night,” she said. “But you just have to play through it and we did. We tried and we just weren’t successful.”

TCU took its first lead since it was 2-0 on a 3-pointer by Dakota Vann midway through the third quarter and grabbed the lead for good moments later when a layup by Jayde Woods opened a 52-50 advantage.

UNM never got closer than a bucket the rest of the way.

The Horned Frogs (22-12) shot 59 percent in the second half and forced 18 turnovers for the game, essentially turning the tables on a UNM team that had shot the ball well and forced mistakes all season.

Tesha Buck had a game-high 24 points in her final game as a Lobo while Jaisa Nunn had 14 points and 11 rebounds.