STREAKING

Energized Lobos top Colorado State for third straight victory

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — It came down to one big shot in overtime.

Hannah Tvrdy’s open 3-pointer with 23 seconds left was the dagger as Colorado State outlasted visiting New Mexico 74-71 in a Mountain West women’s basketball thriller Saturday at Moby Arena.

The Lobos, who overcame a six-point deficit in the final 3:22 of regulation and tied the score on Jaisa Nunn’s putback with 2.2 seconds left, had their chances to force a second overtime but couldn’t connect. Tesha Buck and Alex Lapeyrolerie missed potential tying 3-pointers in the closing seconds as UNM dropped a heartbreaker for its fifth loss in six games.

While Tvrdy’s shot was the difference, back-to-back possessions late in regulation were every bit as decisive. Cherise Beynon drained a 3-pointer to give UNM a 65-64 lead with 1:05 remaining, capping a 9-2 run by the visitors. Beynon paced the Lobos with 30 points and 13 rebounds.

But on CSU’s ensuing possession, Grace Colaivalu scored on a drive and was fouled by Beynon — her fifth foul — with 49 seconds remaining. Colaivalu hit the free throw to give the Rams (14-7, 6-4) a 67-65 edge.

“That was the turning point,” Lobo coach Mike Bradbury said in a postgame phone interview. “I thought we did a decent job running our plays in overtime, but we had to play slower without Cherise in the

game. It definitely hurts not having your best player in overtime.”

It briefly appeared that UNM (16-6, 4-5) would overcome Beynon’s absence. Nunn rebounded a 3-point shot by Mykiel Burleson and scored in the closing seconds to force overtime. Nunn then scored the first basket of the extra period, and Tesha Buck’s jumper with 3:24 left gave the visitors a 71-67 lead.

But the Lobos would not score again. Colaivalu’s layup with 1:02 left made it 71-71 and, after a Burleson miss, Tvrdy came open when the Lobos double-teamed Colaivalu on a drive.

“(Colaivalu) was wearing us out and we weren’t going to let her lay it in,” Bradbury said. “We were slow rotating and Tvrdy hit a shot. Credit to her.”

Nunn, who sat out most of the first half with foul trouble, finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for UNM. N’Dea Flye added 12 points. Tvrdy led the Rams with 16 points and Veronika Mirkovic had 15.

After giving up 97 points in a loss at San Diego State last week, UNM was much improved on the defensive end Saturday. But Beynon again carried a heavy scoring load as her teammates were a combined 13 of 46 (28.3 percent) from the field.

“Cherise is doing all she can,” Bradbury said. “We’re going to find some people to come with her and compete at the same level. We made strides today but we clearly need to make a few more.”