Lord frustrated with the officiating
In the final home game of the regular season, UTRGV women’s basketball (5-12, 1-7) fall late, 50-53, against Utah Valley University (10-5, 8-4) earlier today at the Fieldhouse.
To start the game, sophomore guard Sara Bershers scored 10 points to give the Vaqueros a 12-2 lead in the opening minutes.
Bershers would record her first career double-double with a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds.
The Wolverines would close the first frame of play on a 8-2 run to make it 10-14 as junior guard Maria Carvalho and junior forward Nehaa Sohail each hit a three-pointer.
In the second quarter, Utah Valley outscored UTRGV 14-12 and headed into the locker room down two.
Out of the break, the Vaqueros climbed to their largest lead of the game, 34-24, as the Wolverines went cold from the field.
The first basket for Utah Valley in the second half came at the 4:19 mark after the media timeout as they went to junior center Josie Williams in the paint.
Both teams would trade baskets to end the quarter as the Vaqueros remained on top 39-34.
After trailing since the 9:16 mark in the opening quarter, the Wolverines kicked, clawed and fought their way back to regain the lead 43-41 on a Williams layup with 6:12 remaining in the final period.
The Vaqueros would go cold from the field, shooting 1-10 to begin the fourth quarter and after the game in a new conference via Zoom, UTRGV Head Coach Lane Lord gave credit to Williams and Sohail and added that his team needs to execute down the stretch.
“Players make plays, that’s what it comes down to and their post player [Williams] made plays at the end of the game,” Lord said. “They had a big three from 21 [Sohail] as well and made the plays when they needed to.”
Williams would finish with a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds shooting 7-11 from the field.
Coming down the stretch both teams traded baskets as Utah Valley held a one-point lead after UTRGV junior center Burcu Soysal hit a jumper with 43 seconds remaining to make it 51-50.
The Wolverines, out of a Head Coach Dan Nielson timeout, would throw it down low to their go-to player, Williams, who made the layup to go up 53-50.
The Vaqueros would have a final chance to tie the game with 13 second but sophomore guard Jena’ Williams’ inbound pass was stolen by junior guard Madison Grange to ice the game.
Lord gave credit to his team’s defensive effort for a second day in a row but was beside himself from the lack of calls from the officials as UTRGV did not attempt a single free throw the entire contest.
“I’ve been around a long time and when one team never shoots a free throw and the other one gets 15 on our home court, that’s [a] disrespect to our players who worked their butts off to put ourselves in a position to win and I’m very frustrated right now with the officiating,” he said. “I don’t care if they fine me or not. That’s a bunch of crap. Our kids fought their tails off and that’s the treatment we get. Unbelievable.”
In the final home game of her career, graduate guard Amara Graham finished with eight points, four rebounds and five assists playing all but two minutes.
UTRGV will close out the regular season on the road at 7 p.m. March 5 and 6 against Western Athletic Conference (WAC) opponent Tarleton State who they fell to earlier this season in a non-conference bout.
Lord imperatively expressed the importance to earning wins to close out the season.
“We need to get a couple wins so we can get some confidence going into the [WAC] tournament. Our kids are playing hard, they deserve to win,” he said.
The WAC tournament will take place from March 10-13 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
To catch the Vaqueros face off against the Texans live, visit wacdigitalnetwork.com.
Twitter: @Radio_Rubio
