The Lady Cardinals saw their season come to an end Wednesday afternoon with a 74-61 loss to New Mexico in the second round of the 2024 NJCAA WBB D1 National Tournament at Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, WY.
With the loss, the ninth-seeded Lady Cardinals, making their 17th straight appearance and 29th overall, closed with a 26-7 record.
New Mexico (27-6), the No. 8 seed, will next face top-seeded and unbeaten Hutchinson (34-0) at 1 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals.
Though they did rally to pull within three, 20-17, at the end of the first quarter on an Emani Jenkins three-pointer, the Lady Cardinals would like to have a do-over of the opening period. They quickly fell behind 6-0 and just when it appeared as if the waters had been steadied, they lost Region XIV Freshman of the Year April Edwards to an injury. She did not return.
New Mexico seized control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Cardinals 23-11 for a 43-28 halftime lead.
As had been the case all season, there was no quit in the Lady Cardinals. They continued to battle and with a couple of mini-runs in the final quarter twice got within 10.
Lydie Mwamba, in her final game as a Lady Cardinal, led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds. She hit a pair of three-pointers.
Kennedi Johnson finished with 10 for the Lady Cardinals and Kierra Sanderlin nine.
Jenkins had six points and nine rebounds.
The Lady Cardinals are now 82-25 in national tournament games.
