The Lobos and Duquesne took care of business in the first round of the New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament to set up a Championship game with two 4-1 teams. Duquesne beat North Carolina A&T 81-67, where they played very well in the second half, outscoring North Carolina A&T 47-30. The Lobos had a much easier time against Southern Utah, winning the game 70-48 and outscoring Southern Utah in each of the first three quarters. As I mentioned before the Southern Utah game, being able to rest your best players in the first game would be very important for the game Saturday and the Lobos did a great job doing that, with only Cherise Beynon (25) and Bryce Owens (28) playing over 20 minutes. On the other hand, Duquesne had three players play over 30 minutes and six players that played over 20 minutes.
Duquesne:
The Dukes of Duquesne are led by third-year Head Coach Dan Burt. The Atlantic 10 team is coming off a 23-11 season and a berth in the WNIT tournament. The Dukes have a very balanced attack with their top six players, although we might see that change as Deva’Nyar Workman played in her first game of the year Friday, scoring 18 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. The Dukes best player so far this season has been April Robinson, who is averaging 14.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 8.4 assists per game. It will be very important for the Lobo guards to shut Robinson down and make other Dukes players create and be the main playmaker. All in all, this will be a tough matchup for the Lobos, but I think that a key part of this game will be who wins the rebounding battle. The Lobos are averaging 44.4 rebounds while the Dukes are averaging 43.4 rebounds.
Balance is Key:
The Lobos used their balanced attack again Friday against Southern Utah, as eight Lobos scored at least 5 points and eleven Lobos scored. Eight Lobos had at least an assist, with seven Lobos having 2 assists. Twelve Lobos had at least a rebound, with seven Lobos grabbing at least 3 rebounds. It will be important for the Lobos to keep this sort of balance going during the course of this season, as it will force opposing teams to have to pick who they want to stop.
Player to Watch:
The player that I will be watching in the championship game of this tournament will be sophomore guard Cherise Beynon. Beynon will be a key part in the outcome of the game; if she has a great game on both sides of the ball, I really like the Lobos chances to win this game. I wouldn’t be surprised if Beynon is guarding April Robinson for much of the game, so she’ll be tasked with the toughest defensive assignment. Other key players for the Lobos need to have a good game and I think that they will be up to the task.
Prediction:
Duquesne is the best team, or maybe the second best, that New Mexico has played so far this season. The Lobos were unable to stay with NMSU in their first test of the season, so will things be different against the Dukes? I put the odds of the Lobos winning this game at 60%, with the home crowd helping the Lobos pull out the victory in a back and forth game. I have the Lobos winning 77-71 in what should be a great college basketball game.
Game Info:
Who: New Mexico (4-1) vs. Duquesne (4-1)
Where: WisePies Arena AKA The PIT; Albuquerque, New Mexico
When: Saturday November 28th 4 PM MT
Radio: 610 AM
TV: MountainWest Network