The Lobos (14-12, 7-8) return to action Saturday afternoon after a heart-breaking 49-48 home loss to a nationally ranked CSU team. The Lobos now have to put that behind them, as they head to California to take on the Fresno State Bulldogs (17-9, 13-2). A lot has changed since the first meeting between these two teams a couple of months ago, a game that the Bulldogs won 69-65 in double overtime. This game has proved to be the turning point for the Bulldogs’ season, as they are 12-2 since then. The Lobos have been a little up and down since the last time these teams played, but they have looked like they’re starting to pull things together over the few weeks.
If the Lobos want to win this game against the Bulldogs, they need to defend extremely well, like they did in the first meeting and in the CSU game on Wednesday. The Lobos need to control how this game is played or it could be a long day for the Lobos. Khadijah Shumpert and Cherise Beynon need to have big games for the Lobos and lead the offense. In particular, Shumpert can’t pick up early fouls, to where Coach Sanchez has to leave her on the bench. Lobos also have to hit the open shots when they get them and make sure to take care of the ball.
Fresno State Bulldogs:
The Bulldogs are led by second-year head coach Jamie White and are coming off a strong season where they finished 23-10 and 13-5 in MW play. The Bulldogs were rewarded with a berth to the WNIT. After a slow start to the season, the Bulldogs are right where they wanted to be: in second place in the conference with a 13-2 record. While, like just about everyone in the conference, they’ll need to win the conference tournament to end up in the Big Dance, they have positioned themselves to where they will likely be getting at least a WNIT bid.
Sophomore forward Bego Faz Davalos, who is averaging 12.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 4 blocks per game, leads the Bulldogs. She is their star player, but the Bulldogs have plenty of good players, going eight deep, with each player averaging between 5 and 12.2 points. The Lobos will need a team effort on defense to limit the impact of the balanced attack of the Bulldogs
Team Stat Comparison:
- Points Per Game: Lobos 62.2; Bulldogs 64.2
- Points Allowed Per Game: Lobos 58.5; Bulldogs 59.5
- Field Goal Percentage: Lobos 37.4%; Bulldogs 41%
- Three Point Percentage: Lobos 28.4%; Bulldogs 30.2%
- Free Throw Percentage: Lobos 64.9%; Bulldogs 66.7%
- Defensive Field Goal Percentage: Lobos 37.3%; Bulldogs 36.6%
- Defensive Three Point Percentage: Lobos 31.3%; Bulldogs 29.4%
- Rebounds Per Game: Lobos 39.7; Bulldogs 38
- Assists Per Game: Lobos 13.5; Bulldogs 14.4
- Turnovers Per Game: Lobos 14.8; Bulldogs 15.4
- Turnovers Forced Per Game: Lobos 17.5; Bulldogs 15.4
Conference Standings
- CSU 15-0
- FSU 13-2
- BSU 9-6
- SJSU 9-6
- UNLV 8-8
- UNM 7-8
- USU 7-8
- SDSU 6-9
- WYO 5-11
- Nevada 4-11
- AFA 1-15
The Lobos have remaining games at FSU and SDSU and finish the season at Nevada, so hopefully they can pick up a couple of wins to build momentum for the conference tournament.
MW Picks:
After another perfect 5-0 on Wednesday, I now stand at 58-21 on the season. Here are my picks for Saturday’s games:
FSU vs. UNM
CSU vs. Nevada
BSU vs. SDSU
WYO vs. UNLV
SJSU vs. USU
Prediction:
The first game was a battle that went to double overtime, with the FSU pulling out a 4-point win. I have a feeling that this will be another battle that will come down to just a couple of possessions. I put the odds of the Lobos winning this game at 39%, with the final scored being 59-54 FSU. I hope that I am wrong, and the Lobos come back home with a big road win.
Game Info:
Who: New Mexico (14-12, 7-8) vs. Fresno State (17-9, 13-2)
Where: Save Mart Center, Fresno, California
When: Saturday February 27th, 3 PM MT
Radio: 610 AM
Stream: Campus Insiders