Women’s Basketball: MWC Tourney (Semifinal Update)

by Zach

The Lobos (17-13, 9-9) advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals to face the top-seeded CSU Rams (29-1, 18-0) by controlling the whole game against SJSU and winning 65-51. In the game, the Lobos were able to control the pace of the game and limit SJSU’s good looks from three. Khadijah Shumpert dominated the game, scoring 26 points (11 of 15 shooting), with 5 rebounds, a block, and 2 steals. Most importantly, Shumpert only picked up two fouls in the game, so she was able to play her normal minutes. Bryce Owens was fantastic in the point guard spot, finishing with 7 points (3 of 10 shooting), 12 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal, and only 2 turnovers. The Lobos had a very balanced scoring attack after Shumpert’s 26, with nine Lobos scoring in total leading to the 65 points.

Up next in the tournament, the Lobos face the favorite, the CSU Rams, who are coming off a sloppy win against SDSU in the quarterfinals. In the only regular season meeting between the two teams, CSU avoided having a conference loss when the Lobos missed the potential game-winning shot at the buzzer. In that game (here’s the preview for that one), Cherise Beynon was the best player on the floor, scoring 23 points and making tough shots. The Rams are a team in every sense of the word, as they don’t rely on a single player to score 20 points a game, but they are always looking for a better shot. One thing that the Lobos need to do in this game is to make it physical and take CSU out of their comfort zone. If they can do that, they might be able to come out on the winning side of a close game.

Team Stat Comparison:

  • Points Per Game: Lobos 61.8; Rams 69.4
  • Points Allowed Per Game: Lobos 57; Rams 51.5
  • Field Goal Percentage: Lobos 37.9%; Rams 44.8%
  • Three Point Percentage: Lobos 28.1%; Rams 34.5%
  • Free Throw Percentage: Lobos 64.9%; Rams 70.4%
  • Defensive Field Goal Percentage: Lobos 36.5%; Rams 33.2%
  • Defensive Three Point Percentage: Lobos 30.4%; Rams 25.2%
  • Rebounds Per Game: Lobos 39.4; Rams 38.1
  • Assists Per Game: Lobos 13.6; Rams 15.2
  • Turnovers Per Game: Lobos 14.9; Rams 12.2
  • Turnovers Forced Per Game: Lobos 17.7; Rams 15.8

Tournament Seeding:

  1. CSU
  2. FSU
  3. BSU (lost to UNLV in the quarterfinals)
  4. SJSU (lost to UNM in the quarterfinals)
  5. UNM
  6. UNLV
  7. USU (lost to FSU in the quarterfinals)
  8. SDSU (lost to CSU in the quarterfinals)
  9. WYO (lost to SDSU in the opening round)
  10. Nevada (lost to USU in the opening round)
  11. AFA (lost to UNLV in the opening round)

Tuesday’s results set up a semifinal with #1 CSU vs. #5 UNM and #2 FSU vs. #6 UNLV. Could it be possible that the two 9-9 teams in conference end up in the tournament final? One thing for sure is that UNM will have the home court advantage, and with the UNLV game being at night, they may have some decent support for the game.

UNM Records:

Here are the Lobos records against the teams that are still in the Tournament based on seeding.

CSU 0-1

FSU 0-2

UNLV 1-1

Keys for the Tournament:

Although there are many keys for the Lobos to make a run to win the tournament, here are some of the biggest keys in my mind (as mentioned in the Tournament Preview post), and how I think they did in those areas yesterday:

  1. Khadijah Shumpert can’t get into foul trouble. In the quarterfinal game Shumpert stayed out of foul trouble and was the best player on the floor. Her impact on the game was very easy to spot, as she led the team with 26 points. The Lobos will need her to have another great game Wednesday.
  2. Cherise Beynon and Bryce Owens have to shoot well. Both players didn’t shoot particularly well, but they did have impact on the game. They combined for 18 rebounds and 6 assists with only 4 turnovers to help the Lobos control the game. Both players will have to make shots on Wednesday to give the Lobos a good chance to win this game.
  3. Play like there is no tomorrow. The Lobos passed this test with flying colors, playing with purpose and energy. There were times in the game that you forgot there was another team on the floor.
  4. Jump on SJSU early so you can rest players in the second half. The Lobos did a good job on this, as only two players (Beynon and Owens) played more than 26 minutes. They should be ready to go, and bring the great energy they brought in the quarterfinal.
  5. Who will step up? Shumpert was clearly fantastic and Beynon played great defense. However, the player that really stepped up for the Lobos was Bryce Owens. She was able to control the pace of the game and had 12 rebounds from the point guard position.
  6. How much fan support will the team have this year? It was pretty good fan support yesterday, and should be better today with all the Lobo fans that are getting into Las Vegas today for the Men’s Tournament.

Game Info:

Who: #5 New Mexico Lobos vs. #1 Colorado State Rams

When: Wednesday March 9th, 2016

Where: Thomas and Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada

Time: 7:30 PM MT

Radio: 610 AM

Steam: Mountain West Network