The Lobos (8-6, 1-2) will return to action Wednesday night, seeking to end an unusual home losing streak. A year after going undefeated at home in conference play, the Lobos started their home conference slate with an OT loss to FSU, which was their second straight loss at home. The Lobos find themselves in an interesting spot with their back to back losses, needing to go on a long winning streak to get back into the conference regular season championship discussion. In order for the Lobos to reach their peak as a team, they need to find a way to have consistent offensive production, as they haven’t had a great offensive game since the Minnesota road win.

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Saturday afternoon’s game for the Lobos was not kind to the offense, as they struggled to get any production on that end besides the 40 combined points from Khadijah Shumpert and Cherise Beynon. Still, the Lobos were able to take the game to two overtimes before falling 69-65 to the Fresno State Bulldogs (6-7, 2-0). This was the Lobos’ first conference home loss since the name change to WisePies Arena and their third straight home loss, which puts them at 8-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play. To me, the obvious thing is that the Lobos need to get Jaisa Nunn back or it could remain a challenge for the Lobos to score.

Game Recap

The first quarter was not pretty for the Lobos, as they only mustered 7 points in the quarter on only 2 made field goals. While the offense was not good, the Lobo defense was good enough to hold the Bulldogs to 15 points in the quarter. The Lobos were lucky enough to only be down eight at the end of the quarter, where a second quarter run would have the Lobos neck and neck with the Bulldogs. The Lobos did respond in the second quarter with even better defense than the first quarter holding the Bulldogs to only 7 points, but the Lobo offense continued to struggle, scoring only 11 points in the quarter to make the score 22-18 at half time. The Lobos were 6 for 30 in the first half for 20% shooting, but they were able to stay in the game because their defense limited the Bulldogs to 5 of 18 from the floor for 27.8% and the Lobos also forced 11 turnovers in the half.

Out of halftime, the Bulldogs were able to find the holes in the Lobo defense but weren’t able to create any separation for the first part of the quarter as the two teams traded baskets. With 4:16 left in the quarter, the Lobos were able to get to within one point of the Bulldogs at 31-30, but the Bulldogs then went on a 9-0 run to take a 40-30 lead with less than a minute left in the quarter. Beynon was able to hit a three-pointer to stop the bleeding and make the score 40-33 at the end of the quarter, which meant that the Lobos were still within shouting distance. The start of the fourth quarter wasn’t good for the Lobos, as they didn’t score in the first 3:14, but again the Lobos defense was good enough to only allow 4 points during that span. The Lobos needed to get the offense going to have a chance to come back and win the game and the Lobos did just that, finally. Down 46-36 with 5:37 left in the game, it looked like the Lobos had a very small chance to come back in the game, but the Lobos defense was stout the last 5:37 and didn’t allow single point. This allowed the Lobos offense to go on a 10-0 run to close out regulation tied at 46 and send the game to overtime. The Lobos shooting continued to struggle, as they were 11 for 35 from the floor to 31.4%, and besides the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs offense played much better in the second half, shooting 11 for 27 from the floor for 40.7%.

The first overtime period gave the Lobos a chance to create some separation from the Bulldogs when they were able to jump out to a five point lead just a little over a minute into the period. The Bulldogs were able to make up the difference over that period to tie the score at 58 with 26 seconds left. The Lobos had the ball the chance to take the last shot of the period and Beynon got to the basket with just under 10 seconds left. Unfortunately, the ball touched every inch of the rim but rolled out. Luckily, the Bulldogs were able to grab the rebound but weren’t able to control the ball, turning it back over to the Lobos with 6 seconds left. So, with another chance to win the game, the Lobos weren’t able to get a shot off, turning the ball over and ending the period, sending the game to second overtime tied at 58.

The result of the game in the second overtime became apparent after Shumpert fouled out in the first minute of the period, with her fouling a three-point shooter. The Lobos were able to keep contact with the Bulldogs and gave themselves a chance to tie the game with 30 seconds left, but a missed layup. This allowed made free throws by the Bulldogs to give them the quality road win and giving the Lobos a tough home loss to hurt their chances of winning the conference. The Lobos finally got their offense going in the overtime periods, as they were 6 of 13 from the floor for 46.2%, but the Lobo defense couldn’t stop the Bulldog attack, allowing them to go 6 of 10 from the floor for 60%.

Players of the Game

As with the men’s team, we will give three Players of the Game with the same breakdown as the men. (3 points for first, 2 points for second, and 1 point for third).

1. Khadijah Shumpert (19 points on the season): This was another great game from Shumpert, as she was the only steady offensive force in the second half. While she didn’t get that involved in the first half, her second half and overtime performance was outstanding. Shumpert finished the game with 23 points (8-15 FG, 7-8 FT), 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.
2. Cherise Beynon (21 points on the season): While Beynon struggled from the floor, she did finish with a double-double and gave the Lobos a chance to win the game when the offense was struggling. Beynon finished with 17 points (6-19 FG, 2-8 3PFG, 3-6 FT), 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
3. Whitney Johnson (2 points on the season): While she will never be a huge part of the offensive attack, Johnson played well at the center position while Jaisa Nunn is sidelined at the current moment. Johnson finished with 6 points (3-8 FG), 4 rebounds, an assist and 2 steals.

 

Conference Standings

1. FSU 2-0
2. SJSU 2-0
3. CSU 1-0
4. Wyoming 1-1
5. UNM 1-1
6. SDSU 1-1
7. USU 1-1
8. BSU 0-1
9. UNLV 0-1
10. AFA 0-1
11. Nevada 0-2

The big surprise so far this season is SJSU, who were 2-9 in their non-conference schedule and have already matched that win total. CSU is still the favorite and the only reason they aren’t number 1 in the standings is because they haven’t played two conference games yet.

Picks

I went 3-2 on my picks Saturday to improve to 4-5 on the season. I hope that this week turns out better than last.

BSU vs. USU

AFA vs. WYO

Nevada vs. FSU

UNLV vs. CSU

SJSU vs. SDSU

 

Up Next

The Lobos will not have a mid-week game this week, which gives them a full week to prepare for a road game against Utah State. While Utah State’s home crowd for their men’s team is one of the best crowds in the country, it is nowhere as tough for the women’s team. The Lobos will have to play with great energy and hopefully the week off will allow the Lobos to solve some of the offensive struggles they have had recently.