The Lobos (6-3), winners of two straight, will hit the road to The University of Minnesota (6-2), who will probably be the best team the Lobos will face this season. It will be important for the Lobos to take care of the basketball and make the most of every single offensive possession to give them a good shot to win this game. It can’t be stressed enough how important it is for Khadijah Shumpert and Cherise Beynon to have great games and to stay out of foul trouble, as they have been the heart and soul of this Lobo team. I think the Lobos have a chance in this game, but it will have to be their best performance of the season. Read more
Category: Women’s Basketball
Women’s Basketball vs. Pepperdine Recap
The Lobos’ game Saturday against Pepperdine was all about defense, as they used their defense and energy to improve to 6-3 on the season by winning 60-52. The Lobos controlled the first half, holding Pepperdine to 15 first half points and limiting Pepperdine to just 16.67% (4-24) shooting. The Lobos shot over 40% in each half to control the game from the opening tip. If there’s one thing that the Lobos didn’t do well in the game, it was shooting 17-34 from the free throw line. Pepperdine also struggled from the line shooting 19-36, so both teams have to feel like they left something on the table there.
Women’s Basketball vs. Pepperdine Preview
The Lobos (5-3) return to action at WisePies Arena AKA The PIT to face Pepperdine University Waves (4-6). Because they had the week off for Finals Week, the Lobos haven’t played since their two-game Texas road trip. The Lobos are coming off a great road win against a solid SMU team while the Waves, after starting the year 2-6, are on a two-game winning streak. Look for the Lobos to make Pepperdine work hard on both sides of the court to take advantage of the elevation. It is important for the Lobos that Khadijah Shumpert stays out of foul trouble, especially after seeing her pick up her 4th foul in the first minute of the third quarter in the last game. While the Lobos can find production from other post players, it is always a benefit to have your best player on the court for a large majority of the game.
Women’s Basketball: The Story So Far
As they finish the fall semester and get ready for their three games during their holiday schedule, the Lady Lobos find themselves sitting at 5-3. This will be their last stretch to get ready for conference play, which starts December 30th. While it is most likely the Mountain West Conference is once again a one-bid league, the Lobos have positioned themselves as one of the favorites to win the regular season championship, or at least end up with a high seed for the conference tournament. That said, I think that it is imperative for the Lobos to win their last three non-conference game, as I think that it would make it possible for them to become an at-large team if they ended up with two or less loses in conference play and end up with a loss in the conference championship game. I don’t think the Lobos want to put their NCAA Tournament chances in the hand of the selection committee, so the goal is clearly to win the MWC Tournament to get the automatic bid. But, before all that, let’s look back at the first eight games of the schedule and some scattered thoughts that I have had during the first month of the season.
Women’s Basketball at SMU Preview
The Lobos continue their Texas two-step road trip with their game Saturday afternoon at SMU in Dallas, Texas. The Lobos are coming off a tough road loss at UTEP, where the Miners shot 12-24 from three-point range in the game. That put the Lobos on a two game losing streak, which they hope to break against the 3-3 Mustangs. I bet Coach Sanchez and the coaching staff talked and preached to their team to limit the quality looks that they gave from three, as that has become a bit of an issue this season. A bright spot for the Lobos is that the Mustangs have struggled from three in the early part of this season, shooting below 30% at 29.5%. Still, the Lobos will have to defend well in this game to have a good shot of winning and they have to make sure not to foul, as the Mustangs are a great free throw shooting team at 84%.
Women’s Baseketball at UTEP Preview
The Lobos start a two-game road trip to the state of Texas today against longtime rival UTEP in El Paso. The Lobos are looking to rebound after a tough loss against Duquesne in the championship game of the Thanksgiving Tournament, losing 78-69. It doesn’t get any easier for the Lobos (4-2) though, as they face the undefeated Miners (5-0) Wednesday afternoon at 4:15. While the Miners haven’t played a great schedule so far this season, they haven’t even played a road game yet, they are undefeated and playing at home against a young Lobos team that has only played one road game this season, which they lost by 19 to NMSU. Already in this young season, both teams have played Houston Baptist at home, with the Lobos winning their game 65-57 and the Miners winning their game 98-63. While we can’t take too much out of those results, one thing we can take out is the Miners ability to score the basketball; they are averaging 77.6 points per game. For the Lobos to have a good shot to win this game they need to take care of the ball, take good shots, and force the Miners into bad shots.
Women’s Basketball vs. Duquesne preview
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.
Women’s Basketball vs. Southern Utah Preview
After a dominating performance Tuesday in their 83-43 win against Nicholls State, the Lobos return to action for their Thanksgiving Tournament. First up for the Lobos is Southern Utah, who they will play this afternoon. Today’s other game in the four team tournament is Duquesne vs. North Carolina A&T. New Mexico and Duquesne are both heavy favorites in their opening game and should square off on Saturday for the Championship Game. But, first things first; both teams need to win today.
Women’s Basketball vs. Sacramento State Preview
The Lobos return to The Pit today, where they haven’t lost since the name change to WisePies Arena last year. After Tuesday’s 78-59 road loss to instate rival NMSU, the Lobos are hoping to bounce back and fix what went wrong down south. The Saturday afternoon game against Sacramento State (1-1) is an interesting matchup since both teams are coming off of loses to NMSU, with Sacramento State losing their game 80-77. While Sacramento State’s score was closer against NMSU, it doesn’t really give an idea of how this game will play out. Look for the Lobos to come out and show that their game on Tuesday is not the team they are and more of a fluke. I expect that we will see some changes in the rotation after Tuesday’s game, but nothing dramatic. It should be a good game on a day filled with Lobo sporting events.
Women’s Basketball: NMSU Game Preview
After a game against Houston Baptist, where they played well defensively but had some struggles offensively in their 65-57 win, the Lobos look to get their offense going against instate rival NMSU. After playing just NMSU once last year, the Lobos and Aggies return to playing twice against each other this season. The Aggies won the lone meeting last year in Las Cruces 70-59, in a game where Sasha Weber scored 23 points for the Aggies. It will be important for the Lobos to get their offense going in the first quarter and keep the starters out of foul trouble. If the Lobos are able to control the pace of play and control the impact of Weber, the Lobos will have a decent chance to win this game.