New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – in WisePies Arena/The Pit
New Mexico 84, Cal Poly 68
Sunday: 1 p.m., Northern Arizona vs. Lobos
Ticket Special Sunday: Four tickets, four hot dogs and four small drinks for $40. Must purchase the “Four-Point Play” in person at the Ticket Office.
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
It was a career day for a lot of Lobos. For Khadijah Shumpert: 27 point. For Brea Mitchell: 11 points. For Alexa Chavez: 13 points. For Jayda Bovero: seven points. For Kenya Pye: five points.
It also was a career day for Coach Yvonne Sanchez who, in her fourth season, saw her Lobos score the most points ever in an 84-68 roll of Cal Poly Thursday night in WisePies Arena.
“That’s the kind of thing you want to see, maturity out of your team,” said Sanchez, whose Lobos bumped their season mark to 3-7. “We are really starting to jell a little bit. You like the direction it’s going with two good wins.
“We have to build on this.”
The meat-grinder portion of the New Mexico schedule gets a bit more chewable heading toward the Mountain West wars, which is exactly what the Lobos need prior to a Dec. 31 league visit to Fresno State. The Lobos need to taste the sweet taste of winning. They need to build some confidence.
They get another chance Sunday in The Pit when Northern Arizona visits.
The Lobos got 40 points inside from the combo of Chavez and Shumpert and outscored Cal Poly 48-to-18 in the paint.
“I told the posts to get tougher,” said Sanchez. “They (Shumpert, Chavez, Kianna Keller and Josie Greenwood) are a four-headed monster. We did a nice job of looking for our posts and getting it inside.”
The Mustangs also got a career night Thursday in WisePies Arena from Ariana Elegado, who launched in seven 3-pointers, going 7-of-10. She scored 24 points adding a regular field goal and a single free throw.
“Number five (Elegado) is that good,” said Sanchez. “The kid is a senior and the kid is really good. She made some great, great shots. You have to credit her.”
The first half was pretty much an inside-outside battle with the Mustangs winning early. Cal Poly held a 36-26 lead with 3:41 to play. The Mustangs did not score again.
“It was really important,” Sanchez said of 9-0 run to close the first half. “I thought we were a little lethargic, a little stagnant.”
Shumpert scored 16 of her 27 points in the second half and added nine boards in the second half to total 12 boards. This was the first game that showed what our posts can really do,” said Shumpert. “It was great. It was fun.”
“Khadijah was phenomenal,” said Sanchez. “Alexa, I expect that from her because she can do it. Brea needed a breakout game. She (Mitchell) also earned her minutes on the defensive end. That’s the kind of game I envision Brea playing the rest of the season.”
Mitchell went into the game shooting 4-of-22 (18.2 percent) from 3-point range. She went 3-of-5 vs. Cal Poly. “Once my first couple (shots) go down, I pretty much think in my head that I’m invincible,” said Mitchell of her long-range shooting touch.
The Lobos took control of the second half early pulling out from their one-point halftime lead into a 55-46 margin. Cal Poly cut that hole to55-50 going under the ten-minute mark. The Lobos went back up by eight points, 60-52, when a steal by Cherise Beynon led to a six-foot jumper by Brown. At the 7:24 media break, UNM was up 62-54.
“I think it was all about our energy,” said Mitchell of the second-half dominance.
The Lobos got a big hoop from Beynon, plus a free throw, to go up 65-55 with 5:58 to play. Cal Poly was showing some impatience on the offensive end as UNM pulled into the 10-point lead. The Lobos continued to muscle the ball inside and cruised to the 84-68 final.
First Half: New Mexico 37, Cal Poly 36
The Lobos fought from behind for most of the first half before eventually claiming a one-point lead at intermission. The Lobos got 11 points inside from Shumpert and Brea Mitchell came off the bench to score eight points. Cal Poly got 11 points from Ariana Elegado, who went 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
“That was a crucial part of the game,” Shumpert said of taking control of the score board at the close of the first half.
Cal Poly was 4-of-8 from long range and UNM was 2-of-7 from behind the line. UNM shot 41.4 percent overall and Cal Poly shot 40.6 percent. UNM took advantage of the free-throw line going 11-of-14 to 6-of-8 for Cal Poly.