New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – On The Road
Wednesday: 6 p.m. (MT) New Mexico Lobos (1-5) at No. 4/4 Texas (5-0)
Sunday: New Mexico at New Mexico State
Lobos On The Air: 610-AM with Joe Behrend
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
You could almost divide Yvonne Sanchez’s pre-Mountain West schedule into two parts: the frying pan and the fire.
So, is New Mexico’s visit to No. 4 ranked Texas the frying pan or the fire? Or maybe a lot of both?
For sure, there will be some heat coming the Lobos’ way when they step into Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas to face a Longhorns’ team that appears destined to stay in the Top Ten all season.
Heck, maybe the biggest question about the 5-0 Longhorns is why aren’t they in the No. 1 spot right now? They won at Stanford when the Cardinal were ranked No. 1. They won at UCLA by ten points. They are coming off a 72-59 win in Austin over No. 4/5 Tennessee.
The ‘Horns are loaded and on a roll.
Maybe the best thing for the Lobos would be for the Longhorns to take note of UNM’s 1-5 record and decide the Lobos are going to be an easy conquest. Of course, if Texas watched tape of UNM’s 70-65 loss to Stanford, the Longhorns will notice a team that fights to the bitter end.
“If we play with the same energy and effort as we did against Stanford, I think we can make a run at them,” said Lobo freshman Cherise Beynon.
Stanford came into the Lobos’ WisePies Arena without the Cardinal’s star and top scorer and played a conservative style almost as if they knew the win was inevitable. UNM almost pulled the upset.
At home in Austin, Texas probably will try to reward the home crowd by putting down the hammer. The Longhorns are good enough and big enough to do it.
“They are inside and out,” said Coach Sanchez in describing Texas’ attack. “They have post players who seal you down low and score one-on-one at will. We have to make sure we don’t give them the inside.”
Said Beynon: “I think Texas is more of a fast-paced team. They are going to push the ball more so we are going to have to stop them more in transition.”
The Longhorns scored 87 at Stanford in a running game. They have scored 75, 72 and 72 in their past three wins. They held a potent Tennessee offense to 35 percent shooting. Texas has won by a 15.2 margin so far in 2014-15.
The Longhorns aren’t (yet) a sizzling team from 3-point range with a .283 percentage and they only average 3.4 made treys a game. They are outrebounding teams by 14.0 boards per game. That’s a healthy margin. The Longhorns shoot 44 percent overall from the field which suggests the Longhorns finish around the basket. They shot 48.5 percent from the floor at Stanford.
Texas has seven players averaging 6.8 points or better. Kelsey Lang tops the scoring charts with a 15.2 average and gets double-figure help from Nneka Enemkpali (12.2) and Ariel Atkins. Enemkpali tops the rebounding charts with her 7.2 average and Lang hauls down 6.8 boards a game.
Lang will be a tall challenge for the Lobos. She is a 6-5 sophomore with a nice touch. Enemkpali is a 6-1 forward and the 5-11 Atkins is the top shooting threat on the edge. Lang shot 75 percent (18-of-24) in the past two Longhorn wins. She is shooting 63 percent on the season.
It can be tough to score on Texas, too. The ‘Horns are limiting the opposition to 34.3 percent shooting. A goal for UNM in the first half could be to score more than 20 points. In their three home games, the Longhorns have yet to allow more than 20 points in the first half. Texas defeated UNM 67-52 last year in The Pit.
The Lobos are coming off a Pit loss to Riverside, but UNM had to play without Bryce Owens or Alexa Chavez. Sanchez expects them to see at least limited action in Austin.
“They’re better,” Sanchez said of that duo. “I don’t want to push it to the point where they get worse.”
The Lobos are led in scoring by Antiesha Brown with a 13.5 average followed by Khadijah Shumpert at 12.3 points per game. Shumpert is the top rebounder with an 8.3 average.
The Lobos are facing their fourth team ranked in the Top 20 and the third team located in the Top 5. The Longhorns and UNM also both played UTPA with Texas winning 72-45 and UNM losing in Chicago by a 61-59 count.
“These guys really bounce back,” Sanchez said of her Lobos. “I really think we are improving.
“Our schedule was set up to help us in conference and maybe knock off one of those (ranked) teams. We have another chance to do that. (Our schedule) is going to pay off in the end.”
Said Beynon: “It’s very good experience to play top-ranked teams. It’s also exciting.”
The Lobos have been playing a lot of in-your-face defense this season, but Beynon says that might change for the trip to Texas. The Longhorns have solid guards, who can break down pressures, and they have big players who can run the court.
However, when you slow down the Longhorns, they show patience trying to get the ball inside to the high-percentage shots. There is a double-edged sword in Austin.
Sanchez says her Lobos aren’t intimidated by Texas’ variety of weapons.
“They (Lobos) are like, ‘Bring it on,’” she said. “We are going to be just fine.”