New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – in WisePies Arena/The Pit
When/Who: 1 p.m. (MT) – Northern Arizona at New Mexico Lobos
On The Air: 610-AM with Joe Behrend
GoLobos.com: Live Streaming, Game Story, Complete Stats, LoboTV, Quotes
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
The roll Yvonne Sanchez’s Lobos needed to take into the Mountain West season is here – but not yet complete.
The Lobos take a two-game win streak into WisePies Arena on Sunday looking for the hoops’ trifecta to wrap up for the Christmas season. A three-game win streak would be a nice thing to cuddle up with over the break because there are bigger fish for the Lobos to fry beginning on Dec. 31 – at Fresno State.
But first things first.
“We can’t overlook Northern Arizona to get to Fresno,” said Coach Sanchez. “(Fresno) is still a long way away because we still have the Christmas break
“I can’t look ahead. We have to look to NAU. They are going to want to come in here and beat us on our home floor.”
The Lumberjacks (4-6) need a win. They are on a three-game losing streak and have yet to win a game outside Flagstaff.
You have to favor the Lobos in this non-conference tip. The Lobos are coming off a solid 84-68 win over Cal Poly, a win that produced career scoring highs for four Lobos: Khadijah Shumpert, Brea Mitchell, Alexa Chavez and Jayda Bovero.
Those career marks were produced because the Lobos were playing well as individuals and well as a team. Those two factors often, but not always, are linked. The big thing for the Lobos in that win over Cal Poly was they were playing well as a unit.
“We have to keep grinding it out and we have to keep proving ourselves,” said Shumpert. “ We have to prove that this is constant and consistent and that this is what we are going to do the rest of the season.”
Said Sanchez: “If we play like this on Sunday, you almost don’t want Christmas break to come. We’ve got one game left to hopefully finish off season one (non conference) on a positive note and get into season two.”
One good thing about UNM’s possible three-game win streak is the winning produces confidence. But you also have to consider the quality of the teams the Lobos beat and realize that the Mountain West will produce tougher foes – and road games.
But the things the Lobos are doing of late are exactly they things they need to do in the MW wars: shoot well, take care of the ball, play defense, control the paint.
The Lobos roughed up Cal Poly inside. Shumpert scored 27 and New Mexico outscored Cal Poly 48-to-18 in the paint.
“We are really starting to jell a little bit,” said Sanchez. “We have to build on this.”
On paper, the Lumberjacks don’t look like pushovers and they also have some muscle in the paint. Senior Erikka Banks averaged 22 points and 9.5 rebounds in the last two NAU games. The 6-foot ‘Jack averages 14.4 points and 9.7 rebounds on the year.
Lumberjack Raven Anderson averaged 15.5 points and 7.5 boards in the last two games. The 6-foot-2 senior averages 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds on the season. Sophomore Brittani Lusain averaged 9.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.5 assists in the last two games. Lusain averages 10.5 points, 6.5 boards and 4.3 assists on the year.
NAU has some impressive individual stats and the Lumberjacks shot also 46 percent from the floor in the last two games (losses to Pepperdine and CSUN) and ended the two games with a plus-eight rebound advantage. NAU has been hurt by turnovers.
Obviously, the Lumberjacks can do good things on the offensive end of the court. They outscored Pepperdine 38-to-18 in the paint. They beat CSUN inside 36-to-26.
The Lumberjacks also have three games in which they held their opponents to under 50 points – winning all three games. They lost 82-58 to a UTEP team that UNM beat 72-57. Those scores obviously favor the Lobos in The Pit.
A key for both the Lobos and the Lumberjacks will be turnovers. Both teams have been hurt this season by points off turnovers scored by the opposition. The Lobos also need for Shumpert to avoid foul trouble against an NAU team that like to attack in the paint.
The Lumberjacks have a solid one-two scoring punch and so do the Lobos. Antiesha Brown averages 14.2 points and Shumpert is at 13.4. No other Lobo averages more than eight points.