New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – On The Mountain West Road
Who/When: 7 p.m. (MT) – New Mexico (6-9, 2-2 MW) at Air Force (1-14, 0-4 MW)
On The Air: 610-AM with Joe Behrend. GoLobos.com: Game Story, Complete Stats
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
So, which team is facing the most pressure Wednesday night when Yvonne Sanchez’s New Mexico Lobos tip with the Air Force Falcons?
Is it the Falcons, who are 1-14, 0-4 in the Mountain West, fighting through a 13-game losing skid and desperate for a home-court win – any win?
Or is it the Lobos, who are probably expected to come back from Colorado Springs with a road win? The Falcons already have lost two MW home games and likely will lose a few more. The Lobos can’t afford to be one of them.
But there is another twist to playing at Air Force. The Falcons put up a fight. They will not stand down.
“This game is going to be tough. Air Force is a very disciplined team,” said UNM’s Antiesha Brown. “But we need to grab that road win and get that momentum going into Boise State.”
Said Khadijah Shumpert: “I think it will be a grind-out game. We know going in that this is going to be a battle. We can’t underestimate them. To us, their record doesn’t mean anything.”
The record probably means something to the proud Falcons and for sure they would like to snap their 13-game skid. At this point, any win would be sweet. And here come the Lobos on a two-game win streak and having won five of the past seven.
The Lobos will be eyeing some hungry Falcons.
“The way we are winning and the way we are growing up is really nice to see,” said Sanchez. “It gives you confidence and it gives our kids a little bit of pep, which is really nice to see.”
The Falcons often are at a disadvantage when it comes to height and sometime even pure athleticism. But they do not give up too many inches to the Lobos. Air Force has no starter taller than 6-foot and the Lobos’ tallest starters are the 6-foot Shumpert and 6-foot Alexa Chavez.
Where the Falcons usually try to gain an advantage is in their work ethic on the court. They try to win all the little battles including the battle of “hustle.”
“We have to play harder than them,” said Sanchez. “When they (Air Force) come to practice, that’s the easy part of their day. Playing harder than Air Force is very difficult. They are in every game.”
Well, maybe not every game. The Falcons have been outscored by an average of 25.1 points.
They average 52.9 points on offense and allow 78.1 points. The tempo on Wednesday obviously will be a key. The Falcons will try to eliminate possessions and keep the score down. The Lobos will look for some quick-hitters, some transition.
“We have to limit our mistakes, play hard, get the ball inside and just play like we have been playing,” said Sanchez.
The Lobos took some lumps in the early stage of their season, but the field of play has leveled out lately. A win at Air Force might not make a major statement about UNM’s turnaround, but the next stop on the Mountain West road – at Boise State – could be a statement game. The Broncos are 10-4 overall and 2-1 in Mountain West play.
Fresno State tops the Mountain at 4-0 followed by Colorado State at 3-1. The Lobos two MW wins were over 4-10 San Diego State and 3-13 Utah State. UNM lost to Fresno and CSU.
UNM’s Brown said two keys to losses at Fresno and CSU were “bad decisions and slow starts.” She said a good start at Air Force is important.
“I think the team is in a groove,” said Brown. “We have been making a lot of smart decision and opening things up for each other. We are all kind of molding into our roles and doing what we need to do to grind out wins.”
Said Shumpert of UNM’s winning way: “I think this is the beginning of it. Winning these games in a row is just the beginning of the great things we are expecting for the season.
“It’s great to know how to win, but it’s important to remember how it feels to lose. No one likes to lose. We don’t like how that feels so we have to continue to do whatever it takes to make sure we continue to win.”
The Falcons are led in scoring by 5-foot-4 Jimi Blagowsky at 11.8 followed by 5-9 Lindsey Lewis at 11.5 and 5-9 Cortney Porter at 9.3. Porter scored 25 at CSU on Saturday hitting seven 3-pointers.
The Falcons have enough firepower to win games – if they keep the score low. UNM is led by Brown with a 14.7 scoring average and Shumpert at 11.7.
The Lobos have yet to win a game away from WisePies Arena so a win at the U.S. Air Force Academy also would knock that monkey off the UNM shoulder.