New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – On The Mountain West Road
When/Who: 2 p.m., Saturday — New Mexico (7-9, 3-2 MW) at Boise State (11-4, 3-1 MW)
On The Air: 610-AM with Joe Behrend; www.themw.com (live stream)
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Yvonne Sanchez’s Lobos have inched their way up the Mountain West standings. On Saturday afternoon, they could take a leap up that MW ladder.
It will not be an easy moving day. The Boise State Broncos are 11-4 and 3-1 in the Mountain and are considered along with Fresno State and Colorado State as one of the teams to beat in the 2015 race.
The Lobos could change that perception with a win in Boise.
“They’re very, very good,” said Sanchez of the Broncos.
The Broncos’ 11-4 record gets your attention. Fresno State, 5-0 in the MW, is at 13-3 and Colorado State, 4-1 in league, is 12-4. Those are the only teams in the Mountain West with winning records.
So, this could be a signature win – and a bigger signature road win for the Lobos.
New Mexico’s 3-2 MW record was stained by road losses at Fresno State and at Colorado State. Obviously, a win at Boise would be huge because not too many teams will win on the Broncos’ home court.
If UNM falls to Boise, there is that silver lining: UNM gets all three of these front-running teams back in WisePies Arena.
Of course, the Lobos are not thinking about a defeat. They are thinking about playing well on the road and pulling the upset.
“We have to take care of the basketball to be successful,” said Sanchez. “They (Broncos) deny and they really play tremendous defense. So, we really have to take care of the basketball.
“We just have to continue to play with confidence like we have been.”
The Broncos obviously play with confidence, but they slipped up by losing at home 64-59 to Wyoming last week. They made up for that, a bit, with a big win at UNLV. The Rebs beat Wyoming in Vegas so it was a nice comeback by Boise State.
The Broncos have an obvious star: Deanna Weaver, a preseason All-MW pick. The 5-foot-11 senior scored 18 at Vegas, scored 28 vs. Idaho State and tops the Boise State scoring stats with her 14.1 average. She hauls down 6.2 rebounds per game.
Boise State has good height and it produces. Miquelle Askew, a 6-3 junior, averages 10.2 points. The 6-4 Camille Redmon, the preseason Newcomer of the Year, averages 7.2 points and 6.3 boards per game. . Redmon can be extremely annoying on the offensive glass. She is a transfer from Purdue.
The Broncos have a number of players who can score. Keiahnna Engel averages 8.4 points and Brooke Pahukoa averages 7.7 points. Pahukoa has a 22-point game this season and Askew scored 21 vs. Eastern Washington. Pahukoa scored 14 points at UNLV.
Coach Sanchez says the Broncos know what to expect from UNM and the Lobos pretty much know what Boise State wants to do on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s not rocket science at this point,” said Sanchez. “Everybody’s seen film on everybody. They know what we’re running. We know what they’re going to run.
“I’m sure both team will tweak some things here or there, but it’s just about playing with poise on the road, playing good defense and taking care of the basketball. We have to win some road games.
“Our goal is to get better every single day; every day that we play a game or practice. That’s our goal.”
The Lobos have been playing well of late – winning six of eight – but there are no signature wins in that stretch. They can change that in Boise. The Broncos have won six of their past seven games.
The Lobos are led in scoring by Antiesha Brown with a 14.1 average followed by Khadijah Shumpert at 11.7. Shumpert brings down 6.8 boards per game and Alexa Chavez has a 5.5 board average.
The Broncos prefer an up-tempo game and average 71.5 points while giving up 59.1. The Lobos average 59.8 points and yield 62.8 points per game. The New Mexico stats have been influenced by Sanchez giving her Lobos the toughest non-conference schedule in the Mountain West. Boise State has a plus 12.4 scoring margin and UNM is a minus 3.1 points.
The Broncos can hurt teams inside and at long range. The Lobos have a solid inside attack, but their 3-point offense has been inconsistent. Boise shoots 36.3 percent from behind the line and UNM is at 26.9 percent.
New Mexico Lobos 2014-15 Season Roster
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Hometown (Prev School) | ||||||||||||
| 0 | Cherise Beynon | G | 5-10 | Fr. | HS | Las Vegas, Nev. (Canyon Springs HS) | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Brooke Allemand | G | 5-4 | So. | 1L | Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas (Boerne-Samuel V. Champion HS) | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Kenya Pye | G | 5-8 | Fr. | HS | Tallahassee, Fla. (Maclay Prep) | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Josie Greenwood | F | 5-11 | So. | 1L | Hobart, Australia (Rosny College) | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Alex Lapeyrolerie | G | 5-11 | So. | 1L | Highland Village, Texas (Edward S. Marcus HS) | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Alexa Chavez | F | 6-0 | Jr. | 2L | Santa Fe, N.M. (St. Michael’s HS) | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Bryce Owens | G | 5-4 | Jr. | 2L | DeSoto, Texas (DeSoto HS) | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Khadijah Shumpert | F | 6-0 | Jr. | 2L | Minneapolis, Minn. (Benilde St. Margaret’s HS) | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Antiesha Brown | G | 5-10 | RSr. | 2L | Clovis, N.M. (Texas Tech) | ||||||||||||
| 21 | Marissa Perry | G | 5-4 | So. | 1L | Albuquerque, N.M. (Hope Christian HS) | ||||||||||||
| 24 | Jayda Bovero | G | 5-11 | Fr. | HS | Farr West, Utah (Syracuse HS) | ||||||||||||
| 25 | Laneah Bryan | G | 5-6 | Fr. | HS | El Paso, Texas (Franklin HS) | ||||||||||||
| 31 | Brea Mitchell | G | 5-10 | Jr. | 2L | Plano, Texas (Plano West HS) | ||||||||||||
| 32 | Kianna Keller | F | 6-4 | So. | 1L | Waukesha, Wis. (Waukesha West HS) | ||||||||||||
| 33 | Maddie Muraida | C | 6-2 | Sr. | 3L | Albuquerque, N.M. (Albuquerque Academy) |