New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – In WisePies Arena/The Pit
Wednesday: New Mexico 63, UNLV 60
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com.
Gut check? Definitely. But this was a Lobo bench check, too.
The New Mexico Lobos were going down like dominoes Wednesday night in WisePies Arena losing huge chunks of playing time from Khadijah Shumpert, Kianna Keller and Antiesha Brown. Still, the Lobos found a way to win – 63-60 over the cold-shooting UNLV Rebels.
“It was a close, gritty, grind-out game,” said Lobo Coach Yvonne Sanchez. “I’m so proud of our kids. We didn’t have some of our leaders out there at the end, but the youngsters really stepped up.”
And so did Bryce Owens, who had 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 34 minutes of play. “Bryce is playing with so much confidence right now,” said Sanchez. “I just love what she is doing.”
Owens’ leadership was crucial vs. UNLV as the Lobos’ Khadijah Shumpert (dizziness) left the game six minutes into it and never returned. Brown fouled out with 7:12 to play.
That meant the Lobos had to beat a talented UNLV team down the stretch with the Lobos’ top two scorers not on the court.
“I had zero doubt about the players I put in,” said Sanchez. “I knew defensively they would get it done. Bryce just took over the game and Alexa (Chavez) was huge, too.”
The game appeared to be a war of attrition favoring the Rebels, but UNLV could never put up the offensive charge to take a lead. The Lobos might have been without their top scorers at the end, but UNLV’s main guns – Danielle Miller and Alana Cesarz – were having trouble scoring over the attacking Lobo defense.
Miller ended with 18 points, but went 4-of-20 from the floor and Cesarz was 4-of-14. The Lobos weren’t sizzling from the floor shooting 37 percent, but UNLV shot 30 percent.
The Lobos got only 20 minutes from Brown due to foul trouble and 12 minutes from Keller, who also drifted into foul trouble. Keller was playing well defensively (three blocked shots) and her inside presence was needed with Shumpert out of the game.
A lot of the inside slack was picked up by Cherise Beynon with nine points and 10 rebound and Alexa Chavez with eight points and nine boards in 37 minutes. Laneah Bryan came off the bench to hit 10 important points for the Lobos.
“I like what Cherise did,” said Sanchez. “She stepped up and got to the boards and Laneah came off the bench and did her job.”
The Lobos once again defended The Pit in Mountain West action and might face a tougher challenge Saturday against Wyoming. Sanchez said she does not yet know Shumpert’s status for that game and that Chavez took a blow to her head late in the game vs. UNLV.
“We’re a little beat up right now,” said Sanchez.
The Lobos came out of the break with a 35-30 led and at the 18:55 mark Keller went to the bench with her fourth foul. UNM lost Antiesha Brown to fouls with 7:12 to play. The Rebels made several charges and finally formed a tie at 45-45. The Lobos got four straight points from Laneah Bryan to go up 53-47.
Bryan got another huge bucket at 2:29 to push UNM up 55-50 and Jayda Bovero scored a layup for UNM to make it 57-52. Owens made a jumper to make it 59-54. Those five-point leads proved to be just enough. The Rebels hung around and Miller got hot at the end, but UNM fought off the Rebels.
The Lobos got a little too helpful at the end to help the Rebels hang around. Bryan missed two free throws with 35 seconds to play. UNM turned the ball over under their basket bringing it in which led to a quick UNLV layup to make it 61-60.
Owens hit two free throws with 26 seconds to play to form the 63-60 lead, but UNLV could not come up with another basket. Bovero also missed two free throws with four seconds to go, but a half-court heave by the Rebels at the buzzer did no damage.
“That was a great game for the fans,” said Sanchez. “We had a lot of adversity. That was a hard game to officiate. It was very physical.”
First Half: New Mexico 35, UNLV 30
The Lobos got off to a good start jumping up 20-9 on the visiting Rebels. UNLV slowly chipped away, but the Rebels were having trouble scoring on a tight UNM defense. The Lobos suffered a blow at that score when Shumpert was helped up the ramp and did not play again in the half.
The Rebels cut the Lobos’ lead to 22-16. UNLV was down by six but possibly encouraged by a gap that could have been wider – UNLV was shooting 20 percent from the floor at that score (4-of-20).
The teams played fairly evenly on the scoreboard the rest of the way in. UNM used a technical foul on Vegas to go up 29-20, but the Rebels again scratched back. New Mexico finally pulled in with a 35-30 halftime lead.
The Lobos held UNLV to 24 percent shooting in the half (8-of-34). UNM shot 41 percent. UNLV had the edge on the boards at 26-21 and a slight edge in turnovers – six for Vegas, nine for the Lobos. UNM had six blocked shots in half with three of those coming off the long arms of Kianna Keller.
UNM was led in scoring by Antiesha Brown with nine points followed by six from Owens and six from Shumpert – in six minutes of playing time. Alexa Chavez and Bryce Owens each pulled down five boards.