Stevens: Lobos Face Disciplined Cowgirls in Pit

January 23, 2015

New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – In Wise Pies Arena/The Pit

Who/When: 2 p.m., Saturday – Wyoming (7-9, 2-4 MW) at New Mexico (8-10, 4-3 MW)

On The Air: 610-AM with Joe Behrend; Live Streaming on GoLobos.com

GoLobos.com: Game Story, Lobo TV, Game Box, Quotes

By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com.

If Wyoming Coach Joe Legerski walked across the WisePies Arena floor on Saturday and handed Lobo Coach Yvonne Sanchez the game plan his Cowgirls planned to throw at UNM, would it really be that helpful?

Probably not.

Wyoming basketball is Joe Legerski. The Cowgirls have a system. They do this and that, over and over, and they usually do it well. If it doesn’t work, well, they do it again. The system has won Legerski 223 games in 11 seasons and he’ll be looking for No. 224 Saturday in The Pit.

“We’ve seen what they do for 11 years,” said Sanchez. “This is just the Wyoming system with different players.”

Legerski’s Cowgirls throw out a motion offense with a lot of screens. They look for the open shot. They look for back-door cuts. They’ll run a bit, if there is an opening. They typically take good care of the basketball and they typically will take good shots.

“He knows his players and he puts them in a position to be successful,” said Sanchez. “They know what they have to do in order to be successful and they don’t stray from that plan. They do what they do well and that’s what makes them successful.

“They are a little inexperienced this year and that’s why they have the record they have.”

The Cowgirls actually have the edge on UNM when it comes to experience in the starting lineup. Wyoming starts three seniors and two juniors. The Lobos start one senior, three juniors and a freshman.

Wyoming’s problem is similar to New Mexico’s challenge on offense. It’s those starters that consistently produce most of the points.

The Cowgirls are led in scoring by 5-foot-7 Marquelle Dent with a 17.2 average. The crafty guard also dishes out 4.6 assists per game and shoots 82 percent from the foul line. She has the ability to take over a game. She gets solid scoring help from 5-11 Kayla Woodward with a 15.7 average. Wyoming also gets double-digit scoring from Kaitlyn Mileto at 10.4 points per game.

Wyoming’s top scorer off the bench also brings in some height. The 6-4 Kaylie Rader averages 5.4 points.

UNM is paced by Antiesha Brown with a 14.0 average followed by Khadijah Shumpert at 10.8. UNM obviously does not want to get into a shooting match with Wyoming and will look to slow down Dent and Woodward.

“Those two do a nice job and together they make the players around them better,” said Sanchez. “Wyoming is good. They beat Boise State at Boise and they probably should have beaten Fresno in Laramie.”

The Lobos played on Wednesday, but Wyoming has only the game at UNM this week. That gives them extra time to prepare for the Lobos, but Sanchez says there aren’t many secrets at this time of the season. The Cowgirls have to stop Brown from scoring on drives and jumpers – and they have to limit Shumpert’s touches in the paint.

Legerski’s Cowgirls likely are disciplined enough to do the right things defensively against Brown and Shumpert – but that doesn’t mean you can stop them. Shumpert had to leave the UNLV game in the first half due to a food allergy reaction, but is back for the Wyoming game.

The Cowgirls are 7-9 on the season and have struggled to a 2-4 Mountain West mark. They obviously are hungrily eyeing a Pit win. Wyoming is coming off a 66-65 loss vs. Fresno State in Laramie. The Cowgirls got 20 points from Woodard in that game and another 20 from Dent.

The Cowgirls played well in that game shooting 46 percent from the field. The Lobos are coming off a 63-60 win over UNLV in The Pit.

“This team is growing up,” said Sanchez. “We learned from some tough losses last year and those lessons have brought us to the point we are at this year.

“There has been less of me in the close games and more of them. I can’t walk them through tough situations in crunch time. That is when they have to react and do it themselves. The players have no doubt in their ability and neither do I.”

Said Cherise Beynon: “The whole team is just coming together and playing with confidence.”

The Lobos will be looking for their seventh straight win in WisePies Arena on Saturday.

New Mexico Lobos 2014-15 Roster

No.