Stevens: UNM Lobos Do Not Want to Run in San Jose

January 30, 2015

Stevens: Lobos Look To Add Some Offense Vs. SDSU

New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – On The Mountain West Road

Who/When: 3 p.m. (MT), Saturday – New Mexico (9-10, 5-3 MW) at San Jose State (9-10, 3-5 MW)

On The Air: 610-AM with Joe Behrend GoLobos.com: Game Story, Complete Stats

By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com

Do you want to run in San Jose?

Maybe not. The San Jose State Spartans’ tempo is up-beat. For sure, the Spartans want to run in San Jose.

The University of New Mexico Lobos tend to do better in games where defense is a factor – in games where defense keeps the score low.

But Lobo Khadijah Shumpert — an athletic, mobile post – likes to get up and down the court.

“I’m excited for San Jose,” said Shumpert. “They are a run and gun team and that gets me excited.

“Everyone on that team can bring the ball up the court and everyone can shoot and they are fast. We have to be ready for a quick transition game. They are going to run.”

The Lobos are on a run, too. New Mexico has won five of its past six games and seven in a row in WisePies Arena. However, any team looking to win the Mountain West title needs to get as many road breakthroughs as possible.

“I think it’s confidence and chemistry on the team,” said Shumpert explaining the Lobos recent winning ways. “We all have a common goal where we want to win and we want a ring (MW).

“We want to do good things and we have decided that this is what we want. The chemistry on this team is so important.”

Said Coach Yvonne Sanchez. “I like our chemistry. Everything is kind of lining up. It’s not perfect, but I really like where our players are at right now.”

The Lobos’ defense at San Jose should be important, too. The Spartans have a lot of balanced scoring on their roster with their top seven players averaging 7.2 to 16.4 points. That’s a lot of offense coming from different shooters.

The Spartans’ main gun is 5-9 senior Ta’Rea Cunnigan, who averages 16.4 points. The 5-10 Rebecca Woodberry adds 12.3 points a game.

The Spartans’ also get 9.5 points a game off the bench from 6-foot Jasmine Smith. The Spartans obviously lean to offense. On defense, San Jose State needs to key on Shumpert inside and Antiesha Brown on the wing. Shumpert brings a 10.7 scoring average to San Jose and Brown is scoring at a 13.9 clip.

UNM also has seen more aggressive offense lately from Bryce Owens, who averages 8.4 points and also Cherise Beynon with her 8.3 average. Owens scored 29 points in UNM’s past two games – wins over UNLV and Wyoming.

The Lobos bring a solid 5-3 MW record into San Jose State which sits at 3-5 in league wars. The Spartans obviously can’t afford to drop a home game. They also need to find some momentum. They have lost four of the past five games including an 83-80 loss at Air Force that snapped a 17-game Falcons’ losing skid.

The Spartans are a team in need of some confidence and in need of a victory. Their last game was the loss at Air Force – the Falcons second win of the season. Air Force shot 46.2 percent from the floor in that win.

However, the lone win in the past five games was an eye-opener. And it came in San Jose.

The Spartans beat Boise State 88-78. You might take note of that score. The Spartans scored 88 points. That’s a reflection of the tempo the Spartans like to play at. San Jose State tops the Mountain West in offense with an 81.5 average.

If you can’t stop the Spartans from running, you had better hope they are shooting badly. The Spartans did not shoot well at Air Force.

“They want to get the game in the 80s and 90s,” said Sanchez. “We want the game in the 50s. It’s difficult to keep them low. It’s a talented team that runs a certain system. It’s a tough system to defend.”

New Mexico Lobos 2014-15 Roster

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