Stevens: UNM Lobos’ Streak On Line at Utah State

February 06, 2015

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

Who/When: 2 p.m., Saturday – New Mexico (11-10, 7-3 MW) at Utah State (6-16, 3-7 MW)

On The Air: 610-AM with Joe Behrend

GoLobos.com: Game Story, Complete Stats

By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com.

The Utah State Aggies are a tough team to figure out, but maybe not for Yvonne Sanchez’s Lobos.

New Mexico escaped with a 60-59 win over the Aggies in WisePies Arena on Jan. 15, so the Lobos know the Aggies can bring it.

But which Aggie team will show up Saturday in Logan? The Aggies opened the 2015 Mountain West season with four consecutive losses, but looked pretty good in that final loss – to the Lobos. The Aggies then rolled off three consecutive wins, but not exactly against the power clubs on the Mountain.

Utah State brings a three-game losing streak at the Lobos and are coming off a hard 94-55 loss at Boise State. They also lost 86-51 at Wyoming.

The Aggies pretty much need a feel-good win and the Lobos – on a four-game winning streak – present the perfect opportunity. UNM is 7-3 in league play and playing well. But Coach Sanchez also has respect for UNM’s opponent.

“They gave us everything we wanted in The Pit and now we are at their place,” said Sanchez. “We know exactly how good Utah State is and we have great respect for their team.”

Respect is good. Now, the Lobos have to throw in some solid defense, good decision making and a few shots.

The Aggies are led by freshman guard Funda Nakkasoglu with her 15.8 scoring average. She also shares the ball and averages 4.1 assists per game. She is the straw UNM has to stop. Senior guard Elise Nelson is strong with weak-side rebounding averaging 6.1 boards a game. The Aggies shoot 40.2 percent from the field.

The Lobos are paced in scoring by Antiesha Brown with a 13.9 average. Junior post Khadijah Shumpert chips in 11.1 points per game and tops the board charts with her 6.3 average. Bryce Owens and Cherise Beynon both have an 8.2 scoring average.

“The whole team is just coming together and playing with confidence,” said Beynon.

This is not expected to be a high-scoring game. UNM averages 60.8 points and gives up an average of 62.5 points. UNM shoots 39.8 percent from the field. Neither team is particularly fearful from 3-point range. UNM shoots 26.6 percent from long range and Utah State shoots 29.2 percent.

The Lobos had trouble with Nakkasoglu in WisePies Arena.

She went 12-of-19 from the floor to score 28 points. No other Aggie reached double digits in that game. Brown scored 19 for UNM and Shumpert was not a factor on the scoreboard going 1-of-8 from the field.

Utah State, behind Nakkasoglu, shot 47.4 percent from the floor and 7-of-13 from 3-point range. The Aggies were hurt by 12 UNM offensive rebounds and 19 Utah State turnovers. UNM had 11 steals in that game.

Those stats probably will be emphasized by Utah State on Saturday: keep the Lobos off the offensive glass and take better care of the basketball.

The Lobos need to take better care of Nakkasoglu.

New Mexico Lobos’ 2014-15 Season Roster

No.