New Mexico Lobos Women’s Basketball – In WisePies Arena/The Pit
When/Who: 7 p.m., Wednesday – Colorado State (17-5, 7-2 MW) at New Mexico (12-10, 8-3 MW)
On The Air: 610-AM with Joe Behrend
GoLobos.com: Game Story, Complete Stats, Quotes, LoboTV
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Lately, the New Mexico Lobos have made a few statements. Yvonne Sanchez’s Lobos are on a five-game win streak and climbing the Mountain West ladder like they are on a mission.
And they are on a mission – to win the MW regular-season title.
But the Lobos’ opponent on Wednesday night gives the Lobos a chance to make another statement. They have a chance to say they can outscore a very good basketball team – one with an outstanding record.
“I don’t think it’s a statement game, but it might give us more recognition and it will be a confidence thing to beat them,” said Lobo Bryce Owens.
The Lobos are 12-10 and only one of four Mountain West teams that can boast a winning record heading in the final turns of the regular-season race. Fresno State is at 17-4, Colorado State is at 17-5 and Boise State sits at 14-7.
A footnote to UNM’s 12 wins is that only one of those wins has come against a team with a winning record and Cal Poly carries that distinction with a humble 11-10 mark. The Lobos hover in a curious gray area. They also have not lost to a team with a losing record.
So, the CSU game presents an opportunity – and a challenge.
“It’s exciting,” said Owens. “It’s a good challenge for us and it should be a great game.”
Said Lobo Coach Yvonne Sanchez: “There should be excitement any time you play. It shouldn’t matter who we are playing. If you are a competitor, the excitement is just going out there and playing basketball.
“We just want to go out there and play well as a group and do what we can to win basketball games.”
The Rams beat the Lobos in Fort Collins, Colo., but not by much – 44-38. The tempo of that game favored the Lobos. Sanchez said she does not like her team to get into a shooting match.
The Rams wouldn’t mind some gunslinger ball.
“I don’t think we are going to blow out teams,” said Sanchez. “We are not going to win by 10 or 15 points. We are going to see a lot of one possession games and we have to get used to that.
“We just have to keep going out there and play hard and play smart. We have to be in positions at the end of games where we have a chance to win.”
CSU is a balanced team on both sides of the court. They average 66.3 points on offense and 56.3 points on defense. UNM scores at a 60.5 clip and allows 62 points per game. CSU shoots 42 percent from the floor and 35 percent from 3-point range. UNM is at 40 percent and 27 percent in those areas.
“We can’t give them open looks especially from 3-point range,” said Sanchez. “They are so good at driving the middle and shooting threes. We have to play defense on the outside.”
Sanchez says the Rams probably have the edge in perimeter shooting, but she likes her team’s ability to score in the paint. But the opposition is smart enough to know you don’t want Khadijah Shumpert to touch the ball inside and you don’t want to allow Antiesha Brown to add drives to her deadly stop-and-pop game.
“Teams are packing it in on us,” said Sanchez. “But we still have to get the ball inside and then make our jump shots.”
There is a double-edged sword in UNM’s recent success and in the ability to make jumpers. You make jumpers, you win games. You win games, you have more confidence in your jumpers. The Lobos have won eight of their past nine games. But these wins have come against teams struggling through up-and-down seasons.
The Rams are a different breed of team. The Rams have won nine of their past ten games, but they also have been bullying teams not high on the MW ladder. They were the preseason pick to win the 2015 Mountain West title, but their 9-2 league mark is a game shy of Fresno State’s 9-1 mark. The Rams can’t really afford to drop a game in WisePies Arena.
They surely have respect for the Lobos’ defense, too. UNM held CSU to a season-low 17 first-half points up in Fort Collins. CSU shot 35 percent from the floor in that win, but UNM lost by only six points despite shooting 25 percent.
“We are confident, but not cocky,” said Owens. “We are trying to stay level headed and have a good mind set. Antiesha carries most of the swagger for us, but what she has rubs off on us.”
The Rams will come into The Pit with a little swagger, too. They won in The Pit last season for the first time in 16 seasons. The Rams also will have senior guard AJ Newton on the court Wednesday night. Newton did not play in the first meeting. Newton adds scoring, ball handling, defense and leadership.
“She is a big factor for her team,” said Owens. “You have to be prepared to guard her. She is really quick.”
CSU had 22 turnovers vs. UNM in Moby Gym. Newton has the experience to cut down that number. CSU also did not hurt the Lobos from 3-point range in Fort Collins going 2-of-13.
“We feel good about how we are playing and we should,” said Sanchez. “We went through all this (close games) last year and we’ve grown. We just didn’t’ finish games last year and we’ve learned from that. It’s just the growth of a team.
“I think CSU will be a one or two possession game. They are awfully good. We are expecting a red-hot Colorado State team.”
And the Rams probably are expecting the same thing from the Lobos.