New Mexico Lobos Women – At The Mountain West Tournament
Wednesday Semis: New Mexico 64, Fresno State 53; Boise State 76, San Jose State 67
Friday’s Championships: Noon – New Mexico vs. Boise State
On The Air: 610-AM with Joe Behrend; www.themwc.com
GoLobos.com: Game Story, Complete Stats, LoboTV Quotes
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
“Get to Vegas,” was the message Lobo assistant coach Joseph Anders threw out on 610-AM to any Lobo fan wanting to check out one of the hottest women’s basketball teams in the nation.
And the only New Mexico Lobo team left in the Mountain West Tournament.
The New Mexico Lobos continued their dramatic and seemingly unstoppable stretch run through the Mountain West by beating Fresno State 64-53 and advancing to play Boise State for the 2015 Mountain West Tournament title.
Of course, there are a lot of bragging rights on the line at noon Friday in the Las Vegas Thomas & Mack Center, but there also is a hung carrot dangling at the end of that championship net-cutting – a berth in the 2015 NCAA field.
“One thing that got us here was our confidence in each other,” said UNM’s Bryce Owens. “Once we built that throughout the year, that’s what got us here.
“I think this is a really great game to go into the championship game. I think once we get this day’s (Thursday) rest, once we get our minds collected, get back together, we’ll be fine. I think as a team we’re doing great.”
The Lobos took charge of this semifinal battle early and although the Bulldogs hung around once again the Lobos played with confidence and determination at the close to roll to the impressive 11-point win.
It’s difficult to imagine that the Lobo team that started the season 1-and-7 is the same team knocking over the MW competition like a bowling ball slaps down the 10-pin.
“We’re very determined this year,” said Antiesha Brown.
Still, the Lobos need to knock down one more Mountain West opponent if this New Mexico teams wants to join the nation’s best in the battle for the 2015 NCAA title. The Boise State Broncos are just as fired up as the Lobos to grab the MW’s automatic bid.
“Boise State has a really good team, good in the post play, good guards,” said UNM’s Brown. “I think we match up with them very well.
“If we just execute and play our game, not get too frustrated and stay together, then we have nothing to worry about.”
Said Owens: “We have to execute, execute, execute on offense and defense. I think it will be a great matchup on Friday.”
Boise State advanced with a 76-67 win over San Jose State.
And both the Lobos and the Broncos have to assume this: the loser of Friday’s championship game will not receive at at-large bid to play with the big girls of the NCAA. The Mountain West’s rating as a conference is low and the league is not expected to lure an at-large bid from the NCAA Selection Committee.
The title game goes down as a rubber match for Lobos and Broncos. Boise State won 86-65 in Idaho and the Lobos won 63-50 in WisePies Arena.
The Lobos outplayed the Fresno State Bulldogs in almost every category Wednesday in the Thomas & Mack.
The Lobos shot 43 percent from the field to 35 percent for the ‘Dogs. UNM went 5-of-10 from long range and Fresno went 3-of-15. UNM made 19 free throws and Fresno made 14. The Lobos had 11 steals to eight for the Bulldogs. UNM had five blocked shots to one for Fresno. UNM had 18 turnovers and Fresno had 21 miscues. UNM had 13 assists and Fresno had six.
The Lobos’ offense was efficient against the Bulldogs, but again the Lobo defense was huge in sparking this Mountain West advancement.
“Defense will always win you games,” said Brown. “That’s what we focus on as a team, defense, defense, defense.
“We knew if we held them in the 50s, yeah, we would have a good chance of winning the game.”
The Bulldogs knew they had to contain Lobo Antiesha Brown in order to upset the No. 2 seed Lobos. The ‘Dogs couldn’t do it. Brown scored 18 points and was joined in double figures by Bryce Owens with 11 and Alexa Chavez with 10 points. Brown led the Lobos in rebounding with seven followed by Khadijah Shumpert with six boards.
Owens added three assists and went 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Brown went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line and had three steals as did Cherise Beynon.
The Lobos defense was obvious in the first half as Fresno State did not score a field goal until the 10:04 mark of the half. The Lobos carried a 26-18 lead into the halftime break. The Bulldogs made a second-half charge to cut UNM’s lead to 37-36 with 11:10 to play.
“We just had to slow down a little bit. We had to play our game,” said Brown. “I think we got a little bit rattled in the beginning of the second half. But like I said, it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle.”
The Lobos got a 3-pointer from Brea Mitchell at the 8:25 mark to push back up to 40-36 and UNM steadily pulled away. The Lobos were up 49-38 with 5:05 to go and cruised in for the semifinal win.
Brown said the loud sea of Lobo fans helped UNM to the win.
“They’re wanting us to bring a championship home,” said Brown. “Because our guys are out now, they’re rooting for us harder and harder. We’re trying not to let them down.”