ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – After a week off from play and a week of finals, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team claimed a 60-52 victory over Pepperdine Saturday afternoon in WisePies Arena.
Senior forward Khadijah Shumpert led the Lobos the entire way with 22 points and eight boards in 23 minutes of play. She went 7-for-8 from the field and 8-for-12 from the free throw line. Cherise Beynon was the next top scorer on the squad with eight points. She finished with seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.
“Khadijah’s big time,” said head coach Yvonne Sanchez. “She really is the heart and soul of this team. She just puts our team on her back at times. She did tonight. SMU she got into a little bit of foul trouble and people stepped up, but we needed her tonight.”
The Lobos started out with a dominating performance, holding Pepperdine under 30 percent from the field in the first half. New Mexico got off to a 7-3 start after a Beynon layup. They continued to play good defense, holding the Waves to a scoring drought in the final minutes of the first quarter. The offense also went on a 10-0 run during that span, including a trey and a long two from freshman Jannon Otto. The Lobos finished out the quarter with a 16-9 lead and Shumpert leading the squad with seven points.
Foul trouble came over the New Mexico squad in the next three quarters. Shumpert played limited minutes in the second period after getting her second personal foul. But the Lobos maintained their offense to outscore Pepperdine 13-6. Beynon went off for a three-point play with 6:19 left in the quarter and the Lobos went up by as much as 14 after a layup from Kianna Keller. They led 29-15, heading into the second half.
“It obviously wasn’t our finest hour,” said Sanchez. “It’s just always tough after finals week and you just never know how teams are going to come out of it. So it’s always good to have a home game right after finals but it just wasn’t a good game for us. I’ll credit Pepperdine. They came in and had a good game plan and they did a nice job. I just think we can be better and I think we will.”
The Lobos continued to maintain offense throughout the second half, but Pepperdine began to work its way back into the game as the Lobos continued to have foul trouble. Pepperdine struggled from the line, only shooting 53 percent from the free throw line for the afternoon. The Waves put together 19 points in the third period to cut the Lobos lead to 11, going into the final period.
Pepperdine cut the Lobo lead to eight in the fourth quarter but the Lobos used free throws to gain a comfortable 13-point lead. Pepperdine got a few last minute layups but it wasn’t enough to outlast the Lobos.
For the game, the Lobos outshot the Waves 41 percent to 28 percent. Lobos scored 28 points in the paint to the Waves 22 and the Lobos out-rebounded the Waves 40-34. From the three, the Lobos shot 20 percent and 50 percent from the free throw line. The Waves shot 20 percent from the three and 53 percent from the free throw line.
The Lobos are now 6-3 on the season. The head to Minnesota on Wednesday for their final nonconference road trip of the season. Tipoff on Wednesday is scheduled for noon Ct/11 a.m. MT. They return home for their final nonconference game Sunday, Dec. 20 for a rematch with New Mexico State.