EL PASO, Texas – Senior forward Khadijah Shumpert led the Lobos with her second double-double of the season, but the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team fell to UTEP 70-62 Wednesday afternoon in El Paso.
Shumpert led the squad with 20 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 7-for-10 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Cherise Beynon was second on the team in scoring with 13 points. She also tallied a four assists. She was 5-for-16 from the field and 3-for-7 from three-point range. Laneah Bryan led the team in assists with a career-high five.
“I thought Cherise had a good game and obviously Khadijah and Laneah had a good game,” said head coach Yvonne Sanchez. “Those are probably our three toughest kids right now.”
The Lobos got off to a slow start on both sides of the ball. A layup from Shumpert were the only Lobo points for the first five and half minutes. UTEP gained a 14-2 lead with four and half left to go in the first before the Lobos 8-2 run to cut the Miners’ lead 16-10 at the end of the period.
UTEP ran away in the second quarter as the Lobos has a tough time with guarding beyond the arc. UTEP made four three’s, all coming from Lulu McKinney. The Lobos put up 12 points in the second with six coming from Shumpert but it wasn’t enough to take the lead as UTEP went into the locker room with a 34-22 lead.
“We started out really slow. We talked about it as a staff at half time and I needed to switch things up. We have to play smarter. I don’t think we are a very tough team mentally and that is what is hurting us.”
New Mexico came out in the third quarter with more energy as Beynon scored the first eight Lobo points that help cut the UTEP lead to 37-30. The Lobos came within three with 2:25 left to play after back-to-back-to-back jumpers from Shumpert, Bryce Owens and Jaisa Nunn. UTEP took seven point lead with 23 seconds to go after another three but two good free throws from Laneah Bryce cut the Miner lead to 47-42.
“I thought they fought and that shows me a lot of character. And I can build on that. I saw other teams just fold when I was watching film and I was proud that they didn’t.
McKinney led off the fourth quarter with a three to put UTEP up by eight. The Lobos struggled to get consistent offense going and UTEP kept up their three point shooting to come out on top.
The Lobos came out on top in a few categories, leading UTEP in rebounds 37-30, free throw shooting 79 percent to 75 percent but UTEP used a 50 percent three-point shooting. The Lobos were 26 percent from the three and 42 percent from the field.
New Mexico is now 4-3 on the season and will head to SMU on Saturday for their second road trip in as many games. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. MT/5 p.m. CT. Live stats and a live stream will be available, visit GoLobos.com for more information.