Lobos Down Nevada on Senior Night 66-42
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – It was a special night for Lobo women’s basketball as it downed Nevada 66-42 and celebrated a trio of seniors – Bryce Owens, Alexa Chavez and Khadijah Shumpert – in their final game in WisePies Arena Friday night.
It was a game to remember for those three seniors but Nevada wasn’t going down without a fight.
“We played a little emotional,” said head coach Yvonne Sanchez. “Everyone was trying to do everything for the seniors. I knew this would be a battle, but I am so proud of what we did in that fourth quarter on defense.”
The Lobos took a 5-1 lead over Nevada to start the game off. Nevada worked their way back in taking a 6-5 lead at the 5:12 mark. Sophomore Cherise Beynon retook the lead for the Lobos after a jumper at 4:47. At the end of the first, the Lobos lead the Wolf Pack 15-12.
In the second quarter, the Lobos jumped out to a 22-14 after a two from senior Bryce Owens and four straight points from freshman Jaisa Nunn. Nevada kept the game close as they worked their way back, cutting the Lobos lead to two, 25-23 with 3:09 left in the half. Nevada tied it up with a minute to go but back-to-back makes from Owens and Beynon gave the Lobos a 30-25 lead going into halftime.
Nevada went on a 9-4 run to start the third quarter but a 6-0 run surged by senior Khadijah Shumpert put the Lobos up 42-36. The Wolf Pack hit a three with 40 seconds to go but sophomore Alex Lapeyrolerie hit a jumper with 11 seconds to go to end the third on an 8-3 run and a 44-39 lead.
The fourth quarter was pretty much all Lobos as they played great defense to hold Nevada to just three points from the free throw line. The Wolf Pack hit two free throws at the 7:16 mark and the third one came at the 3:08 mark. The Lobos put together 22 points in the fourth, eight of those points coming from Shumpert.
The Lobos seniors came out of the game with 1:40 left to play to a standing ovation by the 5,492 fans in WisePies Arena.
“The standing ovation at the end was huge because that was likely the last time I’ll play on the Pit floor,” said Shumpert. “That was my goodbye from the fans and it means a lot.”
For the game, the Lobos shot 46 percent from the field, their second straight game shooting over 40 percent. They were 23-for-50 from the field, 4-for-13 from the three and 16-for-24 from the free throw line.
Shumpert led all scorers with 21 points. She was 9-for-10 from the field and 3-for-5 from the free throw line. She also finished with four steals and an assist. Beynon was second on the team in scoring with 11 points. She finished 4-for-14 from the field and 3-for-8 from the three to go along with three assists, a block and three steals.
Owens led the Lobos with five assts. She finished with eight points, shooting 2-for-7 from the field, 1-for-3 from the three and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. Chavez pitched in two points, going 2-for-2 from the free throw line with three assists and a steal.
“Khadijah has been our heart and soul all year,” Sanchez said. “Seventeen minutes and twenty-one points is pretty impressive. Bryce really ran the team well, and without a backup, she has to play a lot of minutes.”
With Fresno State downing Utah State, the three-way tie has been broken and the Lobos will head to the annual Mountain West Tournament on Sunday as the No. 5 seed of the tournament. They will take on San Josè State, who is the No. 4 seed after fall to Boise State Friday night. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. MT. Live stats and video can be found at TheMW.com.
“It’s not over,” said Sanchez. “I think we can get three more wins, I really do.”