UNM Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Stream
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – March madness is here for the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team as it opens up the 2016 Mountain West Championships with No. 4 seed San Josè State Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. MT in the Thomas & Mack Center.
The Lobos earned the No. 5 seed in the tournament after defeating Nevada last Friday. The three-way tie was broken with UNLV, Utah State and the Lobos, who were all 8-9 heading into the final game. Utah State fell to Fresno State, dropping them to 8-10 in conference. UNLV won but the Lobos had the tiebreaker over the Rebels.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
The No. 5 seed Lobos will face the No. 4 seed San José State on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. MT in the quartfinals of the 2016 Mountain West Championships. This will be the first matchup between the two teams in the history of the MW Tournament. The Lobos lead the all-time series against the Spartans 6-1 with their only loss coming this season on Feb. 13, falling 59-58.
The Lobos split the regular-season season, claiming a dominating 71-57 victory over the Spartans back on Jan. 23. This will be the sixth matchup under head coach Yvonne Sanchez and eighth overall in the history of the program. Sanchez leads the series over third year Spartan coach Jaime Craighead 4-1. SJSU is 2-2 in the MW Championship while the Lobos are 27-10 in the MW Championship, earning the crown five times (2003, ’04, ’05, ’07, ’08).
ABOUT THE LOBOS
The Lobos ended the regular-season on a high note, winning the final two games. They claimed a 64-45 win over San Diego State last Tuesday and finished the season out with a 66-42 win over Nevada on Friday. The Lobos go into the tournament with a 16-13 overall record and earned the No. 5 seed with a 9-9 record, breaking the tie-break with UNLV as Utah State fell to Fresno State Friday. The Lobos are averaging 61.7 ppg but have pretty good defense, holding their opponents to 57.2 ppg. They have held their last four opponents to 51 points or less, including holding No. 22/23 ranked CSU to their second lowest scoring game of the season with 49.
The Lobos are shooting 38 percent from the field, 29 percent from the three and 64 percent from the free throw line. Shumpert has led the Lobos in points all season with 14.4 per game. She is shooting a team-best 52 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free throw line. Cherise Beynon has also been a threat for the Lobos all season as she averages 12.7 ppg. She is shooting 33 percent from the field and 38 percent from the free throw line.
ABOUT SAN JOSÈ STATE
SJSU comes into the matchup as the No. 4 seed after finishing the regular-season off with an 11-7 record. Overall, they are 13-16 on the season. The Spartans have won three out of their last five games but are coming off a 81-69 loss to Boise State. They are averaging 73 ppg, which leads the conference, but are giving up 73.6 to their opponents. The Spartans are shooting 39 percent from the field, 32 percent from the three and 69 percent from the free throw line.
They rely on junior guard Dezz Ramos for their scoring as she puts together 18.2 ppg. She is shooting 41 percent from the field, 36 percent from the three and 85 percent from the free throw line. The Spartans only have one other play scoring in double-digits after losing Aniya Baker who was scoring 12 ppg. Senior guard Nyre Harris is averaging 10 ppg and 5.3 rpg. She is shooting 36 percent from the field and 30 percent from the three.
ABOUT THE COACHES
Yvonne Sanchez is in her fifth season as head coach of the Lobos. This is her 16th year with the program. Sanchez holds a 76-79 record as head coach and is currently 16-13 on the season. In conference, the Lobos finished with a 9-9 record for a three-way tie for fifth place with UNLV and Utah State. The tiebreaker was broken last Friday as Utah State lost and the Lobos won the tiebreaker over UNLV.
Jamie Craighead is in her 3rd season with the Spartans and owns a 39-52 record at SJSU. This season, the Spartans are 13-16 overall and 11-7 in the Mountain West which finished in fourth place for the No. 4 seed in the tournament.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
The game will be streamed live on the web on the Mountain West Network. Fans can watch the game live here. Fans can also listen on the Lobo Radio Network here, as Josh Suchon will give you the play-by-play. Live stats are available, click here.