Lobos hope to make a statement vs. Rams
Defending MWC champs visit the Pit
Today seems like an ideal time for the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team to circle the wagons and come out firing. It may be a long day otherwise. Coming off a tough loss and having received some bad news, the Lobos (8-7, 4-1 Mountain West) entertain Colorado State (11-5, 3-1) today at the Pit. The two-time defending Mountain West champion Rams’ visit coincides with UNM’s annual Pack the Pit promotion. All tickets will be $2 and the Lobos hope an enthusiastic home crowd will be a difference-maker.
“It’s a statement game for anybody who plays them,” UNM junior Jayda Bovero said of the Rams. “They’ve been the best team in the conference for the last two years and they’re really good again.”
By Friday the Lobos appeared to have shaken off the effects of Wednesday’s 56-42 loss at UNLV. UNM shot poorly (22 percent) and failed to match the intensity of the short-handed Rebels as its four-game winning streak came to an end.
More difficult to absorb was the news that sophomore guard Emily Lines will miss the rest of the season with a torn right ACL. Lines suffered the injury last week in practice in a non-contact situation and missed UNM’s last
two games.
Lines appeared in nine games, averaging 2.9 points and 1.2 rebounds per contest. Her 3-point shooting percentage (43.8) is the best among the team’s regulars.
“I feel bad for Emily,” Lobo coach Mike Bradbury said. “She’s had some good minutes for us, especially when Alex (Lapeyrolerie) was out (because of a concussion). But she’s staying positive and that’s what we have to do.”
The Lobos certainly have enough to think about facing a fundamentally sound CSU team that is coming off a bye. Job one will be accounting for senior guard Ellen Nystrom, the Rams’ do-it-all leader who was named Mountain West player of the year last season and is a good bet to repeat.
Bradbury reminded his players (repeatedly) during practice this week about the importance of shadowing Nystrom.
“That’s a huge deal,” Bovero said. “She’s the heart of their team and the key to everything they do. We have to make it hard for her.”
Slowing down Nystrom will not be UNM’s only challenge. CSU leads the Mountain West and ranks fifth nationally in scoring defense (52.3 points allowed per game). The Rams also rank second nationally in field goal percentage defense, limiting foes to 32.7-percent shooting.
“They rank first in the (Mountain West) in defense and we’re second,” said Bradbury, whose Lobos limit opponents to 34.4-percent shooting. “That’s not by accident. That’s working hard and being disciplined. Points may be hard to come by (today).”
Bradbury, in his first season, is still getting acclimated to the Mountain West but has been duly impressed watching video of the Rams.
“They shoot the 3 extremely well,” he said, “have the best player in the league and they’re so disciplined. They make you play their way. Add it up and that’s how you go 30-2 like they did last year. They’re impressive.”
Still, the Lobos came ever so close to handing CSU what would have been its only Mountain West loss last season at the Pit. UNM’s Khadijah Shumpert missed a point-blank shot in the closing seconds and the then 25th-ranked Rams escaped with a 49-48 victory.
“We had a really good game against them,” Bovero said, “but we couldn’t get that last shot to fall. We’d like to get a little revenge for that one, but we’ll have to be on our game. It’s a good challenge for us.”