Lobos brace for talented Broncos
UNM women’s shots are off lately
Mike Bradbury hasn’t taken great pleasure in his first occasion scouting Boise State.
The first-year University of New Mexico women’s basketball coach was duly impressed with the Broncos, who will take on UNM tonight at the Pit. Looking for chinks in Boise State’s armor, on the other hand, was something of a frustrating task.
“Offensively, they don’t have any weaknesses,” Bradbury said of the Broncos. “They can shoot but they’re also really athletic. They’re as good an offensive team as we have in our league.”
Lobo fans who attended last season’s UNM-BSU matchup in the Pit are unlikely to argue the point. The Broncos came out guns blazing in that game, shooting 72 percent from the field in the first half and rolling to an 81-60 victory.
Most of the cast from that contest returns for Boise State, including guard Brooke Pahukoa, who hit seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points.
Such does not sound like encouraging news for the Lobos (8-8, 4-2 Mountain West), who have struggled to find consistent scoring in their last two games.
After averaging 78 points during a Mountain West-opening fourgame winning streak, UNM has averaged 52.5 points in dropping its last two games.
The Lobos have tried to address the issue.
“We’ve worked the past few days on knocking down open shots,” junior Alex Lapeyrolerie said. “We’ve kind of gotten out of our rhythm the last couple games, but we’re excited and ready to get it back.”
Bradbury would like nothing better than to see his team regain its shooting touch. The Lobos had their share of open perimeter looks in Saturday’s 78-63 loss to Colorado State but failed to hit nearly enough of them to stay with the hot-shooting Rams.
“All you can do as coaches is get your team open shots,” Bradbury said. “It’s up to players to make them. We’ve just got to see a few go in early (tonight) and keep shooting with confidence.”
The Lobos will likely need to hit more than a few perimeter shots if they are to outscore the talented Broncos (13-3, 3-2). Pahukoa (13.6 points per game) is BSU’s leading scorer, but four starters average double figures and point guard Yaiza Rodriguez ranks among the national leaders in assists per game (7.1).
“(Rodriguez) is really good and really quick. She makes them go,” Bradbury said. “She may not always score a lot of points, but you can’t afford to let her run around loose. She’s impressive.”
Lapeyrolerie considers Rodriguez, Pahukoa and junior forward Shalen Shaw to be one of the Mountain West’s top trios.
“I call them Boise’s big three,” she said. “Pahukoa’s a great player, Yaiza’s one of the quickest guards in the league, and Shaw is really good inside and outside.”
Ironically, Lapeyrolerie has had some of her best games against the Broncos, including a 12-point (3-for-4 from 3-point range) outing in UNM’s 70-60 win last season in Boise.
“Boise State’s probably my favorite team to play against,” Lapeyrolerie said. “I don’t know why except I like the challenge. They’re always a quality team.”
Kianna Keller’s put-back against Colorado State was her first basket in four games —not because the Lobos’ starting forward has shot poorly. Keller had not attempted a shot since she made her only try Dec. 31 against San Diego State.
Still, the 6-foot-4 senior who focuses on defense and rebounds has already attempted one more shot than she did all of last season, when Keller blocked nearly as many shots (30) as she took (31).