Lamar will try to steal the show from Lobos
UNM women have been able to limit turnovers
The Lamar Cardinals are not necessarily the kind of guests one invites to proper holiday functions.
These birds are well-established thieves.
If the University of New Mexico Lobos are not careful, the Cardinals will walk away from tonight’s women’s basketball game at Dreamstyle Arena with their basketballs, wallets, Christmas presents and all the hard-earned momentum UNM has built this pre-conference season.
Lamar (5-4) comes to Albuquerque leading the nation in steals and turnover margin and will undoubtedly do its best to pilfer anything that’s not nailed down tonight. Junior Chastadie Barrs has filled a sack with ill-gotten goods this season, leading the country individually in steals at 6.6 per game.
UNM point guard Cherise Beynon says the Lobos are well aware of the Cardinals’ criminal tendencies. They don’t intend to leave many valuables laying about for the Cardinals to swipe.
“They do get a lot of steals and turnovers,” Beynon said, “but we’re one of the top teams as far as taking care of the basketball. It’s going to be strength against strength.”
New Mexico ranks 10th nationally in fewest turnovers per game (12.1)
in spite of a season-worst 23 giveaways in Saturday’s 10563 loss at Oklahoma. Lobos coach Mike Bradbury is confident his team will do a better job protecting the ball tonight, but he admits keeping up with the scrambling Cardinals will be challenging.
“Lamar’s one of the very few teams that plays faster than we do,” Bradbury said. “They’re very talented and they score a ton of points. We can’t afford to be a step slow or they’ll be stealing the ball and going by us for layups. That’s what they do.”
The Cardinals have racked up most of their impressive numbers against unheralded opponents. They’ve beaten Louisiana College, Southwestern Assemblies of God, Howard Payne and Schriener at home and have a neutral court win over Northern Illinois.
But Lamar also has had extra time to prepare for tonight’s matchup. Coach Robin Harmony’s team has not played since Dec. 4.
“I don’t know if that’s good or bad,” Bradbury said. “I guess they could be a little rusty from the layoff, but it’s definitely possible they could throw something brand new at us. We have to be ready for anything.”
UNM’s players will be released for a holiday break following tonight’s game, returning to practice on Dec. 26 and opening Mountain West Conference play two days later at Air Force. The Lobos (11-1) have matched coach Don Flanagan’s 2008-09 squad for the best 12-game start in program history and say they don’t want to take a two-game losing streak home for Christmas.
“We feel pretty good about our record,” senior Laneah Bryan said, “but we know we haven’t accomplished anything yet. It’s important for us to play well (tonight) and get some momentum back.”
Barring any new wrinkles they may have installed over the past 16 days, the Cardinals will bring a familiar offense to the Pit. It’s largely the same offense UNM employs.
“They’re similar to Navy and Marquette, too,” Bradbury said. “They drive it and surround the 3-point line with very capable shooters. It’s up to us to disrupt what they do — and not let them steal us blind on the other end.”