LOBOS WOMEN’S HOOPS BEGINS
They’re younger and less experienced, but as the UNM Lobo women’s basketball team opened practice for the season Saturday morning, there was plenty of optimism.
It’s hard not to make comparisons on the first official day of practice.
The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team was no exception after logging its first official team workout of 2018-19 on Saturday morning. Comparisons to last season were almost exclusively favorable.
“We a lot faster, we’re bigger and we have more talent,” sophomore guard Jaedyn De La Cerda said. “It’s going to be exciting around here this season.”
Lobos coach Mike Bradbury was slightly more guarded in his assessment — but only slightly. He shared De La Cerda’s assessment of UNM’s improved size, depth and talent, but pointed out that this year’s squad is considerably younger than last season’s 25-11 squad and hasn’t developed a team identity.
“I’ve been mixing and matching our lineups every day of offseason workouts and I plan to keep doing it for a while,” Bradbury said. “I need to see how everyone works together and decide what our best combinations will be. If I had to pick five to start tomorrow I could, but it might be a totally different group next week. It’s a good problem to have, though.”
There are more first-year players (eight) on UNM’s roster than returnees (seven). Several newcomers could make an immediate impact. Graduate transfer Nike McClure and freshman guards Jayla Everett and Ahlise Hurst were particularly impressive in Saturday’s scrimmage sessions.
Junior transfer Aisia Robertson looked good handling the ball and is the front-runner for starting point guard duties. But unlike last season, when then-senior Cherise Beynon often dominated the ball, UNM figures to employ a more equal-opportunity offense.
“We’ll still have times when one person runs the show,” Bradbury said, “but we’ve got more people who can do that. We’ll have more options offensively.”
De La Cerda agreed.
“We have a lot of good ball-handlers,” she said, “and they have good basketball IQs. I’m working more at 2-guard, so I just need to have my feet set and be ready to shoot when they get me the ball.”
Bradbury has little doubt that his team will be improved on the defensive end. UNM came up with a slew of deflections in a trapping, half-court defensive drill Saturday, much to the coaches’ delight.
“That’s the first thing people will notice about this team,” Bradbury said. “We’re longer, more athletic and deeper, which really translates on defense. Last year we really struggled to guard the ball.”
One area the Lobos can’t match their 2017-18 counterparts is experience. UNM’s starting lineup was dominated by juniors and seniors last season, which helped spark the team’s 11-0 start. Now, underclassmen will play key roles.
But De La Cerda believes the Lobos’ talent and work ethic will allow them to keep improving.
“I think we communicate really well,” she said, “even outside of practice. We talk basketball a lot and we’re learning together.”
When it comes to predicting season success, De La Cerda is not bashful.
“Honestly, this team can go as far as we want to go,” she said. “And we want to go pretty far.”
SIDELINED: UNM was without two players at Saturday’s practice. Freshman guard Quincy Noble suffered a concussion during individual workouts last week and will likely miss roughly 10 days. Senior Emily Lines is recovering from a stress reaction in her left foot. There is no timeline yet for Lines’ return, Bradbury said.