Lobos beat BSU 75-68 to end slide
UNM shoots better, uses strong defense
Another double-digit lead, blown by the Lobos in the Pit? Yes and no. Yes, the UNM women blew all but three points of a 16-point lead Wednesday night against Boise State.
But, no, the Lobos did not suffer the fate of their male counterparts on the same court a week-and-a-half ago. Four clutch free throws by Cherise Beynon in the final 31 seconds cemented a 75-68 Mountain West Conference victory over the Broncos.
New Mexico is now 9-8 on the season, 5-2 in Mountain West Conference play. Boise State fell to 13-4 and 3-3.
The Lobos snapped a twogame losing streak, having shot terribly in a road loss at UNLV and a home loss to Colorado State.
Junior guard Alex Lapeyrolerie led the Lobos with 18 points. Senior post Richelle van der Keijl had 17 points, sophomore forward Jaisa Nunn 14.
“I thought from the beginning we were much better offensively have than we have been the last couple of games,” first-year UNM coach Mike Bradbury said. “We actually saw a few go in, and I think that helped us.”
The Lobos shot 41 percent from the field (28-of-68). Boise State, which came in shooting 40 percent from the field and 35.5 percent on 3-pointers, shot
31 percent (25-of-80) and was 6-of-28 on 3s (21.3 percent).
“I think from a defensive standpoint we were really good following the plan,” Bradbury said. “We were disciplined and did the right things.”
The Lobos earned every point of that 16-point lead, which they held after a van der Keijl layup with 2:54 left in the third quarter.
For most of the game’s first 27 minutes, New Mexico played impeccable basketball. With Beynon pushing the ball downcourt after Broncos misses — there were plenty of those — the Lobos finished with 18 fast-break points.
Beynon just missed a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
“I thought (Beynon) was outstanding,” Bradbury said. “She was really good defensively, she controlled the tempo of the game.
“This was not a game that we could try to play really fast, so we tried to pick our spots. That’s not something I can do from (the sideline). That’s something she has to do.”
In the half court, van der Keijl and Nunn punished the smaller Broncos inside.
In response to the poor shooting of the previous two games, Bradbury had started Lapeyrolerie in place of 6-4 post Kianna Keller.
Lapoleyrie responded with 6-of-14 shooting.
“When we play together as a team, everybody has their best game,” Lapeyrolerie said. “We all contributed, executed the game plan with perfection. That’s how we got the win tonight.”
Lapeyrolerie had gone 0-for-12 from the field in the losses to UNLV and CSU while the Lobos had gone 36-of-136 from the floor and 7-of-50 from 3-point range in those games.
“These couple of past games were a little rough,” she said, “but thanks to my coaches and teammates, and putting in extra work in the gym, it really helped out.”
UNM was 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) on 3-pointers on Wednesday.
The Lobos still led by 10, 69-59, with 4:10 left in the game after a 12-foot Nunn jumper. But a jumper by Boise State’s Brooke Pahukoa, two UNM turnovers, a Shalen Shaw layup and a Marijke Vanderschaaf jumper cut the margin to four, 69-65, with 59 seconds left.
After Lapeyrolie answered with a jumper — confidently taken with 22 seconds still left on the shot clock — Shaw hit a 3 to cut the Lobo lead to one possession with 34 seconds left.
The Broncos had to foul three times to put the Lobos in the bonus and force them to hit free throws. The third foul, by Marta Hermida, sent Beynon to the floor, where she remained for a minute or two.
But the Lobo floor leader then stepped to the line and hit two free throws with 30 seconds left. After a missed 3 by Hermida, Beynon, fouled by Shaw, hit two more — sealing the victory.