UNM women look to sweep Fresno State
Bulldogs hoping to make up ground in crowded MWC race
The UNM women’s basketball team’s California excursion has been fun, but today can make it or break it.
New Mexico had few problems dispatching last-place San Jose State on Wednesday night but today’s visit to Fresno State looms larger. The Lobos (20-3, 10-2 Mountain West) and Bulldogs (15-8, 8-4) are battling for position in a tight conference race. Boise State (20-3, 11-1) leads by one game over UNM, with Wyoming (15-5, 8-3) close behind and Fresno State in fourth place.
A win today would give UNM a season sweep of the Bulldogs and put coach Mike Bradbury’s team in prime position to lock up a top-three seed for next month’s Mountain West tournament. A Fresno State win, however, would keep the Bulldogs in contention and make things considerably more difficult for the Lobos down the stretch.
“Every game is big now,” Bradbury said, “but, yeah, this one’s important for both teams. Fresno State lost a close one (83-76) at Boise State on Wednesday and they’re going to come hard at us. We need to be up for the challenge.”
The Lobos stayed in San Jose overnight after their 79-60 victory Wednesday and practiced at SJSU on Thursday. They then traveled to Fresno and worked out at the Save Mart Center on Friday.
Other than a minor injury to freshman guard Ahlise Hurst, who rolled an ankle during Thursday’s practice but is expected to play today, the Lobos’ longest extended road trip of the season has gone according to plan, Bradbury said.
He hopes today’s defensive game plan will be as successful.
“We’ll still play mostly man-to-man but we’ve tinkered with some things defensively for this game,” Bradbury said.
“Fresno State’s guard play is so good, I don’t think we can afford to show them all the same things. We have to mix it up and give Candice White something to think about.”
White, the Bulldogs’ standout senior guard, leads the Mountain West in scoring at 19.0 points per game despite being the focus of nearly every opposing defense. White sat out most of the first half with foul trouble at Boise State, then scored 22 of her 24 points in the second half as the Bulldogs trimmed a 19-point deficit to 79-76 in the final minute before falling.
“I don’t think we can count on her getting in foul trouble again,” Bradbury said.
UNM earned an 82-73 win over the Bulldogs two weeks ago in Albuquerque largely by dominating the paint. Lobo posts Jaisa Nunn, Nike McClure and Antonia Anderson combined for 48 points as the Lobos overcame 11 made 3-pointers by Fresno State.
“We’ll definitely look to go inside again,” Bradbury said, “but I’m sure they’ve made defenisve adjustments, too. I just hope ours work out better than theirs.”
MOVING UP: With 14 rebounds at San Jose State, Nunn moved into second place on UNM’s career list. The senior has 859 career boards. That’s two more than Yvonne McKinnon had from 1982-85.
Nunn’s next target on the Lobos’ career scoring list is also McKinnon, who ranks eighth with 1,416 points. Nunn has scored 1,411.