UNM-Wyoming women’s series is postponed
Lobos’ schedule at AFA is also altered
Another day, another detour for the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team.
Instead of opening a two-game series at Wyoming as scheduled on Wednesday. the Lobos will spend the day traveling home from Fort Collins, Colorado. The Mountain West officially postponed the UNM-Wyoming series
Tuesday, a move made necessary when one UNM player tested positive for COVID-19 last week.
Coach Mike Bradbury and his team have been in isolation since Friday, when the positive test was revealed. UNM was to play at Colorado State on Friday and Saturday, but that series was postponed and the Lobos have been unable to practice since.
“We looked at trying to push the Wyoming games back a day or two,” Lobos AD Eddie Nuñez said, “but with our upcoming schedule and the lack of practice time, it really wasn’t possible. At this point we’ll try to finish out our games at Air Force and Utah State and see if there are any other games rescheduled.”
The Lobos’ series at Air Force was altered slightly to give UNM one extra day of preparation. Instead of playing the Falcons on Monday and Wednesday, UNM will play Tuesday and Wednesday at AFA.
“At this point, we’d rather play two days in a row and have an extra day at home,” Bradbury said.
The Wyoming series postponement is the latest twist in what’s been a crazy, COVID-impacted 2020-21 for the Lobos. New Mexico’s pandemic restrictions have not allowed them to play at home, and various virus issues have caused 10 UNM games to be postponed or canceled. Two at Utah State have been rescheduled.
With the MWC tournament set to begin March 7, few open dates remain for any of the league’s postponed regular-season games to be rescheduled. Nuñez said MWC officials are considering rescheduling single games during the pre-tournament week to clarify seeding positions, but no such additions have been finalized.
Bradbury is hoping his team will be at full strength prior to the tourney. UNM’s players and travel party have had two rounds of COVID testing since Friday with no additional positives.
Nuñez said the player who tested positive must isolate for 10 to 14 days and undergo a cardio screening before rejoining the team.