Lobo women seek fast start vs. Colorado St.
UNM will try to slow down Rams star point guard Hofschild
The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team has been all about early starts recently — for better and worse.
The Lobos will play their fifth straight day game Saturday, tipping off at noon against Colorado State at the Pit. It’s a bit earlier than normal for a UNM home game, ensuring the arena will be cleaned and ready when the Lobo men host UNLV at 6 p.m.
Women’s coach Mike Bradbury just hopes 12 p.m. doesn’t prove too early for his team’s liking.
Colorado State (15-7, 6-5 Mountain West) came out fired-up in a matinee game against UNM last month in Fort Collins, Colo. Star point guard McKenna Hofschild racked up eight points and two assists as the Rams dumped the Lobos into an 18-2 hole.
“They just came out an blitzed us,” Bradbury said. “We missed a few very easy shots, didn’t get any stops and the next thing you know we’re playing from behind all day.”
UNM did make things interesting before falling short in a 62-56 result. But the Lobos (16-8, 7-3) now hold a one-game edge over CSU in the conference standings, making Saturday’s rematch an important one in terms of potential MWC tournament seeding.
Lobo junior Viané Cumber said preparation for facing the Rams means accounting for Hofschild, who leads the Mountain West in scoring (averaging 26.5 points per league game) and effectively runs the show for CSU.
“She’s one of the best guards in college basketball,” Cumber said. “Obviously we have to guard her the best we can, but Colorado State’s a good team. We have to guard them as a whole.”
UNM’s prospects will be impacted by whether its
own point guard, junior Aniyah Augmon, is able to play. Augmon missed Wednesday’s 60-53 loss at San Diego State after suffering a knee injury late in the Lobos’ previous game against UNLV.
Augmon practiced on a limited basis Friday but she remains questionable, Bradbury said. If she cannot play, freshman Lara Langermann will start.
“We’ll see how Aniyah’s doing in the morning and make a decision from there,” Bradbury said. “Even if she can’t go, I think we’ll be better prepared to deal with it this time. Not having her caught us a little off guard (Wednesday).”
While Langermann started in her place against SDSU, the freshman did not assume Augmon’s role running UNM’s offense. That task fell largely to junior Nyah Wilson, who scored a gamehigh 21 points and posted seven rebounds and six assists. But Wilson and her teammates struggled to score late in the game, when the Aztecs used a 10-0 run to secure the win.
“I think Nyah got a little tired at the end,” Bradbury said. “We didn’t have the bench rotation to rest her.”
UNM’s bench remains short with guards Nahawa Diarra Berthe still working her way back from a concussion and Jaelyn Bates out for personal reasons. The Lobos did get a boost from redshirt freshman Natalia Chavez, who chipped in six points and three rebounds in 13 minutes against SDSU.
Cumber said the Lobos will need a collective effort to fill the scoring gap if Augmon remains out Saturday.
“We’ll try to get the best shots we can,” she said, “but I think we really just have to stick to the game plan and not try to do too much extra. Our identity is about doing the little things, focusing on intangibles and playing defense. That’s what we need to focus on, no matter who’s out there.”