Lobo women's basketball seemed to have left its magic shooting touch in Albuquerque, as the team shot a dismal percentage from the field en route to a 69-58 loss on the road at Texas Tech.
New Mexico (2-1) has shown it likes to shoot the three, but on Sunday the deep ball just wasn’t there. The Lobos shot just 8 for 37 from beyond the arc, but still managed to keep the score close for most of the game.
Both teams struggled shooting from the floor throughout. Texas Tech (2-1) made just under 35 percent of its shots (29 of 83), but the Lobos were even less efficient (23 of 80), connecting on just 29 percent of shots.
New Mexico junior guard Alex Lapeyrolerie led the Lobos in scoring for the team’s first two games of the season, but couldn’t buy a bucket against the Red Raiders. Fellow guard Cherise Beynon suffered the same type of off-night when it came to shooting.
The two combined to go 2 for 32 from the floor, each only sinking a single 3-point basket. Three points is all Lapeyrolerie would log, while Beynon added a pair of free throws to score five.
Beynon did contribute in other ways, picking up seven rebounds and dishing out four assists in the game.
Senior forward Kianna Keller nailed two 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the second quarter.
They were Keller’s first good threes of the season, but she only attempted one more shot in the game. She also collected six rebounds to help the Lobo cause.
Despite the lackluster shooting as a team, freshman guard Mykiel Burleson was a bright spot. She posted a game-high 22 points on 9 of 20 shooting from the field, but made just 1 of 4 free throws.
Jaisa Nunn also showed up for the Lobos offensively. She contributed 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting, but also only scored 25 percent from the charity stripe. Nunn and Richelle van der Keijl both pulled in nine rebounds, tied for a team high.
Van der Keijl appeared less aggressive in the paint, scoring six points on 3 for 7 shooting from the field, playing the tallest frontcourt the team has faced so far.
Texas Tech had the personnel to match the size of Keller and van der Keijl as the Red Raiders imposed their will by hitting the boards hard, out-rebounding the Lobos 71-46.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Red Raider freshman guard Arella Guirantes had a double-double, scoring 21 points and bringing down 13 rebounds.
The Lobos scored first on a Burleson layup, but trailed at the end of the first quarter 16-14.
In the second quarter, the teams traded baskets, but Keller’s three-pointers helped the Lobos take a 34-32 lead into halftime.
Burleson opened the second-half scoring with a three-pointer to give the Lobos a 37-32 lead, but momentum shifted as the Red Raiders put together a run to go up 47-45 entering the final frame.
The fourth quarter is where things got ugly for the Lobos — especially in the last four minutes of the contest. The Red Raiders, clinging to a three point lead at 58-55, put the defensive clamps on the Lobos and finished the game on an 11-3 run.
UNM head coach Mike Bradbury praised his team's defensive efforts, but thought that the Lobos could've done a better job rebounding, and with their shot selection from three.
"I think we played hard. Defensively we were really good, but we just couldn't find a way to get enough rebounds," Bradbury said in a release. "That was really the difference in the game. We shot 37 uncontested, wide open (three-point) shots and made eight. So we have to make more shots and we have to get more rebounds."
The Lobos’ next game comes in a Thanksgiving tournament hosted by UNM at WisePies Arena. The team opens play on Friday against Tulsa at 7 p.m.
UNM will face either St. Joseph or BYU, depending on the result of the first game on Sunday.
Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women's basketball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz
