The Lobo women's basketball team is looking to turn its season around in the midst of a four-game homestand as it seeks a second straight win against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at home.
The Lobos (3-4) took a convincing 64-49 win over Southern Methodist on Saturday. SMU entered the game with an impressive 5-2 record, but UNM protected home court while celebrating 50 years of WisePies Arena/the Pit.
The team will want to continue that trend when the game takes place at WisePies Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 6.
The Lobos will face some of the same challenges SMU presented, as Minnesota (5-3) brings physical play and the momentum of a 111-91 victory over Detroit Mercy.
Guard Cherise Beynon had the best performance of her career scoring-wise, dropping 32 points on SMU on 11-of-19 shooting. Beynon, who started off the season with a slow hand by averaging only six points in her first four games, has been averaging 24 points in the team’s last three contests.
That should bode well for the Lobos if they are able to add another consistent scoring presence alongside Richelle van der Keijl, who is averaging 15.9 points per game — a team high for the Lobos.
Van der Keijl, the 6-foot-5-inch center from the Netherlands, was held in check in their match against SMU, something that doesn't usually happen for a player with her size advantage over her opponents.
The senior center scored eight points and brought down six rebounds against SMU in limited action, as foul trouble early in the third quarter kept her on the bench throughout most of the second half.
The Golden Gophers also have size on their side. 6-foot-3-inch Minnesota center Jessie Edwards, leads her team in rebounds per game at nearly eight.
As a team, Minnesota has out-rebounded five of its eight opponents this season.
But the Lobos have also been strong in the rebounding category, with the team’s top three rebounders being van der Keijl (10.9), Beynon (9.1) and Kianna Keller (8.6) — all of which are averaging more rebounds than Edwards.
Something Minnesota does have is a consistent and potentially deadly scorer in guard Carlie Wagner, who's averaging 21.6 points per game — which leads the team and ranks fourth in the Big Ten Conference.
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Head coach Mike Bradbury said that SMU would be the toughest challenge the team has faced to that point, a challenge the Lobos met with a victory. Bradbury maintains a similar position with Minnesota.
Bradbury said the Golden Gophers would be a tough opponent due to their speed of play being considerably faster than that of the Lobos.
Although the Lobos play at a fast-pace as well, he said they'll try to slow the game down so they're not playing to their opponent’s strengths.
“Their pace is very, very fast,” Bradbury said on a radio interview. “I think they're better at it than we are, so we don't need to play to their strengths.”
Tuesday's game against Minnesota will be streamed on the Mountain West Network when the game tips off at 7 p.m.
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.
