The UNM women’s basketball team overcame 20 turnovers to complete the season sweep over the Nevada Wolfpack Saturday night at WisePies Arena aka The Pit.
New Mexico (11-9, 7-3 MW) emerged with a 59-50 victory in a game that saw
UNM junior guard Cherise Beynon joined an elite group of Lobo women, surpassing both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds as a Lobo—something only 13 other players had accomplished in program history.
Beynon scored 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting in the game and also brought down six rebounds while dishing out six assists. But she was also responsible for eight of the Lobo turnovers.
Even though she set the career achievements on the heels of a win, Beynon did not sound pleased with the performance.
“I don't feel too good. I was kind of upset because of all the turnovers,” Beynon said. “Those turnovers can be crucial in a game. We only won by nine, so if they would have converted more on the turnovers that I committed, it could have been a downfall.”
The only other Lobo to reach double figures was redshirt junior guard Alex Lapeyrolerie, who put
Senior center Richelle van der Keijl was able to score nine points and grab seven rebounds, but also blocked an impressive amount of shots—she had a
Sophomore center Jaisa Nunn, who came off of the bench in the game after recently starting in place of senior forward Kianna Keller, flirted with a double-double. She had eight points and nine rebounds on the night.
The first quarter was anything but impressive on both sides of the ball for the Lobos. The Lobos committed seven first-quarter turnovers and shot just 33.3 percent as Nevada seized a 13-11 lead at the end of the period.
The Lobos got off to a slow start in the second quarter as well, letting Nevada hit some early shots. But the Lobos managed to answer the Wolf Pack and tied the game at 29-29 in the late stages.
Lapeyrolerie was able to get off a clean shot from behind the arc to give the Lobos the 32-29 lead going into halftime.
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The buzzer beater not only gave the Lobos the edge
New Mexico began the second half of play with a layup from Beynon, followed by a 3-pointer from freshman guard Mykiel Burleson to take a 37-29 advantage and force an early timeout.
Nevada regrouped to go on an 8-1 run and eventually tied the game at 41-41 with about four minutes remaining. The Lobos closed out the period strong to take a 46-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
UNM opened the final period by scoring the first four points of the frame to take a
But the Wolf Pack had no response coming out of the break and the Lobos continued to apply pressure and maintain the lead.
A Lapeyrolerie 3-pointer with two and a half minutes left put the Lobos up 56-48. After Nevada responded, van der Keijl hit a key layup with 32 seconds left on the clock, to put UNM up 58-50.
Nevada had another chance to close the gap from the foul line, but missed a pair of free throws and had to foul.
Beynon split her free throw attempts to notch the final point in the game and help the Lobos hang on for a 59-50 win.
As a team, the Lobos shot 37.5 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from three.
The Lobos, who usually collect wins by out-rebounding their opponents, found a rare victory when losing the battle on the boards. Nevada grabbed 46 total rebounds to outpace New Mexico by four in the rebounding department.
“We couldn't keep them off of the boards,” head coach Mike Bradbury said. “It's something that we're normally good at, and they beat us up on the boards.”
The game was tight throughout, featuring seven ties and 10 lead changes in front of an announced crowd of 5,443.
The Lobos play another home game Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. at WisePies Arena as they take on Northern New Mexico. The game is set to be streamed live on the Mountain West Network.
Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women’s basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on a Twitter @matt_narvaiz
