An injury to a key player wasn't going to stop the University of New Mexico women's basketball team from picking up a win, especially against a non-D1 opponent in Northern New Mexico.
The Lobos (12-9, 7-3 MW) were able to throttle the Northern New Mexico Eagles Sunday afternoon by 40 points, 87-47, despite losing a key player early in the game.
Sophomore Jaisa Nunn, midway through the first quarter, went up to catch a high pass and landed awkwardly on her right knee when she came down.
Nunn was able to stand back up with the help of
According to Lobo head coach Mike Bradbury, things aren't looking too good for Nunn after some preliminary testing. An MRI is scheduled sometime soon, but the date is unknown.
With Nunn out, it opened up a spot on the floor for another post player. Freshman Hannah Sjerven logged 22 minutes in place of Nunn and put up a double-double. Sjerven scored a game-high 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and brought down 11 rebounds.
Sjerven was happy with her performance on the
“You never want to see your teammate hurt,” Sjerven said. “Hopefully I can step up and fill the shoes that she's left… they're big shoes.”
Bradbury said he was impressed
“You know sometimes you create your own punishment,” Bradbury said jokingly. “I'm sure everyone is going to know why she doesn't play 35 minutes.”
Four other Lobos were able to reach double-digits in scoring on the afternoon in junior Cherise Beynon (12), redshirt junior Alex Lapeyrolerie (12), senior Richelle van der Keijl (10) and freshman Brittany Panetti (10).
Panetti, who like Sjerven usually sees limited playing time, played big on both sides of the ball for the Lobos. She was especially efficient from the free throw line – hitting four of her five shots from the charity stripe.
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The first four minutes of the first quarter started off slow, with the Lobos playing what appeared to be lackluster defense. But with New Mexico leading 6-5, the team found the gas pedal and took off.
The Lobos attacked the basket and ratcheted up the defensive intensity en route to an 18-2 run to close out the quarter, giving them the 24-7 advantage after
The Lobos were able to make some more shots in the second quarter
New Mexico seemed content to coast coming out of the locker room at halftime. Northern New Mexico was able to keep the lead at around 15 points, but couldn’t string together enough made baskets to make a serious run.
The Eagles only scored 15 points in the
The fourth quarter saw an offensive explosion that removed all doubt about whether the Lobos would close things out strong. They outscored Northern New Mexico 30-14 in the quarter, getting big production from Sjerven and Panetti, both of whom scored eight points in the final period to propel UNM to the 87-47 final.
As a team, the Lobos shot 51.6 percent from the field, while holding Northern New Mexico to 30.2 percent.
The Lobos were able to dump the ball down into the low-post and do work on Northern New Mexico – the Lobos were much taller than their opponent. The Lobos scored 54 of their 87 points in the paint.
Up next for the Lobos is a Mountain West rematch at home against UNLV – which they lost to 56-42 earlier in conference play in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. Lobo athletics will be collecting clothing donations at the game for local families in need.
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 Twitter @matt_narvaiz
