An unusual start for the Lobo women’s basketball team helped them get the lead against Frenso State. Another historic performance helped to ensure a win.
Senior forward Kianna Keller — who has not been akin to shooting the ball often — scored the Lobos’ first three points of the game on her way to a near double-double.
Keller posted a season-high nine points and brought down 11 rebounds in a 66-57 win over the Bulldogs.
Head coach Mike Bradbury said he was proud of Keller’s play, when asked about her performance in Saturday’s game.
“She was great,” Bradbury said. “The points she got early really separated us in the first half and helped give us that lead.”
Keller was able to expand her offense, in large part due to Fresno State doubling senior center Richelle van der Keijl down low.
“I mean, it’s not usually my role, but if they’re going to keep doubling Richelle, then I have to shoot at some point to hope that we can get the ball back in to her,” Keller said. “So I just shot when I was open.
Keller wasn’t the only one with a star showing for the Lobos, though. Junior guard Cherise Beynon picked up her second triple-double of the season, scoring 15 points, securing 15 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists. It’s her second triple-double of the season; the first two for the program since 1979.
Both redshirt junior guard Alex Lapeyrolerie and van der Keijl both had 15 points in the game, though van der Keijl also had eight boards, finishing just two rebounds shy of another double-double.
The first quarter started out with the Lobos running out to an 8-0 lead before finally surrendering a bucket to the Bulldogs. Fresno State’s Kristina Kavey responded with a 3-pointer to reduce the Lobo lead to five points.
Lapeyrolerie answered back to hit a couple 3-pointers of her own in the closing minutes of the quarter to give the Lobos the lead going into the second quarter, 20-13.
Fresno State started off the scoring in the second period, going on a 4-0 run to trim the lead to just three points. But van der Keijl helped turn the tide back in favor of New Mexico. She hit a layup to make it 22-17 and the Lobos ended the quarter on a 4-0 run to take a comfortable 35-22 lead heading into halftime.
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After a halftime break, Fresno State came out swinging. The Bulldogs started out the third quarter on a 10-0 run to make the Lobo advantage just three points again with 4:21 remaining in the period, 35-32.
It took the Lobos nearly seven minutes to finally score their first point of the second half — a free throw made by Beynon to increase the lead to four.
New Mexico didn’t score from the field until Beynon hit a layup with 2:32 remaining. Despite the poor shooting, junior guard Laneah Bryan followed up with a 3-pointer to bring the lead to eight points, 41-33.
Beynon said she believed her team’s focus is what pulled her team out of the third quarter slump.
“Just to stay focused,” Beynon said. “It’s a game of runs, and eventually they were going to go on a run. So we just had to stay together and that’s what we did.”
But Fresno State knocked down three 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the third quarter to close the gap again, trailing 43-42 going into the final period.
The Lobos didn’t open up the fourth quarter the way they may have hoped either. Fresno State’s Bego Faz Davalos scored the first four points of the quarter to give the Bulldogs a 46-43 lead about one minute into the final period.
The Lobos used a 7-0 run, which began with a Lapeyrolerie jumper, to reclaim the lead less than two minutes later.
The Lobos didn’t look back, steadily increasing their lead throughout the remainder of the quarter. Bryan — who got the start in place of the injured Mykiel Burleson — hit a 3-pointer that gave the Lobos a 59-50 lead with 3:28 left in the game, helping to shelve any thoughts of another comeback bid from Fresno State.
The Lobos finished the game by stepping up to the free throw line and knocking down shots to put the game away. Beynon scored six of the final seven Lobo points, four of which came from the charity stripe to snag a 66-57 win at WisePies Arena.
As a team, the Lobos shot 38.1 percent from the field, but hit a formidable 36.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Fresno State, on the other hand, shot 32.9 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from the 3-point line.
The Lobos out-hustled the Bulldogs on the glass, bringing down 54 rebounds compared to just 34 for Fresno State.
UNM also dominated scoring in the paint, a major part of the Lobo offensive arsenal. The team outscored Fresno State 26-16 in the lane.
Up next for the Lobos is a showdown in Fort Collins, Colorado as they take on Colorado State for a second time this season. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and the game will 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 Twitter @matt_narvaiz
