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Cherise Beynon looks to make a pass in the 4th quarter against Wyoming on Feb 25th at WiesPies Arena
Cherise Beynon looks to make a pass in the 4th quarter against Wyoming on Feb 25th at WiesPies Arena

Women's Basketball: How the Lobos can win against Boise State in the MW Tournament

The UNM women’s basketball team has its sights fully set on the Mountain West Tournament, as the Lobos enter Tuesday’s match in Las Vegas, Nevada as the fifth seed.

New Mexico (15-14, 10-8 MW) will play fourth-seeded Boise State — a team that they split games with this season.

The Lobos won the first matchup with the Broncos at WisePies Arena on Jan. 18, 75-68. But that was when the Lobo lineup still boasted sophomore Jaisa Nunn – who in February tore her ACL and is now out for the season.

In that game, Nunn accrued 14 points, seven rebounds and one assist, a definite factor against the Broncos.

The Lobos shot 41.2 percent in that first game, while holding the Broncos to 31.3 percent shooting.

Rebounding swayed in the Lobos’ favor, too, with the Lobos bringing down 52 boards to Boise State’s 46.

On Feb. 15 in Boise, Idaho the Lobos lost a nail-biter second matchup to the Broncos, 64-62. But even without Nunn’s presence, the Lobos would still performed fairly well as a squad.

In the second matchup, the Lobos shot 36.4 percent from the field, though Boise State didn’t do much better. The Broncos were held to 34.2 percent shooting in that game.

A big factor in the second game, though, was the rebounding and second-chance points from the Broncos. Boise State out-rebounded the lobos 49-40 in the contest, and scored 20 second-chance points to the Lobos’ six, which ultimately gave the Broncos the edge.

One question lingers for the Lobos entering their third match with Boise State: What can the Lobos do to beat them a second them?

For starters, UNM must play well at all times if they want to have a chance to beat the Broncos, especially in a tournament scenario like this week.

The Lobos’ two biggest threats on the court are junior Cherise Beynon — the touted leader of the team — and senior Richelle van der Keijl with her surprising emergence this season.

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Scoring must remain the Lobos’ top priority. Beynon is averaging a team-high 15.6 points per game and van der Keijl is averaging 14.0. Not far along is redshirt junior Alex Lapeyrolerie, who’s averaging 11.2 points per game for the Lobos, though her offense doesn’t come as consistently.

With scoring comes shooting percentage. In a press conference before his team’s last game at San Diego State, head coach Mike Bradbury said that if his team can shoot above 40 percent that they are going to win, a mark New Mexico hasn’t reached since an 82-72 win over San Jose State in early February.

As of right now, the Lobos are shooting 38.7 percent from the field on the season.

In both games against Boise State, Lapeyrolerie and van der Keijl were the best scorers for the Lobos. In game one, the two combined for 35 of the Lobos’ 75 points. In game two, they combined for 39 of the Lobos’ 62 points.

With that said, it’s safe to say a great game from that pair on the offensive side of things would play a huge factor.

If the Lobos can shut down, or at least, diminish the scoring threat from Boise State’s Brooke Pahukoa and Marijke Vanderschaaf, their chances of winning go up.

Pahukoa leads the Broncos in scoring on the season, scoring a team-high 13.1 points per game. But in the Lobos’ win over Boise State, they still let Pahukoa unleash for a team-high 21 points.

Vanderschaaf, on the other hand, is third in scoring on the Broncos, averaging 10.5 points per contest. In the second match against the Lobos, Vanderschaaf scored 26 points.

The Lobos have to shoot well as a team – which means good shot selection – they have to limit Boise State’s rebounding and second chance points and they need to halt the scoring of Pahukoa and Vanderschaaf. If those three things can be accomplished, the Lobos can advance.

Tip-off for Tuesday’s game is at 3:30 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. 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

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