Coming down the ramp in The Pit for the first time in the 2014 season in front of 7,123 fans on Friday night, the Lobos appeared decidedly uncomfortable.
“These guys were so nervous during the 11-man break, the full-court drill that we did,” head coach Yvonne Sanchez said. “You could tell by the shots and the passes; but they enjoyed it so much.”
Freshman guard Jayda Bovero did not need to mask her nerves. She said she was expecting butterflies, but only felt excitement stepping onto the court after hearing her name called.
“I really wasn’t nervous. I was more ready to get the show on the road,” Bovero said. “I think it’s my personality. I’m an outgoing person and I’m not afraid of people.”
The freshman barely pulled out a win in the first round of the 3-point shooting contest against junior guard Bryce Owens by a final count of 13-12.
Junior guard Brea Mitchell also advanced to the final round, beating out freshman guard Cherise Beynon 16-12 to advance to the finals. Bovero outshot Mitchell 12-10, taking home the 3-point shooting crown where the freshman proceeded to do her impression of the Lebron James high knee celebration.
“Brea is a great shooter, and she and I come in at nights to work on our shots,” Bovero said. “It’s kind of funny and ironic that we were in the championship together.”
Sanchez said she could have done the customary scrimmage in front of all of the fans, but the team agreed on doing a dance instead.
“This is for them. They should enjoy this and I’m glad that they did,” Sanchez said. “I know the dance is great for them.”
Several players appeared to be a bit hesitant busting out dance moves in front of the home crowd. The team only had two days to rehearse, which may have fed into their jitters.
While the intent of Friday was to be fun, Sanchez was back to business the following morning.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“As a team I think it was a good learning experience,” Bovero said. “Personally, that was my first transition from high school basketball to college ... It showed me the things I need to work on.”
The annual Cherry and Silver scrimmage on Saturday was not the traditional scrimmage in which the players would face each other. The women’s basketball team instead faced off against the male practice squad players.
The officiated scrimmage was set with 10-minute quarters, opposed to the customary 20-minute halves.
Although Silver won 63-50, Sanchez said she was pleased with her team’s play and refusal to be pushed around by their male counterparts.
“We need to do that more; they make us better,” Sanchez said. “They’re physical, they’re bigger, they’re probably a little bit faster, a little bit stronger.”
Junior forward Khadijah Shumpert put up solid numbers against the men, grabbing six boards and putting up 17 points in 18 minutes of play. A huge part of the night was Shumpert’s nine free throws on just 10 attempts.
“I would say as long as I’ve been playing basketball, I’ve been very foul-prone,” Shumpert said. “One thing I was missing last year was that I wasn’t making my free throws. So I worked on that in the offseason.”
The scrimmage allowed Sanchez to see a lot of different rotations that she could potentially use with the season tip-off lurking around the corner.
Every player saw at least 10 minutes of playing time with the exception of Beynon, who collapsed with 1:51 left in the first quarter after bumping knees with a male practice player.
“Your heart always stops,” Sanchez said. “She got knee-to-knee. She has a big charley horse, but she’ll be fine.”
Although not planned, Sanchez said that the team will schedule one more scrimmage before the official exhibition match against the Lobo Alumnae team.
Liam Cary-Eaves is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
