Basketball: Women's hoops travels to Marquette to wrap up non-conference schedule

The Lobo women's basketball team will travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin Wednesday to play the Marquette Golden Eagles in the final non-conference battle on the schedule.

New Mexico (4-5) was supposed to host Eastern Illinois (4-7) on Sunday, but the Panthers were unable to travel due to inclement weather. The game has officially been postponed, though no makeup date has been announced yet.

The Lobos went 2-1 in the previous three games, all played at WisePies Arena aka The Pit. The team notched wins over Southern Methodist and UTEP, but dropped a close one to Minnesota in between.

Marquette (8-2) enters Wednesday's tip-off following a pair of wins over Wisconsin, 81-75 on the road, and 85-74 over Milwaukee at home.

UNM’s Richelle van der Keijl and Kianna Keller have proven to be formidable threats on the glass, as the Lobos lead the nation in defensive rebounding with 34.0 per contest. The team is also in the top five in total rebounds, collecting 48.22 boards per game.

Rebounding seems to be the key statistical category for the Lobos. They have a 4-1 record when holding the advantage, but have failed to win a game (0-4) when outrebounded by opponents.

Size could help the Lobos in the grand scheme of things – most notably in rebounding – with Van der Keijl standing at 6’5” and Keller at 6’4”, but the Eagles have a threat on the glass as well—despite being considerably shorter.

Marquette forward Erika Davenport, who stands at 5’11”, leads her team in rebounding, pulling down an average of 9.5 boards per game. The next leading rebounder for the Golden Eagles is Natisha Hiedman, a 5’8” guard.

Lobo guard Cherise Beynon is also proficient on the glass at 8.4 rebounds per game. But seniors Van der Keijl and Keller lead the team averaging 10.8 and 8.7, respectively.

The biggest part of the Lobos presence on the court is van der Keijl. Last week she earned Mountain West player of the week honors, averaging 10.5 rebounds on that stretch as well as 17.0 points per game.

Beynon seemed to find her shooting touch, especially as of late. She poured in a career-high 32 points against SMU, followed by a 24 point performance versus UTEP—both Lobo wins.

The junior guard has been consistent throughout the season distributing the ball. She ranks fourth in total assists with 72, an average of 8.0 per game.

Marquette’s Allazia Blockton is not only the best scorer for her team—she is tops in the Big East, averaging 18.5 points.

It could be a high scoring affair in what might be New Mexico’s toughest game of the season so far.

The game will mark just the second meeting ever between the two teams. The last time the Lobos and Marquette played was on Dec. 31, 1995, where the Lobos snared a 73-71 victory on Marquette’s home court.

Tipoff is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 21. The game will be broadcasted on local radio, channel 610 AM and can also be followed using the game tracker via the Marquette team page.

Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women's basketball. He can be reached at sports@dailyobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz