It seems that when the New Mexico women’s basket ball team most needs a score, the Lobos are least able come up with one. A late seven point-lead wasn’t enough of a cushion for UNM as Colorado State managed to get key buckets down the stretch that UNM could not answer.
For the first time in 51 games, redshirt junior center Alex Kirk was not in his usual starting position. Instead, the men’s basketball starting center was sitting on the New Mexico bench in street clothes, wearing a protective boot over his injured left leg.
The road woes continued for the New Mexico women’s basketball team Wednesday night at Boise State. Once again turnovers plagued the Lobos as they had 16 in a 74-60 loss against the Broncos at Taco Bell Arena. UNM has yet to win a regular season road game.
Men’s basketball coach Craig Neal backtracked a bit when he said his team lost a competitive edge in the Jan. 15 home loss to UNLV, a game where his New Mexico squad played itself into an early hole too deep to rally back from.
Insert Hugh Greenwood’s name and a metaphor for a combustible element here. After the New Mexico point guard hit his fourth of five 3-pointer against Boise State, phrases involving Greenwood being on fire popped up consistently on Twitter.
Excessive turnovers and foul trouble have been plaguing the New Mexico women’s basketball team, as the squad looks to minimize careless errors. The 19 turnovers committed by the Lobos on Saturday played a major role in a heartbreaking 75-73 loss at home against Fresno State (11-6, 5-1 Mountain West).
With the number of fouls called in New Mexico’s 89-78 win at Fresno State on Saturday, one can’t help but wonder if the referees ran out of breath when the final buzzer sounded. Both teams combined for 52 fouls in the game, and Fresno State’s 27 fouls resulted in 29 made free throws on 41 attempts by UNM. That’s three more successful foul shots than the Lobos made from the field. On the other end, UNM committed 25 fouls and Fresno State drained 26 of 33 free throws.
A 14-point deficit midway through the second half proved to be too big a whole for the New Mexico women to overcome. Down 61-49, the Lobos outscored Fresno State by 12 points to force a 73-all tie, but guard Bree Farley scored a game-winning layup with 2 seconds left for a 75-73 Bulldog victory Saturday afternoon at The Pit.
Thanks to a season-high 22 turnovers, the New Mexico women’s basketball team lost 76-56 at UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev. Guard Sara Halasz and forward Deeva Vaughn both scored a team-high 11 points for UNM. UNLV forward Alana Cesarz hit 6 of 9 shots for a game-high 15 points.
For one reason or another the New Mexico men’s basketball team seem to have lost a competitive edge, coach Craig Neal said after his team dropped its first game in Mountain West play. The Lobos, hosting a UNLV team looking to avoid a third straight conference loss, battled back from an early 16-point deficit but could not take the lead in a 76-73 loss to the Runnin’ Rebels.
Surviving two close road games, New Mexico’s men have run out to the second-best start in Mountain West play with a 3-0 conference mark. Senior guard Kendall Williams scored a team-high 19 points in UNM’s 69-65 win at San Jose State on Saturday. The team opened its first MW road trip of 2014 with a 72-69 overtime victory at Wyoming.
It took a couple of key performances for the New Mexico women’s basketball team to finally put away San Jose State on Saturday. Senior guard Sara Halasz scored 23 points and grabbed 14 boards for her third career double-double and senior forward Deeva Vaughn recorded 21 points and six rebounds to propel UNM to an 80-68 victory over SJSU at The Pit in front of 6,025 fans.
Dominance down low sparked New Mexico to their first conference win of the season. UNM scored 40 points in the paint en route to a 75-65 victory over Wyoming in the first conference game in The Pit in front 5,445 fans. Defensively, New Mexico contained the Cowgirls to 28 points from close range.
The New Mexico women’s basketball team lost its Mountain West season opener at Colorado State 62-50 on Sunday. UNM (5-7, 0-1 MW) trailed CSU 33-28 at the half, but the Rams were able to pull away in the second half, outscoring the Lobos 29-22.
New Mexico withstood a 25-point effort from Colorado State over a six-minute span to claim an 80-73 win in Saturday’s Mountain West Conference opener. The Lobos (10-3, 1-0 MW) carried a 63-48 lead to the 5:51 mark before the Rams outscored 25-17 down the stretch, an issue Craig Neal said that must be addressed. That 15-point edge was the widest margin in the game.
Slow starts have been troublesome for the New Mexico women’s basketball team this season. Against the University of Miami, it was more of the same. The Lobos were down at halftime 37-20 and lost 67-50 in the championship game of the Miami Hurricane Tournament on Sunday.
Guards Antiesha Brown and Sara Halasz combined to score 29 points in New Mexico’s 59-37 victory over Western Carolina at the Miami Hurricane Tournament on Saturday. UNM (5-5) went into halftime down 20-18 and the game remained tight in the second half as neither team could take over. The Lobos finally pulled away after Halasz hit a 3-pointer for a 41-31 lead with 6:52 left in the game.
Demetrius Walker greeted his former New Mexico teammates with hugs before Monday’s game at The Pit. Before the opening tipoff, Walker and Lobo guard Kendall Williams exchanges some light trash talking and grins. UNM spoiled Walker’s return to Albuquerque with an 80-68 victory in the Lobos’ nonconference finale. Walker played at New Mexico from 2011-13 after a redshirt year. He arrived to New Mexico in 2010 and redshirted his first year after transferring from Arizona.
The New Mexico men avoided their third straight loss Saturday night with a 75-68 win over Marquette at the MGM Grand Showcase in Las Vegas, Nev. The Lobos lost their previous two games against Kansas and New Mexico State. Lobo Freshman guard Cullen Neal scored a game-high 24 points, mostly coming from the 3-point line. He hit six of his eight attempts from the arc.
New Mexico is banged up right now. Junior point guard Hugh Greenwood missed Tuesday night’s Rio Grande Rivalry rematch after enduring a wrist injury in the earlier meeting with New Mexico State. Sophomore guard Cleveland “Pancake” Thomas started against NMSU with a broken nose, though he needed to wear a protective facemask. The loss of Greenwood contributed to UNM’s 67-61 loss to its in-state rival, head coach Craig Neal said, though he wasn’t exactly sure how much it played a factor.
Solutions by The State News
