Khadijah Shumpert joined an elite club at New Mexico in a 71-57 victory over the visiting San Jose Spartans on Saturday afternoon. The senior forward collected 16 points to propel her past the career mark of 1,000 points during her tenure at New Mexico. She is just the 14th member to join the 1,000-point, 500-rebound club in program history.
With Cullen Neal back in Albuquerque on the concussion protocol, New Mexico relied heavily on his backcourt mate Elijah Brown on Saturday. Brown, the second-best scorer in the Mountain West, erupted for 33 points to lead the Lobos to a 83-64 victory over a struggling San Jose State team.
San Jose State hasn’t exactly had the easiest time in its first two years and a half years Mountain West Conference Since joining the league in 2013-14, the Spartans won just two MW games, one in that first season then a 62-55 victory over Wyoming this year. Coincidentally, San Jose State’s lone conference win happened against a Wyoming team that seven days ago defeated New Mexico by two points at WisePies Arena.
New Mexico head coach Yvonne Sanchez is not ready to scrap her coaching pedagogy just because her squad is in the midst of a slump. The head coach said in Thursday’s press conference that she needs to keep being patient in order to allow her team to come around.
Cullen Neal will miss Saturday’s game at San Jose State after sustaining a concussion on the last play against Wyoming, head coach Craig Neal announced Thursday afternoon. The Lobos' starting point guard is currently going through the University’s concussion protocol, and Craig Neal identified Cullen Neal as day to day in practice.
Slow tempo? What slow tempo? Wyoming head coach Larry Shyatt posed that question after the Cowboys’ 70-68 victory over New Mexico Saturday at WisePies Arena.
The urgency to get on the winning track for the New Mexico women’s basketball team has begun. Following UNM’s 66-48 loss to Wyoming, the Lobos (9-7, 2-3 MW) fell to the bottom half of the Mountain West standings. Although there is still plenty of conference play left, head coach Yvonne Sanchez said she is still searching for the right pieces to get her team in the winning mindset.
Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said in last week’s press conference she wasn’t sure if her team was prepared to be one of the premiere Mountain West teams. The head coach wasn't worried about lack of talent, but said the team hasn't been in the position of having a target on its back. Saturday’s 66-48 loss to Wyoming marked the third loss in four games for UNM, dropping them to a 2-3 conference record (9-7 overall).
In a battle between the top two scorers in the Mountain West, one player set a career high. The other missed the start to disciplinary reasons. Wyoming guard Josh Adams proved to be as good as advertised Saturday in the Cowboys’ 70-68 point victory over New Mexico at WisePies Arena, the Pokes’ first win in Albuquerque since 2003.
In two weeks, UNM will play the two top teams in the Mountain West: Boise State and San Diego State.
New Mexico finally found its groove on offense Wednesday night in a rugged 67-53 battle against UNLV. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said she was pleased with her team’s response to bring a halt to UNM’s two-game skid. Sanchez said she has been working on being more patient as a coach to let the team play through its mistakes.
New Mexico and UNLV entered Tuesday night’s contest at Las Vegas’s Thomas & Mack Center heading in different directions.
Facing off against UNLV’s aggressive style defense is problematic for any team in the Mountain West, let alone New Mexico’s struggling offense. LoboHead coach Yvonne Sanchez said in Tuesday’s press conference that the team has yet to find that go-to player on the offensive side of the ball, despite having two prime candidates -- sophomore guard Cherise Beynon and senior forward Khadijah Shumpert -- with abilities to take over games.
When New Mexico takes the Thomas & Mack Center hardwood against UNLV Tuesday night, the Lobos won’t see Dave Rice on the sidelines. The Runnin’ Rebels head coach and the university agreed to part ways midway through Rice’s fifth season, UNLV officials announced Sunday night.
New Mexico’s offensive woes cast a shadow on Cherise Beynon’s career night. UNM came out of the gates against Utah State with the inability to hit shots while Beynon quietly tied her career high with 21 points amidst the 72-56 loss in Logan, Utah.
The run-and-gun Lobos kept running and gunning to their third straight win to open Mountain West play. New Mexico dictated the tempo through the first half against Utah State Saturday afternoon at WisePies Arena, playing what could be the best 20 minutes it has played so far this season in a 77-59 victory.
Lack of talent isn’t New Mexico’s offensive problem head coach Yvonne Sanchez said. As far as solving the issue, the head coach says she is working on it. Following New Mexico’s heartbreaking 69-65 double overtime loss to Fresno State in WisePies Arena on Jan. 2, Sanchez said it wasn’t the team’s defense that was the issue, it was the inability to convert offensively.
For the last three years New Mexico’s coaching staff has wanted to push the tempo on the hardwood. Two years ago it wasn’t an effective strategy with the team’s potency in the low post.
Cullen Neal scored 20-plus points for the fourth time this season to lead New Mexico to its second straight win Saturday night over Fresno State. The redshirt sophomore guard had 26 points against the Bulldogs, three away from his best total this season, in UNM’s 77-62 victory in Fresno, California.
New Mexico will begin 2016 with a tough test in Fresno State on Saturday. For the first home conference game, head coach Yvonne Sanchez made clear that her squad needs to pick up wins at WisePies Arena if they want a shot at a Mountain West title.
Solutions by The State News
