Basketball

Sports

Women's basketball: Lobos end preseason on a high note

Alexiss Adams | November 7

As the preseason comes to a close, women’s basketball Head Coach Yvonne Sanchez said she feels confident about her team’s ability to succeed going into the regular season. The Lobos faced New Mexico Highlands for their second and final exhibition game of the preseason, in which they dominated in an 80-39 victory. The team comes off a strong first exhibition game in a 78-41 win against Western New Mexico.

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Sports

Men's basketball: Lobos look for a leader to emerge

J.R. Oppenheim | November 6

Craig Neal needs a leader. Through both of the team's preseason exhibition games, the young UNM men’s basketball team showed its immaturity and lack of leadership, the head coach said after his team edged out Rogers State 80-69 Friday night at WisePies Arena, aka The Pit.

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Sports

Women's basketball: Post play poses for good problems for New Mexico

Liam Cary-Eaves | November 4

The quality of UNM’s post play is the least of the team’s worries. After New Mexico’s 78-41 rout over Western New Mexico on Wednesday night, the Lobos biggest question mark is who head coach Yvonne Sanchez is going to start. Two of last season’s starters watched the game from the bench. Seniors Khadijah Shumpert and Alexa Chavez were both wearing jeans at the end of the bench, Shumpert with an illness and Chavez rehabbing a foot injury.

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News

Lobo athletics announcer Stu Walker dies at 61

J.R. Oppenheim | November 4

Sporting events in Albuquerque will never sound the same again. Stu Walker, whose booming voice filled WisePies Arena, University Stadium and other venues at UNM as the public address announcer, died Monday after a bout with cancer. He was 61.

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Sports

Men's basketball: Lobos score 96 points in first exhibition game

J.R. Oppenheim | November 3

Exhibition games tend not to be the prettiest games on earth, but it’s hard to ignore a 96-point effort. The New Mexico offense exploded to nearly 100 points in its first exhibition game Tuesday evening, outgunning Colorado State-Pueblo to a 96-84 victory at WisePies Arena.

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Sports

Women's basketball: Lobos start exhibition play against Western New Mexico

Liam Cary-Eaves | November 3

Gone are the days of intrasquad play; the Lobos will face their first opponent of the 2015-2016 campaign Wednesday night against Western New Mexico.

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Sports

Men's basketball: No 'vanilla' exhibitions this year, Neal says

J.R. Oppenheim | November 2

In his first two years as head coach, Craig Neal didn’t want to give too much away schematically during the exhibition schedule.

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Sports

Women's Basketball: Defense needs to tighten up before season opener

Liam Cary-Eaves | November 2

If New Mexico is to take anything away from Saturday’s Cherry vs. Silver scrimmage, it is this: the defense needs to improve. UNM was out warming up early Saturday morning in anticipation of playing a live game against its male practice opponents. However, the men of the Silver team had no trouble moving the ball around against the Lobos’ defense in a 90-57 route over the Cherry squad. “There’s going to be times when you’re not going to be able to put the ball in the basket. That happens to every team,” head coach Yvonne Sanchez said. “But if your defense isn’t there to make up the difference, then you’re going to be in a little bit of trouble.”

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Sports

Women's basketball: Preseason accolades are hearsay; Lobos ready to play

Liam Cary-Eaves | October 30

Preseason accolades allow for speculation in anticipation for the upcoming season. New Mexico head coach Yvonne Sanchez said her interests lie with how her squad is going to play, not how people think her team is going to perform. Sanchez said she knows teams are going to be gunning for the Lobos this upcoming season after the tremendous finish the team had last year.

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Sports

Women's basketball: Lobos will be among the teams to beat, Sanchez says

Liam Cary-Eaves | October 22

The New Mexico women’s basketball team excited its fans with song and dance at the Lobo Howl on Friday, Oct. 16. Tuesday’s media day was all business. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said Tuesday that she is not looking to build a team that is good for a year. The four-year head coach said she has been building her program up to have a much longer run than the 2015-16 campaign.

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Sports

Women's basketball: Groove is in the Lobos' heart

Liam Cary-Eaves | October 16

To get the freshmen acclimated to the ambiance of WisePies Arena, aka The Pit, everyone is required to take part in the annual dance at the Lobo Howl. Barring injury, this is non-negotiable. For incoming freshman guard Emily Lines, the dance was the most worrisome part of her introduction to New Mexico fans.

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Sports

Men's basketball: Neal's Lobo Louie dance electrifies WisePies Arena

Thomas Romero-Salas | October 16

Craig Neal definitely knows how to make an entrance. At the annual Lobo Howl, the men’s basketball team began its portion with Lobo Louie dancing through the decades to various hit songs. The crowd of 6,676 erupted when Louie took off his head to reveal himself as the team's head coach.

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Sports

Women's basketball: Shumpert earns spot on College Sports Madness's All-MW team

Liam Cary-Eaves | October 15

No one has questioned Khadijah Shumpert’s valued role as a forward on the New Mexico roster. Now, the senior forward is getting recognition across the Mountain West after being named to the College Sports Madness’ All-Mountain West First Team. The Lobo captain averaged 10.8 points per contest (16th MW) and a team-high 5.8 boards per game (15th MW). Shumpert had a successful season while gutting out an ankle injury for a greater part of the 2014-15 campaign. Shumpert’s ability to make her presence, emerging as one of the UNM leaders, came in her sophomore season where she finished among the top-15 conference players in rebounds and blocked shots. With a healthy ankle in mix with her final season in Cherry and Silver, the 6-footer from Minnesota has the potential to make some noise in the Mountain West this year. Liam Cary-Eaves is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo.

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Sports

Women's Basketball looks to build on last year's success

Liam Cary-Eaves | October 15

A season ago, the New Mexico women’s basketball team overcame adversity to finish second in the conference with an NIT bid. This year, the Lobos have their sights set higher. The 2014-15 campaign saw a preseason ranking of ninth, the loss of UNM’s only true center and a shaky 1-7 start in head coach Yvonne Sanchez’s contract year. Yet the team finished second in the Mountain West and made it to the MW Championship game.

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Sports

Men's basketball: Lobos take sixth in MW preseason poll

J.R. Oppenheim | October 13

Media members predicted the New Mexico men’s basketball team to finish sixth in the Mountain West this season, according to a poll the conference released on Tuesday.

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Sports

Women's basketball: Lobos adjusting to life without Antiesha Brown

Liam Cary-Eaves | October 7

With the departure of Antiesha Brown, New Mexico is in search of leadership. Brown’s offensive presence led UNM to the longest winning streak in UNM women’s basketball history. In last season’s campaign, Brown led the team in games played, minutes played, points, free throws and free throw percentage.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Cullen Neal eager for return after season-ending ankle injury

J.R. Oppenheim | October 7

If there was anyone chomping at the bit for the first day of basketball practice, it was Cullen Neal. After all, the sharpshooter missed most of last season. Neal received a medical hardship redshirt year after injuring his ankle in the third game of the 2014-15 season. He returned to the court as the Lobos opened practice Friday and was a full-go participant in 5-on-5 drills.

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Sports

Basketball: Lobos look to rebound after troubling season

J.R. Oppenheim | October 5

Motivation in practice should not be a problem for the Lobos. Last year’s lackluster season left a bad taste in the their mouths. The 15-16 record from their last campaign will serve to fuel New Mexico, guard/forward Sam Logwood said as the team opened practice Friday. During one stretch of Mountain West play last year, the Lobos lost eight games in a row. They were also bounced in the first round of the conference tournament following back-to-back runs to the title in previous years.

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Sports

Sports briefs for Aug. 10, 2015

Liam Cary-Eaves | August 10

New Mexico will play the Auburn Tigers in the first round of ESPN’s Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. On Thursday ESPN released the entire bracket for the eight teams playing in the tournament. UNM drew the Tigers and play is set for Dec. 22. The SEC-member Tigers finished 15-20 during the 2014-2015 season and went 4-14 against their conference opponents.

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Sports

Men's basketball schedule features seven NCAA teams

J.R. Oppenheim | July 21

Since New Mexico won’t make the trip to Wyoming this year for a Mountain West basketball game, Lobo coach Craig Neal said he received an offer via text from Wyoming coach Larry Shyatt. Come up for a vacation and experience Laramie, Neal joked. The 11-team conference schedule means teams drop one half of a home-and-away series with two different foes, and the Lobos will not face the defending conference tournament champion in Wyoming.