As far as Craig Neal is concerned, the New Mexico-San Diego State basketball rivalry is back where it should be. It’s hard to argue against that perspective.
By Robert Maler New Mexico’s track and field team stays in Albuquerque for the third consecutive week to host the New Mexico Classic & Multis this weekend. Last weekend the Lobos saw several athletes set personal records and hit marks that might be good enough to earn a spot at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Alabama. Nine schools competed at the New Mexico Team Invitational last week.
Heather Dyche’s first full recruiting effort netted eight new players to the New Mexico women’s soccer team, UNM announced on Wednesday. During National Signing Day, the Lobos added players at every position: three forward, two defenders, two goalkeepers and a midfielder to replace seven graduating seniors, all from various positions. Dyche in a statement expressed her excitement for the 2016 recruiting class. “We think they will come in and push our current players for starting positions.
For a late span Tuesday night, a tight game morphed into a battle between UNM’s Tim Williams and UNLV’s Patrick Cornish. The teams played to a 70-all tie past the seven-minute mark in the second half. From that point to the final minute, only the forward Williams or guard Cornish saw the net. The two went back and forth, almost shot for shot.
It’s that time of the year again. Six new players joined the UNM men’s soccer team for the 2016 National Signing Day. But this isn’t just any group of players, Top Drawer Soccer ranked this Lobo recruiting class as the fifth best class in the nation.
Bob Davie needs a break from talking to the 2016 recruiting class. The New Mexico head coach joked that he has heard enough from the players and needs a couple of days of silence after receiving his final list of players who signed their national letters of intent on Wednesday.
New Mexico student-athletes have been making noise in the classroom in addition to their performance for their respected sports programs. On Monday, UNM announced five UNM programs set cumulative GPA records for their respected teams. Men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s golf, women’s skiing, and both men and women’s track and field all fielded program-bests for their GPAs in fall of 2015.
Against Rice earlier this year, UNM had free throws late in the game but couldn’t finish them. Against Auburn, UNM had two possessions to prevail but threw the ball away and took a bad shot. Based on the results from the last two games, those days appear to be over. For the second straight game UNM found a way to finish a high-scoring, back-and-forth contest, surging past UNLV 87-83 at WisePies Arena.
One player stole the show in head coach Yvonne Sanchez’s press conference on Monday. That player was senior forward Alexa Chavez. Chavez, who started the season plagued by a foot injury, reinjured the foot, and has been watching her team from the sidelines for the majority of conference play.
New Mexico’s women’s tennis team swept both of its opponents in a couple of strong showings over the weekend. The Lobos started the weekend on Saturday against Southern Illinois, winning two out of the three doubles matches to secure the lone point for doubles play. The team cruised through singles play winning all six individual matches as the schools elected to finish matches even after New Mexico had secured the victory.
Just because the Lobos won three straight games to move into second place in the Mountain West doesn’t mean the learning has stopped for coach Craig Neal’s squad. Saturday’s 88-83 victory over Boise State, which put the Lobos just behind league leader San Diego State in the standings, was such a moment because, as Neal put it, it’s not really a learning experience until you do it.
Just a day before New Mexico’s first practice on Friday afternoon, D1baseball.com announced its Mountain West preseason predictions. The Lobos were atop that list. After grinding out last season with numerous injuries, the Lobos were still just one swing away from making the postseason. The 2015 season snapped a four consecutive season streak of New Mexico taking home the conference trophy.
For the third time this season, New Mexico guard Elijah Brown earned weekly honors from the Mountain West. The conference on Monday announced Brown received the player of the week award after he averaged 23.5 points in wins over Air Force and Boise State.
In its only home competition of the spring semester, the UNM swimming and diving team captured its ninth straight dual victory over in-state rival New Mexico State on Saturday. The Lobos won two of three dual meets during the 2014-15 season, the other victory coming last Halloween against Northern Colorado. UNM will have a divers-only meet next week at the Air Force Academy with the Mountain West Championships on the horizon. “Our kids did everything they could to help us win today,” head coach Kunio Kono in the release. “I saw a lot of personal bests and season bests today. A lot of girls are very happy today, and I’m excited for them. I think in my four years here this is one of our best performances.”
Several New Mexico athletes posted personal bests over the weekend at the New Mexico Invitational. The Lobos did not post the top team score in either the men’s or women’s division at the meet, but did notch some high scores throughout the day. Head coach Joe Franklin said he was impressed by many of the performances, some of which were pleasant surprises. “I really liked the fact that we had some kids that came out and competed really hard and when they least expect it, great things happen,” he said.
A 23-point performance from New Mexico’s senior forward Khadijah Shumpert was to no avail as UNM fell 81-60 to Boise State on Saturday afternoon. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said in her postgame press conference that her squad did not get off to the start it needed in order to be successful against the Broncos. “When you’ve got a team that good that has its way early you’re in trouble,” Sanchez said. “It was exactly the kind of start we knew we had to avoid.”
A battle of potent offenses, with second place on the line, proved to be as high scoring and contentious as advertised. With a second half dictated by length runs, the Lobos used nine made free throws out of 10 attempts to slip past Boise State 88-83 for second place in the Mountain West Standings.
New Mexico’s next slate of games could have implications on the seeding process for the Mountain West in March. A peek at the schedule shows two road games against the conference’s top two teams – Boise State and San Diego State – with a suddenly streaking UNLV squad sandwiched in between. With the Lobos currently sitting in third in the standings, Saturday’s contest with the Broncos will be for possession second place.
A conference tournament title was on the line the last time New Mexico and Boise State faced off. The Broncos squashed UNM’s hopes of making it to the dance in the 66-60 nail-biter at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
New Mexico's defensive prowess was once again on display in one of the best team performances the Lobos have had all year. Things were clicking on the offensive side of the ball for New Mexico in its 63-33 victory over Air Force on Wednesday. However, holding the Falcons to just eight points in the first half was the main reason why UNM walked out of Colorado Springs with a victory.
Solutions by The State News
