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.
UNM’s freshmen are starting to make a name for themselves. Days after first-year guard Dane Kuiper set a career high in minutes and points, freshman Anthony Mathis did the same. His 16-point effort help lift the Lobos to a convincing 84-55 home victory over Air Force.
After opening the season with a victory over Colorado, the New Mexico women’s tennis team will host two schools this weekend. The Lobos will play Southern Illinois on Saturday, followed by a match against Northern Arizona on Sunday. Southern Illinois and Northern Arizona will face each other on Sunday as well.
New Mexico’s track and field team will be home again in the first scored event of the year, hosting the New Mexico Team Invitational. Head coach Joe Franklin said he is looking forward to the team taking some of the positive things that happened last weekend into this meet. He said that he is very excited and that this weekend is going to be a lot of fun.
After a 71-57 win against San Jose State to end New Mexico’s two game losing skid, head coach Yvonne Sanchez said she is not looking past a winless Air Force squad on the road. Sanchez said she knows the Falcons squad is no gimme. The last time Air Force was at home, the team barely fell to UNLV (11-7, 4-3 MW) in a 60-56 battle; a game Sanchez said the Falcons should have won.
Senior Allan Hamilton jumped 24 feet, 9 ½ inches (or 7.55 meters) this past weekend at the Cherry & Silver Invitational. The leap was not only the best collegiate jump at the invite, but was also enough to garner the MW Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week. Accroding to a UNM release, the jump ranks him 19th in the nation and is best in the Mountain West by over six inches.
Preparing for Air Force’s rendition of the Princeton offense is among the toughest challenges New Mexico faces each year, according to coach Craig Neal. The Princeton style, dictated by constant movement on the floor, backdoor cuts and sound team discipline, means the Lobos’ Wednesday night contest should not be overlooked, even though the Falcons enter the game with just one Mountain West victory.
New Mexico leaves Los Angeles still looking to break its losing streak which has now swelled to seven consecutive loses. The men’s tennis team started play on Saturday squaring off against Georgia Tech. The team wasn’t able to secure a point in the matchup, losing 4-0.
The Lobos competed in the Spencer James Colorado Invitational this weekend, and finished in fifth-place overall, a similar spot in comparison to their last two events. The team scored a total of 514 points. 278 points came from the Nordic team, while 236 came from the alpine team.
Solutions by The State News
