Sports

Sports

Track & Field: UNM records fall in highly competitive meet

Liam Cary-Eaves | February 2

Big-name schools brought strong performances to New Mexico with record-breaking efforts in Saturday’s New Mexico Collegiate Invitational at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Ridge Jones now shares a piece of the 60-meter dash record while Sammy Silva and Holly Van Grinsven sit atop the New Mexico record books for their performances in the 800-meter race and 60-meter hurdles, respectively. The rigorous competition featured three nationally ranked teams: No. 11 Alabama men’s track team, No. 12 Kansas State women, and No. 21 UCLA women’s team. UNM’s women finished second on the day while the men were fourth.

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Sports

Men's Basketball: Lackluster Lobos steamroll San Jose State

Kyle Tomasi | February 2

Head coach Craig Neal was anything but pleased in spite of New Mexico’s 67-41 blowout over San Jose State on Saturday night. He said his team is supposed to be getting better on a daily basis, but he didn’t feel they accomplished that in Saturday’s 26-point romp at WisePies Arena. “I thought that was a very average performance from my team,” Neal said. “I thought they came out in the first four minutes and played really good, (but) we still had a lot of mental breakdowns offensively. We still had a lot of mental breakdowns defensively — I’m a little concerned about that. You can’t play to your opponent.”

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Sports

Injuries plague young Lobo men's team

Kyle Tomasi | January 30

For the first time in recent memory, New Mexico men’s basketball has had a hard time finding a consistent rotation due to injuries and an inexperienced team. Second-year head coach Craig Neal said his team is getting better every day, but still needs to work on mental errors. He said he expects a lot out of his young guys, and won’t settle for little mistakes being made this far into the season.

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Sports

New women's soccer coach trained kids, Olympians

Thomas Romero-Salas | January 30

It’s one extreme to the next for Heather Dyche. After years of working at the club and Olympic level, Dyche will be moving onto the collegiate ranks following her introduction as the new head coach of the New Mexico women’s soccer program on Thursday.

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Sports

Softball coach confident despite loss of key players

Liam Cary-Eaves | January 30

Losing four starting position players would generally be a cause for concern. However, UNM softball head coach Erica Beach said the team is headed in the right direction after losing two transfer players and losing two seniors from last year’s squad. “We’ve got some studs on this team and I am really excited to see what they can do,” Beach said.

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Sports

Defense key to women's winning streak

Liam Cary-Eaves | January 30

After a slow start to the season against tough competitors, the New Mexico women’s basketball team has been scorching hot as of late, winning five of its past six games. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said the defense has been the key component to UNM’s recent success.

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Sports

Governor donates to UNM Cancer Center

Kyle Tomasi | January 28

Senior guard Hugh Greenwood’s “Pink Pack” received an unexpected gift from a state figure on Monday afternoon to go toward the UNM Cancer Center. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez presented UNM men’s basketball head coach Craig Neal with a $10,000 check to be given to Greenwood’s campaign, money that was unused from a privately-collected inaugural fund.

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Opinion

Column: Deflate-gate is over-inflated media scandal

J.R. Oppenheim | January 26

Tired of hearing about Deflate-gate yet? Don’t worry. I’m not throwing in my two cents about whether New England quarterback Tom Brady told his equipment manager to purposefully reduce the PSI in 11 of 12 footballs during last week’s AFC title game. If head coach Bill Belichick gave the order, I don’t care. This won’t affect the Super Bowl in seven days. I am sick of this media oversaturation over Deflate-gate, as I am sure you are. We reached the point of absurdity days ago, and there unfortunately seems to be no end in sight until next week’s title showdown. The national sports media should be ashamed of themselves.

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Sports

Sand Volleyball: Inaugural season starts soon

Liam Cary-Eaves | January 26

Questions and excitement surround New Mexico’s newest sport as the first official practice inches near. Sand volleyball will hold its opening practice on Feb. 9, and head coach Jeff Nelson said his team has shown a lot of enthusiasm at open gym sessions in preparation for the inaugural season. Even with an upbeat group of players, UNM has not yet confirmed where it will host the home games, although Nelson said he foresees his team hosting games at the Stoneface courts located on Paseo Del Norte and I-25.

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Sports

Women's basketball: Under pressure, UNM rallies in second half

Liam Cary-Eaves | January 26

New Mexico turned to its leaders to fight through a major first-half deficit in a 60-54 victory over Wyoming on Saturday. Nothing was falling in place for the Lobos in the first half as the team went into the locker room trailing 28-19. A halftime speech from head coach Yvonne sparked a fire among her unit, and the Lobos stopped committing silly turnovers in the second half. “I told my leaders Antiesha (Brown), Khadijah (Shumpert) and Bryce (Owens), I challenged them at halftime,” head coach Yvonne Sanchez said. “They responded. I am really proud of those three because everyone kind of jumped on their back and said ‘We’re with you.’”

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Sports

Men's basketball: Cowboys edge out Lobos in overtime battle

Kyle Tomasi | January 26

The New Mexico men’s basketball team had several chances to put away the first-place Wyoming Cowboys on Saturday afternoon, but a couple of late-game mistakes cost them down the stretch. Senior guard Hugh Greenwood kept up his hot streak in Laramie with 23 points (8 of 14 FG, 5 of 8 3-pointers) but did, however, make two costly mistakes at the end of regulation and overtime that doomed the Lobos in a 63-62 loss. With 10 seconds remaining in the second half and the Lobos leading 54-51, Greenwood fouled Wyoming guard Josh Adams on a 3-point attempt. Adams knocked down all three free throws to tie the game at 54.

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Sports

Men's basketball: Mean Tweets of Vegas motivate road victory

Kyle Tomasi | January 23

Fueled by comments from a crude Twitter account, senior guard Hugh Greenwood led New Mexico to a 71-69 victory over UNLV at the Thomas and Mack Center Wednesday night. UNM has now won 11 of its last 13 games in Las Vegas, including the Mountain West Tournament. Greenwood finished with 22 points on a career-tying six 3-pointers. He also added eight rebounds and two assists. Greenwood, whose mother has cancer, said an anonymous Twitter account was posting jokes about cancer all week and taking shots at the Greenwood family. He credited his huge game to this account. “Credit to him for getting us this win tonight,” Greenwood said. “That’s what motivated me.”

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Sports

Track and Field: Men's, women's teams pursue MW title in tandem

Thomas Romero-Salas | January 23

The New Mexico men’s and women’s indoor track teams are looking to make history once again. Last season the Lobos became the first team to sweep the Mountain West indoor titles since former MW member BYU did in 2011. It was the second-straight MW title for the men and the first for the women. Now UNM hopes to once again sweep both championships and become the only team aside from BYU to win both the men’s and women’s titles in back-to-back seasons.

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Sports

Women's basketball: Lobos face top-shot Cowgirls

Liam Cary-Eaves | January 23

After a dramatic home win against Mountain West foe UNLV, New Mexico will play host to a strong-shooting Wyoming team on Saturday. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said UNM’s defense will not have as gritty of a physical battle as it did in the 63-60 victory over the Rebels (6-11, 3-3 MW). However, Sanchez said the Lobos will need to cover the Cowgirls’ shooters in order to be successful. “It’s hard to play Wyoming zone because they have such good shooters,” Sanchez said. “They can shoot from deep, so we will have to guard them deep.”

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Sports

Women's basketball: Lobos claim victory over UNLV Rebels

Liam Cary-Eaves | January 22

New Mexico’s toughness and solid bench play carried the Lobos to a thrilling 63-60 victory over UNLV at WisePies Arena Wednesday night. UNM was forced to play with a thin lineup after three starters and a key reserve had early exits, but head coach Yvonne Sanchez said she never experienced an uneasy feeling filling vacant spots with her reserves. “I just had a boat load of confidence in whoever I put in,” Sanchez said. “It was one of those games I thought our defense just did a nice job.”

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Sports

Rogers selected by Sporting K.C. in MLS SuperDraft

Isabel Gonzalez | January 21

Forward James Rogers became the second former Lobo taken in the MLS SuperDraft when Sporting Kansas City selected him 53rd overall Tuesday. The Sierra Leone native joined former teammate Oniel Fisher as one of the 84 players selected in this year’s draft. Fisher was selected by Seattle Sounders FC with the40th overall pick on Thursday during the second round.

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Sports

Lobo women face tough Rebels in MW showdown

Liam Cary-Eaves | January 21

New Mexico will have its hands full when the Mountain West’s most potent female basketball scoring duo steps onto the Wise Pies Arena floor tonight. UNLV’s senior point guard Danielle Miller, along with senior guard Alana Cesarz, are a frightening tandem. Miller averaged 19.1 points a game, best in the Mountain West, while Cesarz has the fourth most points in the conference at 15.9 points per contest.

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Sports

Consistency the next challenge for Lobo men

Kyle Tomasi | January 21

Consistency has been the Achilles’ heel for New Mexico this season, and the Lobos have yet to find their “go-to” guy after sophomore guard Cullen Neal went down with an ankle injury on Nov. 20. Seniors Deshawn Delaney and Hugh Greenwood have been looked at for leadership throughout the season but have struggled at times during the season. The two are combining for 23.5 points per game.

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Sports

UNM dominates swim duel on way to tourney

Liam Cary-Eaves | January 20

The New Mexico swimming and diving team put together a dominating 174-126 performance against Colorado State on Saturday, ending conference competition on senior day. Seidler Natatorium played host for the final time in the 2014-15 season against the Rams. The Lobos redeemed themselves after suffering an earlier 185-113 loss against the Rams in the final conference competition last season.

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Sports

Lobo men suffer first MW home loss this season

Kyle Tomasi | January 20

Two dominant performances by Boise State’s James Webb III and Derrick Marks doomed New Mexico in a 69-59 loss at WisePies Arena Sunday afternoon. The Bronco duo scored a compiled 54 points on UNM, marking the Lobos’ first home loss in Mountain West play this season.