Thanks to a season-high 22 turnovers, the New Mexico women’s basketball team lost 76-56 at UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev. Guard Sara Halasz and forward Deeva Vaughn both scored a team-high 11 points for UNM. UNLV forward Alana Cesarz hit 6 of 9 shots for a game-high 15 points.
For one reason or another the New Mexico men’s basketball team seem to have lost a competitive edge, coach Craig Neal said after his team dropped its first game in Mountain West play. The Lobos, hosting a UNLV team looking to avoid a third straight conference loss, battled back from an early 16-point deficit but could not take the lead in a 76-73 loss to the Runnin’ Rebels.
Surviving two close road games, New Mexico’s men have run out to the second-best start in Mountain West play with a 3-0 conference mark. Senior guard Kendall Williams scored a team-high 19 points in UNM’s 69-65 win at San Jose State on Saturday. The team opened its first MW road trip of 2014 with a 72-69 overtime victory at Wyoming.
It took a couple of key performances for the New Mexico women’s basketball team to finally put away San Jose State on Saturday. Senior guard Sara Halasz scored 23 points and grabbed 14 boards for her third career double-double and senior forward Deeva Vaughn recorded 21 points and six rebounds to propel UNM to an 80-68 victory over SJSU at The Pit in front of 6,025 fans.
On Saturday, New Mexico head football coach Bob Davie announced that inside linebackers coach Kevin Cosgrove is to be the team’s new defensive coordinator. “Defensively, ‘Cos’ and I think a lot alike,” Davie told the Albuquerque Journal. “I can’t wait to see his personality reflected in our defense.”
Dominance down low sparked New Mexico to their first conference win of the season. UNM scored 40 points in the paint en route to a 75-65 victory over Wyoming in the first conference game in The Pit in front 5,445 fans. Defensively, New Mexico contained the Cowgirls to 28 points from close range.
An Alex Kirk block and two Cleveland Thomas free throws helped secure the New Mexico men’s first road win in Mountain West play, a 72-69 overtime victory at Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo. The Lobos (11-3, 2-0 MW) held a 70-69 lead with 14 seconds left when Kirk, UNM’s junior center, blocked a layup attempt by Wyoming’s Riley Grabau.
The New Mexico women’s basketball team lost its Mountain West season opener at Colorado State 62-50 on Sunday. UNM (5-7, 0-1 MW) trailed CSU 33-28 at the half, but the Rams were able to pull away in the second half, outscoring the Lobos 29-22.
New Mexico withstood a 25-point effort from Colorado State over a six-minute span to claim an 80-73 win in Saturday’s Mountain West Conference opener. The Lobos (10-3, 1-0 MW) carried a 63-48 lead to the 5:51 mark before the Rams outscored 25-17 down the stretch, an issue Craig Neal said that must be addressed. That 15-point edge was the widest margin in the game.
Slow starts have been troublesome for the New Mexico women’s basketball team this season. Against the University of Miami, it was more of the same. The Lobos were down at halftime 37-20 and lost 67-50 in the championship game of the Miami Hurricane Tournament on Sunday.
Guards Antiesha Brown and Sara Halasz combined to score 29 points in New Mexico’s 59-37 victory over Western Carolina at the Miami Hurricane Tournament on Saturday. UNM (5-5) went into halftime down 20-18 and the game remained tight in the second half as neither team could take over. The Lobos finally pulled away after Halasz hit a 3-pointer for a 41-31 lead with 6:52 left in the game.
Demetrius Walker greeted his former New Mexico teammates with hugs before Monday’s game at The Pit. Before the opening tipoff, Walker and Lobo guard Kendall Williams exchanges some light trash talking and grins. UNM spoiled Walker’s return to Albuquerque with an 80-68 victory in the Lobos’ nonconference finale. Walker played at New Mexico from 2011-13 after a redshirt year. He arrived to New Mexico in 2010 and redshirted his first year after transferring from Arizona.
The New Mexico men avoided their third straight loss Saturday night with a 75-68 win over Marquette at the MGM Grand Showcase in Las Vegas, Nev. The Lobos lost their previous two games against Kansas and New Mexico State. Lobo Freshman guard Cullen Neal scored a game-high 24 points, mostly coming from the 3-point line. He hit six of his eight attempts from the arc.
The legacy established by the 2013 New Mexico men’s soccer team extends beyond its NCAA tournament semifinal run, head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. It spans the past three seasons. UNM joined Maryland and Connecticut as the only three teams to reach the NCAA tournament’s third round consecutively over the last three seasons. This year’s trip to the Final Four became the culmination in that string of success, Fishbein said.
New Mexico is banged up right now. Junior point guard Hugh Greenwood missed Tuesday night’s Rio Grande Rivalry rematch after enduring a wrist injury in the earlier meeting with New Mexico State. Sophomore guard Cleveland “Pancake” Thomas started against NMSU with a broken nose, though he needed to wear a protective facemask. The loss of Greenwood contributed to UNM’s 67-61 loss to its in-state rival, head coach Craig Neal said, though he wasn’t exactly sure how much it played a factor.
Despite 24 points apiece from Kendall Williams and Cameron Bairstow, the New Mexico men’s basketball team suffered its second loss of the season with Saturday’s 80-63 setback to No. 13 Kansas in Kansas City.
The run is over. The New Mexico men’s soccer team ended their College Cup trip Friday in Philadelphia with a 2-0 loss to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish moved on to Sunday’s NCAA national championship game to play either Virginia or Maryland, who play in Friday’s other semifinal game.
If defense wins championships, as the old adage goes, then the other three teams in the NCAA College Cup better watch out. New Mexico hasn’t given up a goal this tournament. The defense came through yet again for head coach Jeremy Fishbein’s squad, which secured a spot among the four remaining teams in college soccer with Saturday night’s 1-0 victory over Washington in the Elite Eight. “I couldn’t be prouder of our team,” Fishbein said.
On Saturday, New Mexico head football coach Bob Davie announced that defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach Jeff Mills will not be returning to the team next season. Davie confirmed online reports that Mills had indeed been let go.
Almost immediately following posting a double-double against Cincinnati on Saturday, Cameron Bairstow went into the weight room at the Rudy Davalos Basketball Center to lift weights. He still had enough energy to lift weights even after playing a game-high 37 minutes in the Lobos’ 63-54 victory, where he registered 24 points and 13 rebounds against the Bearcats.
Solutions by The State News
