Lobo volleyball endured another rough week, falling to the Fresno State Bulldogs in three straight sets and dropping a match to the San Diego State Aztecs after four sets.
The New Mexico men's basketball team saw marked improvement over its performance against BYU in last month's exhibition game, shooting the ball efficiently en route to a 147-76 whipping of Northern New Mexico. The 147 points was a program record for points scored in a single game and the 71 point margin of victory tied a school record as well. UNM (1-0, 0-0 MW) played harassing defense and forced turnovers to seize early control of the game and cruise to victory.
New coach. New players. New sponsor. New season. Everything surrounding the upcoming basketball season seems to still have that new car smell as first year Lobo basketball coach Paul Weir looks to pick up a win in the season opener against Northern New Mexico. Saturday's game will mark the first game under a new era, being played in newly dubbed Dreamstyle Arena in front of a student section coined "the Howl."
The New Mexico football team needs three wins if it hopes to continue playing into the postseason, but the odds are stacked against the Lobos pulling off the feat as the team faces Texas A&M Saturday on the road. Texas A&M (5-4, 3-3 SEC) will be playing with bowl eligibility on the line, failing to complete the task last week in each of the last two weeks. First the Aggies were upended by Mississippi State 35-14, then fell to Auburn by a score of 42-27—both losses taking place at home on Kyle Field. The Aggies will likely want to handle business on Saturday against the Lobos, considering their next two games will be played on the road.
At times it was close. But the New Mexico women’s basketball team, with the help of senior guards Cherise Beynon and Tesha Buck, managed to take home the team’s first win of the season, beating the Western Michigan Broncos 88-76 at Dreamstyle Arena on Friday night. Questionable foul calls in the third quarter brought the Broncos (0-1) within striking distance, but a late fourth quarter surge, which saw the Lobos (1-0) finish by scoring the last three points of the game, all but sealed the Lobos’ win.
The State Auditor released an audit Friday on the University of New Mexico Athletics Department, revealing the University has missed out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue, due to what the audit calls “a lack of financial controls and confusion about responsibilities among staff.” “A tangled web of transactions has made it difficult for the public, and even some of the financial staff at the University, to be able to decipher what is going on in the Athletics Department and the various supporting organizations,” State Auditor Tim Keller said in a press release after the audit was shared.
Western Michigan, the New Mexico women's basketball team’s first opponent of the season, isn’t an easy one, head coach Mike Bradbury said at Thursday’s press conference. And he’s right. In comparison to last season’s home opener against Fairleigh Dickinson, where the Lobos won by nearly 30 points, the Western Michigan Broncos are no slouch.
James Lawrence, a world-class endurance athlete best known as the “Iron Cowboy,” spoke at the University of New Mexico advising the audience on how to achieve the unthinkable and succeed in achieving goals. “I’m going to share with you experiences that articulate a person’s ability to have so much (belief) and conviction in what they are doing and figuring out a way to accomplish something that is impossible or deemed impossible,” Lawrence said at the beginning of his speech. An Ironman Triathlon consists of 2.5 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and a 26.2-mile marathon. In 2015, Lawrence achieved the seemingly impossible feat of finishing 50 Ironman Triathlons in 50 states in 50 consecutive days, thus writing his name in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Head coach Mike Bradbury and the University of New Mexico women’s basketball program announced their 2018 recruiting class for Wednesday’s signing day. In total, four high school recruits and one junior college player have all signed on to be a part of the Lobos next season. According to ESPNW’s HoopGurlz, the Lobos’ 2018 recruiting class ranked 19th overall — and the best among schools not in Power 5 conferences.
The University of New Mexico cross country team will head to Logan, Utah to compete at the Mountain Region Championships, with the goal of qualifying for the NCAA Championships in sight. Head coach Joe Franklin said the men's and women's team may have different approaches in how to achieve that goal though. The women, the No. 2 ranked team in the country, maintained its position after winning the Mountain West Championships on its home course on Oct.
With three draws and two losses in its last five matches, the University of New Mexico men’s soccer team begins its Conference USA Tournament title defense against a familiar foe in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Nov. 8, in Norfolk, Virginia. UNM (8-5-4, 3-3-2 C-USA) finished the regular season with a 1-0 loss against Old Dominion and are now set to play fourth seeded Charlotte (6-4-6, 2-1-5 C-USA) in the quarterfinals of the 2017 C-USA Tournament. This is the second time the Lobos will be playing the 49ers in a span of two weeks. The Lobos last played the Charlotte on senior night, Oct. 28, in a goalless draw that went into double overtime.
The New Mexico women's soccer team fell in the Mountain West Tournament championship to San Diego State on Saturday night in Las Vegas by a score of 3-0, as the hat trick of Aliyah Utush ended New Mexico’s season. Despite the lopsided final score line, the Lobos weren’t without scoring opportunities. In the 22nd minute, Amelia Bierle put a shot off the post and the crossbar, and the rebound fell to Jessie Hix, who put her shot wide. The first half of the match finished 0-0, with the Lobos leading 8-6 in shots. Statistically, the game was not as one-sided as the final score made it appear, and in many ways the match simply came down to who could take their chances better.
University of New Mexico volleyball had a mixed week at home, defeating San Jose State University in three close sets but getting stopped by the Nevada Wolf Pack in a four-set duel. In the first two sets against San Jose State, UNM posted scores of 25-22, and the third set was even tighter, with the Lobos edging out the Spartans 26-24. In the second matchup, Nevada took the first set 25-19, but UNM recaptured the second set 18-25. However, Nevada got by UNM 31-29 in the third set and scored 25-20 for the match victory. The Lobos last met the Spartans on Oct. 7 in San Jose, California, where they fell 2-3, but this time at home, they seemed ready for whatever their rival could throw at them.
The Lobo hockey team had a rocky weekend after taking on the UCCS Mountain Lions in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Friday and Saturday night, but remained undefeated. New Mexico defeated Colorado Colorado Springs on Friday by a score of 6-1 to win its ninth game of the season, but failed to run the win total up to 10 after the teams played to a 6-6 draw on Saturday, putting the Lobos at 9-0-1 on the season. The Lobos showed up strong to Friday’s game, despite traveling five and a half hours to play and playing with a new goalie between the pipes. But UNM got off to a hot start, jumping out to a 3-1 lead after the first period of play.
A strong defensive effort, which saw the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team force 25 turnovers, helped them cruise to an 84-68 victory over Fort Lewis on Sunday afternoon at Dreamstyle Arena. Leading the charge defensively was freshman guard N’Dea Flye who, when on the court, seemed to be wherever the ball was. She was able to force three steals — which was tied for a game-high along with senior guard Alex Lapeyrolerie. New Mexico capitalized on those turnovers, too, scoring 31 of their 84 points off of them.
By now, most sports fans probably know the Houston Astros knocked off the Los Angeles Dodgers last Wednesday to win the 2017 World Series, but it may surprise some to know two players from Albuquerque, New Mexico were key pieces during the Astros’ championship run. Houston roughed up starting pitcher Yu Darvish early to jump out to an early lead and ultimately defeat Los Angeles in the decisive game seven on Nov. 1 by a score of 5-1, hoisting the first World Series title in its 55-year history in the process. Centerfielder George Springer took home Most Valuable Player honors for the series, but third baseman Alex Bregman came through during some big moments as well. He recorded an RBI in each of the first five World Series games, and ripped a base-hit to left field for a walk-off win in game five to give the Astros a 3-2 series lead.
The UNM football team couldn’t have asked for a better opening play, better field position to start drives or better scoring opportunities—but not having better ball protection proved to be too much to overcome. New Mexico fell to 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in Mountain West conference play, succumbing to the Utah State Aggies 24-10. Utah State (5-5, 3-3 MW) didn’t have to do much, especially in the first half—as the Aggies were able to sit back and watch New Mexico play the role of its own worst enemy. The Lobos were able to drive into Aggie territory on all seven of their first-half possessions—four of which started on the Utah State side of the field. But four different UNM players coughed up the ball, twice in the red zone when it looked like the Lobos were about to score.
With their fifth loss of the regular season, the University of New Mexico men’s soccer team concluded their regular season with a 1-0 defeat against Old Dominion on Nov. 3. The Lobos (8-5-4, 3-3-2 C-USA) now head into the Conference USA tournament having scored none but conceded one in their last three games. Two out of those three games were goalless draws against Denver and Charlotte that went into double overtime.
New Mexico football doesn't technically need to win against Utah State to keep its postseason hopes alive, but with some tough opponents remaining on the schedule, many are viewing Saturday's game as a must-win. The Lobos (3-5, 1-4 MW) have pretty much played their way out of a chance at winning the conference or even a division title, and find themselves in a situation where the team must win three of its final four games to become bowl eligible. That might be easier said than done, with Texas A&M and perennial Mountain West powerhouse San Diego State looming—both of which are on the road. Head coach Bob Davie acknowledged Saturday that the remaining schedule essentially means the team has to win against Utah State to keep hope alive, but the focus will be getting the team to play the best it can down the stretch.
The Lobos beat No. 1 seed San Jose State University on Thursday night in Las Vegas to book themselves a place in the Mountain West Conference tournament final against San Diego State. In the first round of the conference tournament, the Lobos managed to come back against Fresno State, being down a player and a goal. Neither side was able to find a winning goal in overtime, and in a tense penalty shootout, the Lobos managed to come out on top 5-4.
Solutions by The State News
