Women's Basketball: UNM can't afford to look ahead

The Lobo women's basketball team might be in third place in the Mountain West standings, but the team still has zero room for error — at least, that's what head coach Mike Bradbury seems to believe.

“I don't think we're good enough to look past anybody,” Bradbury said in response to whether Air Force will be a test for them Wednesday night. “I think we've made that clear to our team. I don't think we have any more talent than Air Force has.”

The Lobos (13-10, 8-4 MW) are entering Wednesday night’s contest at WisePies Arena 18-0 at home against Air Force, while also leading the all-time series with a dominating 38-2 mark.

Air Force is 3-17 and 1-9 in the Mountain West thus far, but still poses an offensive threat against the Lobos.

New Mexico is coming off of an 82-72 victory over San Jose State on Saturday, after rallying back from a halftime deficit.

The Lobos pose three double-digit scoring threats in junior guard Cherise Beynon (16.0), senior center Richelle van der Keijl (14.0) and redshirt junior guard Alex Lapeyrolerie (10.5). But the team is very thin in terms of player rotation.

With sophomore post Jaisa Nunn out for the rest of the season with an ACL tear, the Lobos play roughly a seven player rotation, with virtually no backup post players for van der Keijl and senior forward Kianna Keller.

That means the Lobos, according to Bradbury, will need to play small at times with junior guard Jayda Bovero accumulating most of Nunn’s now-available minutes.

Four of Air Force’s five starters are averaging seven or more points per game, with freshman guard Mariah Forde – who hails from Belen, New Mexico – scoring the most points for her team at 10.6.

Air Force has scored an average of just 53.1 points per game, while giving up 67.9 to opponents. On the other hand, the Lobos are scoring 68.6 points per game, while holding opponents to 62.3.

In the Lobos’ most recent game against San Jose State, van der Keijl was able to notch a career-high 31 points, but mostly because SJSU wasn't double-teaming her – something she's grown accustomed to throughout this season.

Bradbury said he doesn't expect Air Force to play one-on-one with van der Keijl, but rather to try and frustrate her by clogging the low-post.

Van der Keijl said she thought her career-high 31 point performance at SJSU could be a confidence boost, but believes that each game requires a different approach.

“Well, it might help my confidence, but it always depends on the game,” van der Keijl said. “I never really know, but I'm definitely going to work hard next game and the game after that.”

Tip-off is set for Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. in WisePies Arena aka The Pit. The game is also set to be streamed live on the Mountain West Network.

Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women's basketball and baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz