Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said she is getting her team ready for conference play by scheduling one of the toughest schedules in the nation. The Longhorns will be the fourth nationally ranked team New Mexico (1-5) has faced in the opening seven games of the season.
“We’ve got an opportunity to get some wins and do some things in the non-conference before the conference,” Sanchez said. “Our losses haven’t hurt us. We just need to start getting some wins.”
Sanchez said her squad is well equipped to play against top opponents. She said the team embraces the challenges and are not overwhelmed by playing BCS schools.
“You wanted to one day go play for one of those teams when you were younger,” freshman guard Cherise Benyon said. “Now you play against them and see you can actually compete against them. It’s pretty exciting.”
Benyon jumped into thick of UNM’s starting roster right out of high school. The Lobo guard is averaging six boards and eight points per contest in her first six games.
“I came in with that mindset that I wanted to start,” Benyon said. “As a freshman it’s kind of intimidating, and it’s a lot of pressure.”
Benyon has responded well to pressure in her early tenure as a Lobo but said she needs to keep learning and improving to get her team on the winning side of things.
Having a healthy starting guard in Bryce Owens and getting sixth man Alexa Chavez back will bolster the roster against a tough Texas team (5-0). Chavez has missed three games due to a kidney infection, and Owens missed the final game of the Thanksgiving tournament against UC Riverside.
Getting Chavez back should provide much needed relief defensively since junior forward Khadijah Shumpert has fouled out in the three games Chavez has been absent. UNM’s defense will be crucial against a Texas team that is averaging 84 points a game compared to the Lobos’ 58.8.
“We have to play better defense in order to stop them,” Benyon said. “I was not a defensive player, and now I am more of a defensive player ... Defense will help us win the games.”
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Although Texas doesn’t have a scorer who is averaging more than 16 points a game, the Longhorns are a sound unit that averages 18 assists and only turns the ball over 13.3 times a game.
Sanchez said she is confident that her defense will step up against such a dominant offensive unit in Texas.
“They (the Lobos) bounce back very easy,” Sanchez said. “I think every game we’ve improved.”
Liam Cary-Eaves is the assistant sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Liam_CE.
