UNLV’s senior point guard Danielle Miller and 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.
Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said that while the Lobos are focused on stopping two of the top five scoring guards in the conference, the team will also need to toughen up inside and win the battles on the glass against the UNLV Rebels (6-10, 3-2 MW).
“They’re physical; they’re going to pound it inside. They’re going to try to drive right down our throats,” Sanchez said. “We’ve got to be poised.”
Junior forward Alexa Chavez said she remembers the Rebels’ athleticism from previous years’ head-to-head matchups and said she will be expecting a hard-fought battle inside the paint.
“It’s going to be a tough game; they’re physical,” Chavez said. “We just have to go out there and be the aggressor and fight.”
The Rebels are just half of a game above the Lobos in the conference standings. Sanchez said the key to climbing a place in the Mountain West standings will be reliant on how her squad handles the strength of UNLV’s productive scorers.
UNM’s defense will have to be much better than it was in Saturday’s shaky second half performance on the road. Despite heading into the Taco Bell Arena locker room with a four-point lead, the Lobos lost their defensive unity in the 86-65 loss against Boise State (12-4, 4-1 MW).
“When we’re all together, we succeed,” Chavez said. “In the second half we didn’t execute our defensive plan... That’s one of the biggest things we need to work on: communication.”
New Mexico dug out of an early 23-13 hole in the first half, ending the half with a 25-11 run which gave the Lobos a 38-34 advantage at intermission.
“We had a great first half, especially defensively, even though they scored 34 points,” Sanchez said. “They’re probably the best team in our conference. They really are that good.”
Chavez came out of the gates with a strong performance accumulating 12 first half points, one shy of her career-high for an entire game. However, Chavez couldn’t muster up another score for the remainder of the contest.
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The forward said she was more disappointed with the team’s sudden defensive falter than her own scoring drought.
UNM (7-10, 3-3 MW) certainly did not play with the same chemistry in the first half allowing the Broncos to outscore the Lobos 52-27 in the final 20 minutes of play.
“For whatever reason we defended everything they ran in the first half and then in the second half we stopped talking,” Sanchez said. “It was an implosion and it was unfortunate.”
The Lobos’ junior captain Khadijah Shumpert was silenced for the majority of the game only putting up two points. The forward added two boards and three fouls to her performance in just 17 minutes of play.
Since returning from her ankle injury Jan. 7, Shumpert has not been the dominant force the Lobos are used to. After missing the matchup at Colorado State (13-4, 5-1 MW), the 6-footer from Minnesota is only averaging 6.5 points and 4.5 boards per contest the past four games. Shumpert’s season averages 11.1 points and 6.5 rebounds have also taken a hit since her ankle injury.
Even with a less than 100 percent Shumpert, the Lobos have won three of the last four games. Shumpert is one of New Mexico’s more aggressive players and will need to mind her presence inside for UNM’s defense and avoid foul trouble for the Lobos to climb back into fourth place.
Liam Cary-Eaves is the assistant sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at assistantsports@dailylobo.com or on twitter at Liam_CE.
