The New Mexico women's basketball team will travel to Lubbock, Texas on Sunday to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders in an out-of-conference matchup.
The Lobos (2-0) — coming off of winning both of their regular season games so far this season — will have their hands full against a Texas Tech (1-1) team that can put up a lot of points. This is the 18th matchup between the two teams, and Texas Tech leads the series 14-3.
Lobo head coach Mike Bradbury had a lot of praise for the Red Raiders, saying the team finds ways to put up points in a variety of way.
“Texas Tech — they're really good offensively,” Bradbury said. “They can score inside and out; they can really shoot the three, and they're really athletic.”
Texas Tech’s offense already seems to be clicking, as they scored 90 points in an overtime loss to Texas A&M on Thursday, a team that has been lauded for its ability to shut down teams on defense.
The Red Raiders bring back guard Ivonne Cook-Taylor for her final season, along with several other starters. Cook-Taylor led the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game during the 2015-2016 campaign.
New Mexico’s Richelle van der Keijl and Kianna Keller have proven to be capable defensive threats. In the team’s 84-55 win over New Mexico State, the duo accounted for over half of the Lobos’ rebounds, reeling in 30 out of the team’s 57, and also had seven of the team’s 11 blocks.
Sunday’s game might be Keller and van der Keijl’s first challenge in the post, since Texas Tech has two comparable players. Center Erin Degrate and forward Brittany Brewer both stand at 6 feet 5 inches. The Red Raiders also have another big in center Jada Terry, who's a transfer from Texas A&M University.
Keller still appears to be a bit passive on offense, but van der Keijl’s presence has been a big one since joining the Lobos. In the season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson, van der Keijl poured in 20 points, and followed that up with 19 against NMSU.
Guard Alex Lapeyrolerie’s 3-point shooting has made her an offensive threat for the Lobos as well as she led the team in scoring both games. In the season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson, she scored a game-high 21 points on 6-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc, and scored 22 against NMSU on a slightly less efficient 5-for-12 shooting night from behind the 3-point line.
Although Lapeyrolerie logs about the same amount of minutes as a starter, Bradbury believes her role off of the bench is a good fit for both the team and her.
“I think that's a good role for her,” Bradbury said. “I think that's a good role for Jaisa (Nunn) too. I mean, they might be our second and third-best players.”
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Jaisa Nunn has opened up 2016 strong, especially on the offensive end, putting on a clinic against NMSU.
Nunn scored 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting, and also hit her first career 3-pointer as a Lobo.
Bradbury had a lot of praise for Nunn, saying there isn’t anyone on the team more talented than her.
The Lobos will travel for the first time this season to take on Texas Tech on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed live on Fox Sports Southwest.
Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women's basketball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz.
