by Written by: Silas Albright
RENO, Nev. – The valiant Wolf Pack comeback effort fell just short Saturday afternoon against New Mexico as the team dropped a 69-63 decision, nearly handing the Lobos their first conference loss.
A red hot start to the game for New Mexico (8-6, 4-0 MW) provided an early 16 point first quarter cushion that the Wolf Pack would ultimately be unable to recover from. The Lobos started the game shooting 5-of-6 from beyond the arc that gave themselves an early 19-4 lead. The Lobos led by as many as 18 points in the second quarter.
The Pack showed a lot of fight and would be able to cut its deficit to just three points with one minute left to play but couldn’t quite take control. Cherise Beynon scored 25 points for the Lobos to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Mykiel Burleson scored 16 of her 18 points in the first quarter and added seven rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore Terae Briggs (Crow Tribe) led the Wolf Pack (6-9, 0-4 MW) with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor to go along with seven rebounds. Fellow sophomore AJ Cephas also played well for Nevada, finishing with six points, 11 rebounds and matched a career-high with six blocks. Cephas also surpassed the 300 career point plateau in today’s game.
Sophomore MorningRose Tobey (Assiniboine Sioux) played very efficiently, finishing with seven points on 3-of-3 from the floor and grabbing a career-high six rebounds. Tobey also picked up two steals and two assists in the game. Sophomore Riana Everidge finished with 13 points and four assists but shot just 5-of-17 from the floor. Everidge took the most shots on the team while only logging 19 minutes of playing time.
As a team, the Wolf Pack was uncharacteristically outrebounded 52-37. Nevada shot just 32.9 percent (24-of-73) from the floor. The Wolf Pack held New Mexico to 35.4 percent (23-of-65) from the floor and also forced 17 Lobo turnovers. The Wolf Pack shared the ball very well as nine of the 10 Pack players that saw the court recorded points and set a season-low with just 11 turnovers.
Nevada will enjoy a bye next week and get back on the court next Saturday, Jan. 14 when it hosts Wyoming at 4 p.m. in Lawlor Events Center.
