The next two games for the Lobos present a great opportunity to discuss the unbalanced schedule that happens in the Mountain West. The Lobos’ next two games are against the only two teams that they play once this season in SJSU (at home) and Air Force (on the road). Because of the current structure of the Mountain West, with 11 teams and an 18-game conference schedule, every year each team plays two teams only a single time, with both a home and away matchup against the other eight teams. Since the start of the 2013-2014 season, when that structure was put in place, the conference has seen a few teams get unfair unbalanced schedules (both good and bad). This has led to some unfair advantages, and in some cases, huge disadvantages. First off, we will look at each year and see what the numbers tell us and break down who caught the breaks in the schedule and who didn’t for all 11 teams. Then, we will look at the possible solutions for this problem, and determine if there is a way that to bring as much schedule balance as possible.
Author: Zach
Women’s Basketball vs. Nevada Game Preview
The Lobos (10-9, 6-3) return home for a three-game home stand, starting Saturday night against a struggling Nevada (8-11, 2-6) squad. The Lobos won the first meeting in Reno 69-63, even without the services of Alex Lapeyrolerie. However, the other three guards did well filling in for her, combining for 53 points (Cherise Beynon 25, Mykiel Burleson 18 and Jayda Bovero 10). If the Lobos can take care of the ball better in this game (17 turnovers in the first meeting), they should be able to win this game going away.
Women’s Basketball at Wyoming Game Preview
The Lobos (9-8, 5-2) return to Mountain West road play today, as they head to Laramie to take on the first-place Wyoming Cowgirls (14-3, 6-0). This will be one of the toughest games the Lobos will have this year, playing on the road against a very good Cowgirls team that plays great defense and has the best offense in the conference. The Lobos need to bring their A+ game to have a decent shot to win the game. The Lobos must shoot the ball well and limit their mistakes on both offense and defense to come away with the huge road win.
Women’s Basketball vs. CSU Game Preview
The Lobos (8-7, 4-1) dropped their first Mountain West game of the season on Wednesday at UNLV, thanks to some offensive struggles. They scored only 42 points in the loss, shooting 21.9% from the floor and didn’t hit a three-pointer (0-19) in the game. Losing at UNLV isn’t a terrible loss, even with the Rebels being short-handed for the matchup, and one has to think that they won’t go 0-19 from the three point line regularly. Even with that loss, the Lobos are still in a good position in the conference standings, and have two very important home games this week against two of the top teams in CSU and BSU. The first game is the annual Pack The PIT promotion game against the CSU Rams (11-5, 3-1), who went a perfect 21-0 against Mountain West teams last season, sweeping the Regular and Tournament Championships. The Lobo offense will once again be tested, this time against the best defensive team in the conference. For the Lobos to give themselves the best chance to win, it may be best suited to slow things down a little and make sure to get the ball inside to Rachelle van der Keijl and Jaisa Nunn.
Women’s Basketball at Nevada Game Preview
The Lobos (7-6, 3-0) return to Mountain West road action with their first of two road games this week in the state of Nevada. First stop on the trip for the first-place Lobos is a game against the last-place Nevada Wolf Pack (6-8, 0-3). The Lobos should be able to find it easy to score in this game, as the Wolf Pack may have the worst defense in the conference. If the Lobos can take care of the ball and force a turnover prone Wolf Pack team over, the Lobos should be able to win this game easily. Road games in conference play tend to be tougher than they should be, so the Lobos must show up and play a good game to improve to 4-0 in conference play.
Women’s Baskeball vs Utah State Preview
The Lobos (6-6, 2-0) return to action after their second straight dominating performance to start out Mountain West play. Neither the game at Fresno State nor against San Diego State were ever in question. In fact, the only thing that made you hold your breath during either game was when Lobo wing Alex Lapeyrolerie was face down on the floor for an extended period. Good news for the Lobos is Lapeyrolerie should only miss a couple of games due to concussion protocol, instead of it being something far more serious. Tonight, the Lobos will host a solid Utah State Aggies (8-5, 1-1) team, who are looking for a huge road win. The Lobos must find players to fill the void left by the Lapeyrolerie injury, but I think that the Lobos should be able to handle the Aggies in The PIT.
Our Top Lobo Memories from 2016
2016 is finally, mercifully behind us. And while the year has been a rough one in a lot of ways, we still ended up with a lot of great memories from following the Lobos over the past 12 months. Without further ado, here are our favorite Lobo memories from the past year.
Women’s Basketball at Fresno State Preview
The Lobos (4-6) have finished their non-conference schedule (depending on whether or not the Eastern Illinois game is rescheduled), and will open their Mountain West schedule on the road against the Fresno State Bulldogs (7-4). This game has a chance to be a building block for the Lobos, as a win at Fresno State will give them a huge conference road win and a leg up on the conference. While I don’t think the Lobos are in the top tier of the conference right now, road wins would help push the Lobos into that conversation. One thing that will be interesting to watch in this game is which team is can force their tempo on the other team. The Lobos so far this season have done a great job of dictating their tempo and playing around 78 possession per game, while Fresno tends to try to slow things down. Whichever team gets the tempo they want could decide the outcome of the game.
Women’s Basketball Conference Preview
With non-conference play now finished for the Mountain West women’s basketball programs, each team is ready for the grind of conference play. The Lobos (4-6) look to be in the middle of the conference ladder right now, but conference play can change things in a hurry. While the non-conference schedule didn’t give the results everyone wanted to see, they did show great promise in a few of the games, including the drumming of NMSU at home. The Lobos have the talent to make things difficult for the top contenders for the conference title, and could find themselves in the top tier of the conference. With the lack of advanced statistics on the women’s side, it’s a little difficult to compare how the teams have performed, but I’ll give it a shot.
Women’s Basketball Game 10 Preview: Marquette
The Lobos (4-5) return to action Wednesday, when they travel to take on a very good Marquette Golden Eagles (8-2) team. It has been a while since the Lobos have played a game, as their scheduled game against Eastern Illinois on Sunday was postponed due to weather. There is question if that game will be able to be made up, since it is getting close to conference play and the players will be able to head home after the game against Marquette. As for this game, this could very well be the best team the Lobos will face this season, as they will be tasked with challenge of stopping a great Marquette offense. It will be very important for the Lobos to take care of the ball and have a great shooting day, which is a possibility, since Marquette isn’t a great defensive team.