Finally, Lobo hoops women get to play for their fans

Oct. 31—For the University of New Mexico women's basketball team, Sunday has been a long time coming.

The Lobos will make their first public appearance at the Pit since 2020, hosting Western Colorado for a season-opening exhibition contest at 2 p.m.

The fun will start 30 minutes earlier for coach Mike Bradbury's team, which will celebrate last season's Mountain West regular-season championship with a ring ceremony. The unlikely conference title capped a pandemic-impacted season during which UNM played all but two of its games outside its home state.

The Lobos secured their first regular-season MWC crown since 2004-05 and their first-ever outright crown. Something to celebrate in front of the home fans, Bradbury said.

"I'm excited and the team's really excited to play here with fans," he said. "I think the ring ceremony will be pretty cool. I'm curious to see what the turnout will be like."

There are no attendance restrictions, but fans will be required to wear masks when not eating or drinking in compliance with the state's latest public health order.

Many players on this year's squad, including four (LaTascya and LaTora Duff, Kath van Bennekom and Nevaeh Parkinson) who will receive championship rings, have yet to play in front of the Pit faithful.

"It's exciting for them, for all of us," senior Antonia Anderson said. "One of the main reasons a lot of us came to New Mexico is the fan support. We definitely missed that last year."

Once the ring ceremony concludes, fans will get their first look at this year's UNM team, one that includes six freshmen. Bradbury hopes to give playing time to all 12 available players on his roster, but that game plan could change depending on how the game progresses.

"The plan is to play everybody for the first three quarters," he said. "In the fourth quarter we'll try to win. But plans can definitely change. Western Colorado is good."

The Mountaineers return two of their top three scorers from 2020-21, when they finished 14-6 and qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament. Leading scorer Hannah Cooper transferred to Oral Roberts, but Western Colorado added a quality replacement in 6-foot senior Grace Kirscher, a three-year starter at Eastern Washington.

Exhibition game or not, UNM will try to get into the up-tempo, high-octane offense that fueled last season's championship run. All the new faces will not alter the concept, though Bradbury said his team only has about 30% of its offense in place.

"That's pretty typical for a first game," he said, "but I'm not sure we ever got more than 30% in last year. The good news is we're not really changing anything on offense this year. The new players really fit with what we do."

Senior Shaiquel McGruder believes this year's squad could be better in transition than last year's 14-5 squad. She concedes there remains plenty of fine-tuning yet to do, but McGruder believes the Lobos have a legitimate chance to host another ring ceremony before next season's opener.

"Winning a championship last year was a big thing for us," she said. "We've got a lot of key players back and we're confident. Putting that championship banner up felt really good — makes you want another one."

Sunday

Women: Western Colorado at UNM (exhibition), 2 p.m., 610 AM/95.9 FM