Lobos get Broncos as early Christmas gift

Crunch time has arrived earlier than usual for Mountain West women's basketball teams this season.

It tips off Wednesday night.

In previous years, Santa Claus had come and gone by the time MWC teams started their conference schedules. But league play increased from 18 to 20 games this year, meaning carols and holiday gift exchanges will have to wait.

New Mexico and Boise State, two teams who might have the Grinch to thank for their conference-opening schedules, will square off in an intriguing showdown Wednesday in the Pit. UNM (8-3) and BSU (9-2) are off to strong starts and widely expected to be among the Mountain West's top contenders this season.

Neither team is getting any sort of holiday break, however. The Lobos visit defending champ UNLV on Saturday, while the Broncos head west to play San Diego State.

"We played a good non-conference schedule and I think we're pretty well prepared," UNM coach Mike Bradbury said. "We're going to find out right away. Going to UNLV is never easy and Boise State is one of the top two teams in the league — definitely a challenging start."

Colorado State, which has road wins at Gonzaga and Oregon State, has the MWC's best Net ranking at 58. Boise State, UNM and San Diego State have also established themselves as contenders with strong non-conference performances, while UNLV played arguably the league's toughest early schedule and cannot be overlooked.

Destinee Hooks, UNM's top scorer at 15.0 points per game, said the Lobos are looking forward to facing two top contenders before the holiday break.

"It's super exciting," Hooks said. "Boise State and UNLV are top teams in our conference, so we're excited to play them first and see what we can do against them and see how we match up. We're ready to get it going."

Wednesday's opener figures to be a shootout as Boise State and New Mexico rank 1-2, respectively, among MWC teams in scoring offense. The Broncos and Lobos also have more key players back than most of their league rivals, and they split a pair of high-scoring, entertaining games last season. BSU won 89-80 in Idaho, and UNM pulled out an 88-83 overtime victory in the Pit.

Perimeter shooting will be key to this year's matchups as both teams rely heavily on 3-pointers. UNM leads the conference in made 3's (97) and attempts (303), while the Broncos rank first (and No. 3 nationally) in 3-point percentage at 41%.

"They shoot unbelievably well from 3," Bradbury said. "(Natalie Pasco, Dani Bayes and Mya Hansen) take almost all of their 3's and they all shoot great percentages. Pasco is at 51%, which is pretty amazing this far into the season."

The Lobos will do their best to slow down Boise State's gunners, but they can ill-afford to forget about leading scorer and MWC Preseason Player of the Year Tatum Thompson.

"Transition defense will be key for us," Bradbury said, "because (the Broncos) like to run early offense and score fast."

But don't expect UNM to back off of it's own up-tempo style. Depth, quickness and defensive pressure have been the Lobos' calling cards this season, and Bradbury's team also looks to strike in transition whenever it can.

Senior Alyssa Hargrove believes UNM is in the right frame of mind to face back-to-back Mountain West contenders.

"The last couple wins (over Arizona and Houston) were big for us," she said. "I think games like that gave our young players a taste of what conference is going to be like. We're playing two of the top teams right away, but I like that. I think it's an exciting way to start."