Mustang News Staff Report

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Following a loss at New Mexico State on Tuesday, the Cal Poly women’s basketball team (4-6) dropped its third game in a row after an 84-68 loss at New Mexico (3-7) on Thursday.

Despite shooting 11-of-22 from three-point range, the Mustangs shot just 36 percent from the floor.

Senior guard Ariana Elegado — who shot 70 percent from downtown — and junior guard Kristen Ale were the only two Mustangs in double figures, though freshman guard Rachel Koehler showed promise with her 10-point, eight-rebound evening. Fellow freshman guard Lynn Leaupepe also contributed nine points off the bench. However, the freshman duo had seven points apiece to finish the first half, which concluded with the Mustangs behind 37-36.

Elegado and Ale were the leading scorers of the second half as well, scoring 13 and eight points, respectively. The Mustangs received just 11 points from the rest of their squad in the entire second half.

The Lobos only had three players in double figures. Junior forward Khadija Schumpert turned in a great performance, dropping 27 points while pulling down 12 rebounds.

Cal Poly was outscored in the paint 48 to 18 — a huge margin that proved to be the difference in the game. The Mustangs’ inability to score inside led to their low shooting percentage from the field. On the other side of the ball, the Lobos were able to shoot 50 percent from the field.

The polarized scoring trend for the Mustangs has affirmed head coach Faith Mimnaugh’s concern over who the scoring would come from. In the Mustangs’ last three games — all losses — the team has not had more than three players in double figures.

Against New Mexico, Cal Poly’s bench was outscored 38 to 22, and in the past three games it’s been outscored 85 to 56. It’s also shot less than 40 percent from the field in all those losses.

The development of the freshmen players will be very important in the early portion of this season. The first-half performances of Koehler and the Leaupepe twins is encouraging, and despite its 3-7 record, New Mexico lost by a narrow margin earlier in the season to No. 5 Stanford.

The Mustangs’ road trip concludes Dec. 21 at Colorado State.