New Mexico at Air Force
6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017
Clune Arena – USAF Academy, Colo.
UNM NOTES | WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Following the most successful run through a non-conference schedule in program history, The University of New Mexico women’s basketball program embarks upon Mountain West play 6 p.m. Thursday as the Lobos travel to take on Air Force.
The Lobos and their 12-1 record is the best one-loss start in school history, topping the 11-1 start by the 2008-09 team.
The Lobos, 18th in RPI and receiving votes in both the AP Media and USA Today Coaches Top 25 Polls, bounced back from their first loss of the season at Oklahoma in a big way as UNM defeated Lamar 90-58 Dec. 20 in Albuquerque behind a record-breaking effort from Tesha Buck.
The senior scored a school-record 40 points while draining a school and conference record 10 3-pointers. Buck finished 15-for-21 from the field and 10-for-16 from 3-point range. She’s the seventh player in Mountain West history to reach the 40-point mark and is the 58th women’s player in NCAA history to hit 10 or more 3-pointers in a game. She also added seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
Along with Buck’s huge night, Alex Lapeyrolerie had 15 points and four assists, Cherise Beynon had 11 points and 14 assists (one off her own UNM record), Jaisa Nunn had eight points, 17 rebounds and a career-high four blocks and N’Dea Flye had eight points, six rebounds and five assists.
As a team, the Lobos shot 53 percent (35-for-66) from the field and were 15-for-40 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc – a school record for 3-point attempts.
Though Air Force has dropped all 11 of their contests, seven of those contests have been by 10 points or less – including four by three points or less.
The Falcons are going to try and slow the pace down as they haven’t allowed more than 76 points in a game this season, including allowing just 62 in a 12-point loss to No. 3 Louisville in their last game on Dec. 20. But, on the flip side, Air Force has struggled to score as it hasn’t reached the 70-point mark yet this season and is averaging 56.0 points per game – ranked 319th out of 345 teams in NCAA Division I.
Air Force has been led this season by Kaelin Immel, who is averaging 12.8 points per game and has hit a team-high 21 3-pointers on the season (30 percent from behind the arc). Emily Conroe (9.8) and Cortney Porter (9.2) are the only other players averaging above 7.0 points per game. Porter is 17th in the country in steals per game at 3.27.
SERIES HISTORY
The Lobos are 39-2 against Air Force all-time, including 16-2 at the U.S. Air Force Academy. UNM has won eight straight against the Falcons with their last loss to Air Force coming Feb. 29, 2012, on the road (52-47). Prior to that loss, the Lobos had won 31 straight as UNM’s only other loss to Air Force came in the teams’ first meeting Jan. 2, 1992, at Air Force (61-41). Last season the Lobos played the Falcons just once, defeating Air Force in Albuquerque, 81-64.
THE COACHES
The Lobos are led by head coach Mike Bradbury in his second season with UNM, his 11th season overall. Bradbury posts a career record of 205-133 and is 27-15 at the helm of the Lobos.
Air Force is coached by Chris Gobrecht who is 5-64 in her third season with the Falcons and 547-538 overall as a head coach (38th season).
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Thursday’s game will be available to watch live on the Mountain West Network. Fans can also follow live via live stats (click here) or fans can also listen in on the radio. Josh Suchon will be on the call on 610 AM (click here to listen).