Lobos return home, take on Utah St. on Wednesday
New Mexico (16-6, 4-5) vs. Utah St. (5-16, 3-7)
7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018
Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team returns home for the first time in two weeks as the Lobos host Utah State 7 p.m. Wednesday at Dreamstyle Arena.
The Lobos, who are 15th in the nation in attendance at 5,160 per game, are playing in front of their home fans for the first time since Jan. 17 and are hoping that push will end their three-game losing skid.
The Lobos dropped a tough one Saturday afternoon at Colorado State, falling in overtime to the Rams 74-71 – a place the Lobos haven’t won in since 2013.
UNM sent the game into overtime on a putback by Jaisa Nunn with 2.2 seconds remaining and scored the first four points of overtime to take a 71-67 lead – but didn’t score in the final three-plus minutes of the game, including a pair of potential game-tying 3-point attempts. The game was tied 71-71 with under 30 seconds left before the Rams drained a 3-pointer to take the lead for good.
Cherise Beynon after a school-record 41 points against San Diego State in the previous game again paced the Lobos with 30 points and a season-high 13 rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Jaisa Nunn picked up her 11th double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds while N’Dea Flye had 12 points and five rebounds.
Utah State bounced back after falling to Air Force in their previous game (the Falcons’ first win of the season) to defeat Fresno State at home 60-52 on Saturday. The Aggies jumped out to a 19-2 lead after the first quarter and held on from there to pick up their third win in Mountain West play. Hailey Bassett paced Utah State with 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, Olivia West had 12 points while Shannon Dufficy had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Aggies have been led by their defense this season as they are allowing 66.8 points per game this season – fifth in the Mountain West. Teams are shooting 41.0 percent against Utah State this season, sixth in the conference, while they lead the conference in blocks per game (4.3). Offensively the Aggies are the second-lowest scoring team in the Mountain West (58.9).
Olivia West leads Utah State in scoring at 12.7 points per game and is the Aggies’ top 3-point threat (only player averaging more than one make per game as she’s 35-for-101 for the season) while Rachel Brewster is also averaging double figures at 10.2 points per game. Shannon Dufficy is the team’s top rebounder at 8.2 per game while Eliza West leads the team in assists with 84.
SERIES HISTORY
The Lobos are 15-6 all-time against Utah State, including winning both meetings last season (78-67 in Albuquerque, 68-58 in Logan). UNM has won the last three matchups and four of the last five since dropping all three matchups to the Aggies during the 2014 season (including in the Mountain West Tournament – Utah State’s first season in the Mountain West). The teams didn’t play each other from 1987-2014 with the first-ever meeting coming Feb. 8, 1975.
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 209-138 and is 31-21 at the helm of the Lobos.
Utah State is coached by Jerry Finkbeiner and he’s 77-101 in his sixth season with the Aggies and is 551-343 in his 29th season as a collegiate head coach.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Wednesday’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 and Lobo basketball alum Nikki Lobato will be on the call on 610 AM (click here to listen).