Lobos face first road test at Houston
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| NEW MEXICO LOBOS 2-1 (0-0 MW) |
HOUSTON COUGARS 3-3 (0-0 AMERICAN) |
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Saturday, November 24 | 1 p.m. (MT) |
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Tipping Off
After first five games of the season were played in front of the best fans in college basketball at Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit, The University of New Mexico women’sbasketball team takes to the road
for the first time this weekend as they travel to Houston, Texas to take on the University of Houston on Saturday, November 24.
Both teams are coming off of a win in their last game with the Lobos beating Hartford 72-65 this past Sunday and Houston picking up an 83-72 road win over Columbia on Wednesday.
So far at home, the Cougars are 1-1 on the season with a double OT win over Georgia Tech and a 64-57 loss to Boston College. Last season, the Lobos were 5-7 on the road.
This year, the Lobos are averaging 76.7 points per game and have three players in double figures led by senior center Jaisa Nunn at 20.7 ppg. Freshman guard Jayla Everett is next at 17.0 ppg and redshirt junior Aisia Robertson rounds out double-digit scoring for UNM at 12.0 ppg.
On the other end of the court, the Cougars are averaging 80.2 ppg and have four players scoring 10.0 ppg or more. Houston is currently led in scoring by Jasmyne Harris at 19.7 ppg.
This will be the seventh meeting all-time between the Lobos and Cougars, but the first since 2012. Overall, the series is tied at 3-all. Two of Houston’s wins in the series have come at home.
Doubling Down
Senior center Jaisa Nunn and redshirt junior point guard Aisia Robertson each recorded double-doubles in the Lobos’ most-recent game against Hartford. Nunn had the traditional point-rebound
double-double with 32 points-11 rebounds. Robertson’s double-double was the point-assist variety with 10 points and 12 assists.
MW Player of the Week
In response to her monster double-double in UNM’s 72-65 win over Hartford, Jaisa Nunn was named as the Mountain West Player of the Week. It was the second MW Player of the Week award for Nunn in her career.
Everett’s Exciting Game
In just her second career college game, Jayla Everett showcased a glimpse at what might be an exciting career as a Lobo. In the game against Auburn, Everett scored a game-high 25 points on 7-of-11 shooting overall from floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. All but one of her field goal attempts in the game came from long range as she was 7-of-10 from deep and even started the game 5-of-5. The seven 3-pointers were the second-most in a game by a Lobo in program history.
Bradbury and Season-openers
With the 82-51 win over Texas State on Friday, head coach Mike Bradbury improved to 3-0 in season-openers while at the University of New Mexico. In his first season, UNM beat Fairleigh Dickinson 83- 56, and last year, the Lobos upended Western Michigan 88-76.
Dominant Debut
The Lobos’ 31-point margin of victory over Texas State (82-51) in the season-opener was the largest defeat UNM has placed on an opponent in a season-opener since the 2008-09 season when the Lobos beat Alcorn State by 56 points (94-38).
Aisia All over The Map
Redshirt junior Aisia Robertson had quite the debut for the Lobos. In her first collegiate action in over a year, the San Francisco, Calif. native flirted with a triple-double. Robertson would lead the team in scoring with 17 points while also dishing out nine assists and hauling in eight rebounds.
Block Party Hosted By McClure
Length and athleticism were projected to be a newfound strength of the 2018-19 Lobos and in the season-opener both were evident and led by Nike McClure. A senior transfer, McClure blocked six shots on her own as the Lobos would end the night with a new school-record 16.
Nunn’s Climb Up the All-Time Scoring List
Senior center Jaisa Nunn became the 22nd player in school history to score 1,000-career points at the end of her junior season. She ended that year 19th on the all-time scoring list. In her senior season, Nunn has the chance to climb the ranks even higher. She is currently 14th with 1,090 points.
Lobos Picked 5th in Preseason MW Poll
The Mountain West recently released its annual preseason predicted order of finish ahead of the 2018-19 women’s basketball season and UNM was picked fifth behind preseason favorite Boise State, UNLV, Fresno State and Wyoming. The Lobos were just eight points back of Wyoming as UNM garnered 150 points in the rankings.
Nunn Named Preseason All-MW
Senior center Jaisa Nunn continues to solicit a lot of preseason attention and deservedly so based off of her stellar junior season. The most-recent accolade to come Nunn’s way is inclusion on the 2018-19 Preseason All-Mountain West Team.
UNM and UCONN
In their first exhibition game of the season against NCAA Division II perennial power Lubbock Christian, the University of New Mexico did something to LCU that only one of the Division I women’s basketball team has done; that’s beat the Lady Chaps in an exhibition. Prior to the Lobos’ 62-55 win over Lubbock Christian, LCU was 4-1 all-time in exhibition games versus DI opponents with the lone loss coming at the hands of UConn in 2015.
Unblemished in Exhibition games
The Lobos went 2-0 in their exhibition games ahead of the start of the 2018-19 season. The Lobos are now 6-0 under head coach Mike Bradbury in exhibition games.
Shaking Off First Game Jitters
While none of the stats count during exhibition games, there was marked improvement from the first exhibition game to the second for several newcomers for the Lobos. In the exhibition opener against Lubbock Christian, true freshmen, Jayla Everett, Ahlise Hurst, Bre’Asiajah Mathews, and Quincy Noble combined to score three (3) points on 1-of-23 shooting overall from the floor. In the second exhibition game, however, those same four combined to score 37 points on 14-of-21 shooting overall from the floor.
Nunn Like Her
Jaisa Nunn set herself apart from many of her counterparts last season as the rising senior was the lone player in the Mountain West to average a double (points/rebounds). In her junior campaign, Nunn was the team’s leading scorer and ranked second in the MW with 17.0 ppg while also topping the team and league in rebounds at 10.2 Already a 1,000-point career scorer, Nunn is within striking distance of becoming a 1,000-rebounder as well. The most rebounds in a career is 982 held by Carol Moreland. Nunn is already in the Top-10 all time at UNM, ranking 10th with 654.
Nunn Named to Lisa Leslie Watch List
Prior to the 2018-19 season tip-off, UNM senior Jaisa Nunn been named to the preseason watch list for the 2019 Lisa Leslie Award. Entering its second year and named after the three-time All-American and 1994 National Player of the Year, the Lisa Leslie Award recognizes the top centers in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball and is a part of the larger Naismith Starting 5, honoring the best players at each position.
Nunn is among 20 to be on the initial watch list, and is one of two from the Mountain West.