Lobos back on the road at UNLV
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| NEW MEXICO LOBOS 12-1 (2-0 MW) |
UNLV LADY REBELS 2-11 (0-2 MW) |
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Wednesday, January 9 | 7 p.m. (MT) |
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Tipping Off
One of four teams off to a 2-0 start in the Mountain West, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team heads back out on the road to the Silver State as they are set to take on UNLV on
Saturday. The Lady Rebels were picked to finish second in the Mountain West in the preseason predicted order of finish, but are one of three teams that are off to an 0-2 start in league play.
Overall, UNLV is 2-11 overall. Their last two games were played on the road where they are now 0-6. At home, however, the Lady Rebels are 2-5. The Lobos will enter the game 12-1 overall and are on a 11-game winning streak. A majority of the wins have come at home for the Lobos, but they are also proving to be a tough team on the road as they are 4-0 away from Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit.
Statistically, the Lady Rebels are averaging 56.4 ppg on offense and are allowing 64.7 ppg defensively. The offensive scoring ranks 11th in the Mountain West while their scoring defense is eighth. The Lobos are currently averaging 78.2 ppg on offense and are allowing 60.0 ppg defensively. On offense, the Lobos lead the league, while their defensive scoring ranks third.
The Lady Rebels currently have two players in double figures led by preseason All-Mountain West pick Katie Powell. The Lobos have three players in double figures and are led by Aisia Robertson at 15.4 ppg.
Fending Off The Wolfpack
Going into their road game at Nevada, the Lobos had won 10 in a row with the last seven by double digits. On average during that specific seven-game stretch, the Lobos had a scoring margin of +27.3 as their smallest margin of victory was 18 against UTEP.
At times against Nevada it looked like the Lobos may have been on their way to an eighth-straight double-digit win, but the Wolfpack battled to tie the game late before Aisia Robertson had a go-ahead
and eventual game-winning breakaway layup with just under a minute to go to give the Lobos a two-point victory, 66-64. That is the smallest margin of victory this season for the Lobos with the previous being four points at home against Oklahoma. UNM is also 4-1 in games decided by nine points or less.
Double-Digit Streak
For the second-straight season, the UNM women’s basketball team has put together a winning streak that has reached double digits. Last year, the team opened their season on an 11-game winning streak to tie the program record with the 2003-04 and 1977-78 seasons. Their current streak is also at 11 games.
Shai’s Emergence
True freshman Shaiquel McGruder has began to emerge as steady option off the bench for the Lobos. McGruder started her collegiate career emphatically with a 6-point, 13-rebound performance in 17 minutes in the season-opener against Texas State, but over the Lobos next eight games, McGruder played just 30 minutes in seven games and had seven points and nine rebounds.
Over the last four games, however, McGruder is averaging 14.8 minutes a game and is the fourth-leading scorer with 7.8 ppg and is the third-leading rebounder at 5.3 rpg. Against Air Force, McGruder
fell just shy of her first career double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Back-2-Back-2-Back MW PoW
For the second time in as many seasons, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team has had three-straight Mountain West Player of the Week honorees. Last season, the Lobos were the first to achieve such as feat since San Diego State did in 2008-09 as Cherise Beynon, Jaisa Nunn, and Tesha Buck claimed the first three weekly conference awards.
This year, Nunn started the run of MW Player of the Week honors as she had a monster double-double in UNM’s 72-65 win over Hartford. In that game, Nunn scored 32 points and hauled in 11 rebounds.
A week later, Aisia Robertson matched that double-double and even added to it by posting a triple-double in the Lobos’ 89-84 double OT win at Houston. In that game, Robertson scored 28 points and had 11 rebounds and 11 assists.
Most-recently, Ahlise Hurst garnered the award as she averaged 25.0 ppg and buried 12 three-pointers in UNM’s home wins against Oklahoma and New Mexico State. In the game against the Sooners, Hurst exploded for 39 points to set a new UNM and MW record for most points scored in a game by a freshman.
Hurst Sets Freshman Scoring Record
In just her fifth collegiate game and making her second start as a Lobo, true freshman Ahlise Hurst etched her name in the UNM and Mountain West women’s basketball record books against Oklahoma has she set a new freshman record for points in a game with 39. The previous record was 35 points by Yvonne McKinnon against Adams State in 1982.
Hurst, who had been averaging 5.8 ppg heading into the contest, heated up quickly as she surpassed her previous single-game high in scoring in just the first quarter as she had 12 points. For the game Hurst’s 39 points came on 14-of-24 shooting overall and 9-of-17 from three-point range.
Her nine three’s are the second-most makes from long distance in a game in school history.
Assists by Aisia
Through 13 games, redshirt junior Aisia Robertson has been an assist machine. With 102 total assists currently, Robertson has not had fewer than four dimes in a game, and against Oklahoma, Robertson set a new single-game record with 16 assists. Her assists per game are currently fifth in NCAA DI while her total assists are ranked sixth.
Block Party Hosted By McClure
Length and athleticism were projected to be a newfound strength of the 2018-19 Lobos and thus far, senior transfer Nike McClure has exemplified that on the court and is blocking shots at a high clip. In the season-opener against Texas State, McClure blocked six shots on her own as the Lobos would end the night with a new school-record 16. Against Oklahoma, McClure swatted nine shot attempts by the Sooners to set a new single-game high for herself as a Lobo. McClure’s 37 total blocked shots is currently tied for 10th in DI, while her 2.8 blocks per game is ninth in the country. As a team, the Lobos lead the country in blocked shots per game.
3-x-1
In UNM’s road game at Houston, redshirt junior point guard Aisia Robertson did something only three other Lobo women’s basketball players have done, and that’s post a triple-double in a game. It was the seventh overall in program history and the first in the career of Robertson. Former players Cherise Beynon (3 times), Carol Moreland (twice) and Jean Rostermundt account for the other six
instances.
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 11th with 1,217 points.
Cleaning the Glass
Already a 1,000-point career scorer and climbing up the all-time ranks at UNM, Jaisa Nunn is also climbing the all-time list for rebounding at UNM. The program record for the most rebounds in a career is 982 held by Carol Moreland. Nunn currently ranks 5th with 764.