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| NEW MEXICO LOBOS 17-2 (7-1 MW) |
FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS 13-6 (6-2 MW) |
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Saturday, February 2 | 2 p.m. |
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Tipping Off
Nearly at the halfway point of the Mountain West schedule, the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team is in first place in the league standings at 7-1. With a mid-week bye on Wednesday, the Lobos are set for their lone action this week on Saturday afternoon at home against Fresno State. The game with the Bulldogs will feature a lot on the line as Fresno State is currently third in the league standings and one game back of the Lobos at 6-2. The Bulldogs are coming off a 63-56 loss at home against Wyoming,
With their mid-week bye, the Lobos will enter the game at 17-2 overall and 7-1 in MW play. They are also now receiving votes in both the AP and WBCA Top-25 national polls. The Lobos currently have the top scoring offense in the league at 75.8 ppg and the best scoring margin at +13.6 ppg. Defensively, UNM has the fifth-best opponent scoring average at 62.2 ppg. Individually, the Lobos have three players averaging double figures led by Jaisa Nunn at 15.4 ppg. Right behind her is Aisia Robertson at 15.1 ppg. Current MW Player of Week Jayla Everett rounds out double-figure scoring at 13.8 ppg.
The Bulldogs currently have the fourth-best scoring offense, scoring defense and scoring margin in the league at 71.2 ppg, 62.1 ppg, and +9.1 ppg respectively. Fresno State also has three players in double figures including the league’s leading scorer in Candice White at 19.3 ppg.
Everett Clutch vs. Utah State
True freshman Jayla Everett played beyond her experience in the Lobos’ road game at Utah State and was absolutely clutch with the game on the line. Everett would go on to score a game-high 22 points, but the final five were the most important. With the score tied at 62-all with 51 seconds to go, Everett swished her sixth three-pointer of the game to give the Lobos the lead. She would help keep UNM out in front for the victory as she added two free throws in the final seconds as well.
Everett Becomes Fourth MW POW
That Utah State game for Everett was a continuation of her performance earlier in the week against UNLV. In that contest, Everett also made six 3s and scored 23 points. For the week, Everett
would average 22.5 ppg and knocked down a dozen triples en route to earning MW Player of the Week honors. She is now the fourth different Lobo this season to earn the distinction joining the likes of Ahlise Hurst, Jaisa Nunn and Aisia Robertson who all were named in consecutive weeks.
Overtime Thriller against UNLV
In their January 23 game against UNLV, the Lobos avenged their first conference loss of the season as they knocked off the Lady Rebels in overtime inside The Pit. The game was forced into OT as the Lady Rebels banked in a long distance three-pointer with just over three seconds left in regulation. In the extra period, play remained tight and with 5.3 seconds to go, Jaisa Nunn scored the game-winning bucket and converted an and-one opportunity to give the Lobos an 80-77 win.
Balanced Scoring
The Lobos have played 19 games this season and have shown that their offensive production can come from a number of different places on any given game. Thus far, the Lobos have had six different leading scorers. Two of those have been efforts off the bench by Jaedyn De La Cerda and Madi Washington. An even more impressive note on the balanced scoring is the fact that the Lobos have had the same leading scorer in consecutive games just twice this year. Each time it has been Aisia Robertson (vs. NMSU (23 pts), 12-1-18; UTEP (20 pts), 12-5-18 & vs. San Diego St. (19 pts, 1/16/19; at Wyoming (24 pts), 1/19/19).
Assists by Aisia
In 19 games, redshirt junior Aisia Robertson has been an assist machine. With 138 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 also ranked fifth.
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. 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 50 total blocked shots is currently 10th in DI, while her 2.6 blocks per game is 13th in the country. As a team, the Lobos are second in the country in blocked shots per game.
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 9th with 1,319 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 3rd with 817. Now that she has eclipsed 800 rebounds, Nunn is one of three players all-time with over 1,000-career points and 800-career 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.
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.