Lobos open California road swing at San Jose St.
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| NEW MEXICO LOBOS 19-3 (9-2 MW) |
SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS 2-19 (1-9 MW) |
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Wednesday, February 13 | 8 p.m. (MT) |
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Tipping Off
The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team is already 11 games into their Mountain West schedule and have played both San Diego State and UNLV twice, but there are still a pair of teams that the Lobos have yet to play. On Wednesday, that list will dwindle to one as the Lobos will play their first game against San Jose State this season. The game will be played on the road where the Lobos are 4-2 all time against the Spartans and is also a part of a larger California swing that will see UNM play at Fresno State this coming Saturday.
The Lobos will enter the match-up at San Jose State at 19-3 overall and are in second place in the league standings at 9-2. Conversely, the Spartans will enter the game at 2-19 overall and are in 11th place in the standings at 1-9.
Statistically, the Lobos have the highest scoring offense in the league at 75.7 ppg and the best scoring margin at +12.5 ppg. Three Lobos are currently averaging double figures and are led by Jaisa Nunn at 16.5 ppg. Nunn’s scoring average is currently second in the league.
On the other end of the court, the Spartans are eighth in the league in scoring offense at 61.5 ppg. Their scoring defense of 76.2 ppg and scoring margin of -14.7 are 11th in the conference. No Spartans are averaging double figures, but there are three players at 8.9 ppg or higher. Raziya Potter is the leading scorer at 9.5 ppg.
Efficient Attack vs. Nevada
One game after having their lowest shooting percentage of the season on the road at San Diego State, the Lobos completely turned that around at home against Nevada with their best shooting percentage performance.
In the game at SDSU, the Lobos 32% (22-of-69). In the game against Nevada, the Lobos shot 59% overall from the floor (31-of-53). In the first half alone against the Wolfpack, UNM virtually did not miss as they shot 73% overall (19-of-26).
#PackingThePit
Dreamstyle Arena – The Pit is one of the legendary venues for Division I college basketball in the country, not just for men’s but also for women’s. In the 20th year of the Mountain West, the UNM women’s basketball team has led the league and ranked in the Top-20 nationally in attendance each year. The 2018-19 season has been no different. Currently, the Lobos are the top drawing team in the league and rank 11th nationally at average of 5,179 fans a game. In their last two home games, the Lobos brought in a total of 14,384 fans. The first of those games saw 8,068 fans and was their highest attendance since 2015.
Lobos Loading up on MW Player of Week
Earlier this season, the Lobos had a stranglehold on Mountain West Player of the Week as three out of the first four weeks were Lobos that earned the award. Additionally, the awards came in succession beginning with Jaisa Nunn (11/19). Aisia Robertson (11/26) followed the next week and Ahlise Hurst (12/3) capped the three-week run. It was the second time in as many seasons that the Lobos had three-consecutive MW Player of the Week honors.
UNM did not receive another weekly honor the next seven weeks, but freshman Jayla Everett became the fourth Lobo to earn MW Player of the Week for the final week of January. A week after that,
Nunn repeated as league player of the week, giving the Lobos five this season.
Balanced Scoring
The Lobos have played 22 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 three times this year. The first two instances were accomplished by Aisia Robertson while the most-recent was done by Jaisa Nunn.
Assists by Aisia
In 22 games, redshirt junior Aisia Robertson has been an assist machine. With 158 total assists currently, Robertson has not had fewer than four dimes in a game, and against Oklahoma, Robertso
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. 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 56 total blocked shots is currently 16th in DI, while her 2.6 blocks per game is 15th in the country. As a team, the Lobos are fifth 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 1,391 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 845. 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.
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.