Lobos and Lady Rebels to play Wednesday night
 |
 |
| NEW MEXICO LOBOS 15-2 (5-1 MW) |
UNLV LADY REBELS 5-11 (3-2 MW) |
|
Wednesday, January 23 | 7 p.m. |
|
Tipping Off
Two weeks since their first meeting of the season, the University of New Mexico and UNLV women’s basketball teams are set to face off once more, this time in the Duke City. The first meeting saw the Lady Rebels snap what was an 11-game winning streak for the Lobos. Since then, both teams have trended upward as that win has sparked a season-best three-game winning streak for UNLV and the Lobos bounced back and have won three-straight since.
The Lady Rebels will enter Wednesday’s game with a 5-11 overall record and a 3-2 mark in conference play. On the season, UNLV is averaging 57.4 points per game to rank 10th in the Mountain
West. Their scoring defense sits at 62.3 ppg and ranks sixth in the league. After a 2-11 start to the season, the recent three-game winning streak as helped shrink the Lady Rebels’ scoring margin as it is now -4.9 and ninth in the MW. The Lobos remain one of the top scoring teams in the league as they enter play averaging 76.0 ppg, ranking second. Defensively, the Lobos have an opponent scoring
average of 61.2 and a scoring margin that tops the league at +14.8.
A matchup to look for in the game will be inside as a pair of preseason All-MW selections in Jaisa Nunn and Katie Powell will battle. Powell is currently the leading scorer for the Lady Rebels at 14.2 ppg while Nunn is the second-leading scorer for the Lobos at 14.8 ppg.
Winning at Wyoming
Having lost the last six meetings against Wyoming, the Lobos flipped the script on the Cowgirls and ended that streak with a thrilling 78-75 win on the road this past Saturday. It was the first win overall against the Cowgirls for head coach Mike Bradbury, and it was also the first win in Laramie for the program since the 2014-15 season. In coming away with the win, the Lobos recorded their second-highest overall field goal percentage and logged their best three-point percentage of the season against the Cowgirls. Redshirt junior guard Aisia Robertson was a key cog in the win as she went on a late personal 7-0 run that gave the Lobos a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The loss for the Cowgirls was the first at home this season.
Resilient Down the Stretch
The Lobos led wire-to-wire against San Diego State in their game on January 16 and had a lead as large as 19 points in the first half. The Aztecs, however, did not roll over and roared all the way back to tie the game with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter. From that point on, the Lobos displayed resiliency that was spurred on by the home crowd and ended the game on an 8-0 run to secure the victory.
Balanced Scoring
The Lobos have played 17 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 17 games, redshirt junior Aisia Robertson has been an assist machine. With 123 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 seventh.
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 49 total blocked shots is currently eighth in DI, while her 2.9 blocks per game is 10th 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 10th with 1,280 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 4th with 794. Once she reaches the 800 rebounds, Nunn will be one of three players all-time with 1,000-career points and 800-career rebounds.