WBB to hold Lobos Love Pink game
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| NEW MEXICO LOBOS 18-3 (8-2 MW) |
NEVADA WOLFPACK 8-13 (4-6 MW) |
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Saturday, February 9 | 1 p.m. |
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Promotions
Lobos Love Pink Game (Partnership with UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center) – Fans wearing pink at time of purchase will receive $5 tickets in Lower Bowl
Girl Scouts Day – $5 tickets for active Girl Scout members and additional $5 tickets for up to 3 guests
Team Day – 22 youth basketball teams will be in attendance
Pre-Game Clinic – Pre-registered event for kids ages 13 and under
Post-Game Autographs – On the concourse following the game
Tipping Off
The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team is looking to bounce back from just their third loss this season as they are back at home on Saturday to take on Nevada. The Lobos are currently 18-3 overall and second in the Mountain West at 8-2. Nevada will enter play 8-13 overall and 4-6 in league play, currently seventh in the standings. This will be the second meeting between the Lobos and the Wolfpack with first contest coming back in early January in Reno. In that game, the Lobos were able to fend off Nevada for a 66-64 win.
After facing a double-digit deficit in the second half, the Wolfpack surged back to tie the game at 64-all with 1:42 to play. With under a minute to go, the Lobos forced a turnover that led to an Aisia Robertson layup that proved to be the game-winner. Since that meeting, the Lobos are 6-2 while the Wolfpack are 4-4.
The Lobos remain the top scoring team in the Mountain West at 75.3 ppg and have three players in double figures led by Nunn at 16.2 ppg. Nunn’s scoring average is currently third in the MW. The Lobos also have the best scoring margin in the league at +12.6. Nevada currently has the sixth-best scoring offense at 65.3 ppg and have two players averaging double-figures led by Terae Briggs at 15.0 ppg.
Uncharacteristic Showing in San Diego
The Lobos saw their six-game winning streak come to a halt in San Diego this past Wednesday. An uncharacteristic shooting performance hindered the Lobos in that game as they shot a season-low overall and from the three-point line. Despite that, the Lobos still were edged by just two points and had the game’s final possession with a chance to either tie or win.
While the overall shooting was off, senior Jaisa Nunn was her typical efficient self as she shot 10-of-17 from the floor and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe on her way to a 27-point game to lead the team.
#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 17th nationally at average of 5,091 fans a game. In their most-recent home game against Fresno State, the Lobos brought in 8,068 fans. It was their highest attendance since 2015.
Nike – Just Doing it All
Senior transfer Nike McClure has brought so much to the Lobos this season and fans have taken notice. At 6-3 with athleticism and energy to burn, McClure has endeared herself to fans for her relentless effort on the court, particularly on defense. Known this year for her ability to block shots and rebound, McClure has willingly taken a back seat on the offensive end having scored two or fewer points nine times. While that is likely still the case, McClure broke out for her best game offensively against Fresno State. In the game, McClure scored a season-high 14 points and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field. On the season, McClure is averaging just 3.4 ppg, and prior to the Fresno game, her highest scoring game was eight points against Sacramento State.
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 21 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 21 games, redshirt junior Aisia Robertson has been an assist machine. With 148 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 55 total blocked shots is currently 12th 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 1,369 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 841. 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