ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After a 3-0 start in non-conference competition, The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team begins the Mountain West portion of the schedule at Nevada with a two-game series starting on Thursday, Dec. 31. The scheduled start time is 3 p.m. MT/ 2 p.m. PT with the game streamed on the Mountain West Network. J.J. Buck will have the Lobo radio feed, which can be picked up on the Lobo Sports App or KNML 610 AM and will go live 30 minutes prior to tip with the pregame show.
The Lobos are 3-1 in MW openers under head coach Mike Bradbury and are looking to break a two-game losing streak against the Wolf Pack, although the Lobos hold an overall series edge at 12-5.
UNM is coming off of an emphatic 120-66 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 17, with the Lobos setting a program record for most points scored in a game with the 120-point performance and the Lobos one three-pointer shy of tying the program record with 17 against the Golden Lions.
Newcomers LaTora and LaTascya Duff have added an additional threat to the prolific Lobo offense through the first three games, both as scorers and facilitators. LaTascya earned MW Player of the Week on Dec. 21 after scoring a game-high 28 points, going 10-of-11 from the floor, 4-of-5 from distance and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line at UAPB.
Jaedyn De La Cerda was a stat stuffer with a 13 point, 11 rebound double-double, adding a game-high six assists and three steals. Six Lobos again scored in double figures, including a career-high 18 points from Corina Carter.
Through the first three games, the Lobos are averaging a nation-best 103.7 points per game and also lead the NCAA in made three-pointers per game with 12.7. Part of that success is due to having six players with a double-digit scoring average, led by a MW-best 19.7 from LaTascya Duff, followed by De La Cerda (17.7), Corina Carter (14.0), LaTora Duff (14.0), Ahlise Hurst (12.3) and Antonia Anderson (12.0).
Contributing to the offensive production, the Lobos are outscoring their opponents in every quarter, with the largest margin occurring in the first quarter with 32 (69-37) and the second-largest margin in the second quarter (30). UNM is outscoring its opponents 155-93 (margin of 62 points) in the first two quarters with its largest scoring output in the second quarter (86 points).
In the last game at UAPB, UNM got out to a 17-0 lead en route to a 32-8 first quarter lead and a 63-27 halftime score and in the first game at Midwestern State, the Lobos took a 25-6 lead into the second quarter that grew to a 49-25 halftime lead.
On the other side of the court, the Wolf Pack are led by Amanda Levens and enters MW play 4-1 on the season, coming off an 83-68 loss to Saint Mary’s on Dec. 21. Nevada is led in scoring by Da’Ja Hamilton, with the junior guard accounting for 82 points (16.4 ppg) and a team-high eight made threes (8-of-22). Hamilton also leads the Wolf Pack in assists (21). Like the Lobos, the Wolf Pack have a junior newcomer in Megan Ormiston who is among the top scoring leaders on the team, averaging 17.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in her first two games for Nevada. On the boards, sophomore forward Leta Otuafi leads the team with 22 total rebounds (7.3 rpg), while playing in just three of five games. Freshman guard Kenna Holt has a team-high 12 steals and is second on the team in assists at 16.
As a team, the Wolf Pack are 15th in the nation in free-throw percentage (78.5%) to lead the MW, going 62-for-79 from the line. Additionally, Nevada is 23rd in offensive rebounds per game at 16.8 for the second-best total in the MW and is also second in the MW in blocked shots at 21.