UNM Hosts Houston Baptist Tuesday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.– The New Mexico Lobos have Houston on the mind this week, set to face Houston Baptist on Tuesday before travelling back to Houston (specifically Katy) for the Van Chancellor Classic set to begin on Friday.
First things first is a Tuesday meeting with the Huskies, with the Lobos looking to get back on track after dropping their first game of the season on Saturday at Houston. LaTora Duff led the Lobos in scoring with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting, with Jaedyn De La Cerda finishing with 14 points (with four three-pointers) and LaTascya Duff the third Lobo in double figures with 11. Getting the starting nod, Paula Reus had a solid all-around performance with seven points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals. Turnovers were the difference in the game, with Houston pressuring the Lobos into 34 turnovers, while UNM caused 18 and could only manufacture nine points off turnovers.
The Lobos have four players averaging 10-plus points per game, led by Shaiquel McGruder with 14.3, followed by LaTora Duff and De La Cerda with 12.5 each and Antonia Anderson at 12.0. Anderson and McGruder lead the team in rebounds at 23 and 20, respectively, for 5.8 and 5.0 rebounds per game. LaTora has 28 assists on the season to nine turnovers, a 3.11 ratio and is averaging 7.0 assists per game.
On the other side of the court, Houston Baptist enters with an identical record, losing its first game of the season to TCU (78-48) before winning its next three (St. Thomas (TX), Texas Wesleyan and Hartford). The Huskies are averaging 67.0 points a game while holding opponents to 56.3 points a game.
The Huskies have two players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Timia Jefferson with 15.7 and joined by Julija Vujakovic, who has 11.0. N’Denasija Collins has controlled the boards with 7.3 rebounds per game and Collins and Kennedy Wilson share the team lead in assists with nine each. Vujakovic has accounted for a team-best eight steals and is second on the team in blocks with three. Amy Cotton leads with four blocks.
HBU has three players who have started all four games in Vujakovic, Enya Maguire and Abbey Sutherland, with Collins starting three, Jefferson starting two and Marilyn Nzoiwu starting two. Twelve Huskies have seen playing time so far this season.
Tickets are still on sale for Tuesday’s game and can be purchased at golobos.com/tickets. For those unable to attend, the game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. The game has been tabbed the Thanks For Giving Day where Lobo fans are encouraged to bring canned goods, travel or full-size toiletry items, or NEW socks to the game in order to benefit the Roadrunner Food Bank. With a donation of any kind, fans will receive $5 off upper bleacher seats.