ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobo women’s basketball team opens the home portion of the regular season on Saturday against Houston, with tip set for 2 p.m. in The Pit.
Tickets are still available to purchase for the game at golobos.com/tickets, but for those unable to attend, the game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network with radio and live stats available. Saturday’s game will be the Salute to Service game and all military members will be recognized during the game. Admission for all active and retired military and veterans is free.
Both Houston and UNM are coming off of season-opening losses on the road, with the Lobos falling to Southern Utah (76-68) and Houston falling to Louisiana (55-48).
Saturday will be the return of a home-and-home with the Cougars, with the Lobos playing at Houston last season, an 89-60 loss. However, UNM is 5-4 all-time against UH, 3-2 in the last five meetings, and 4-0 at home. The two teams last played at The Pit on Nov. 12, 2019, an 86-67 win for UNM. Head Coach Mike Bradbury is 2-1 against Houston, 1-0 at home.
The Lobos had four players reach double figures in the first game of the season, led by LaTascya Duff with 20. Jaelyn Bates had 13 off of the bench, with LaTora Duff and Shaiquel McGruder also accounting for 13 points. Defensively, the Lobos created 16 steals, led by five each from McGruder and LaTascya (tying her career high), and forced 26 turnovers, scoring 26 points off of turnovers and 19 fast-break points.
On the other side of the court, Houston dropped its season opener at Louisiana 55-48 and was led in scoring by Bria Patterson with 13 points.
HOME OPENERS
The Lobos are 6-0 in home openers under Mike Bradbury. Last season, the Lobos went 17-1 at home and are 448-217 (.674) all-time at home.
GIVE ME FIVE
Shaiquel McGruder needs just five more points to earn her 1000th-career point at UNM. In doing so, she would be the 18th Lobo in program history to achieve 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
During her career, McGruder is shooting .602 from the floor and scored 73 points as a freshman, 215 points as a sophomore, 182 as a junior and 512 points last season.
BATES PROVIDES SPARK OFF THE BENCH
Freshman point guard Jaelyn Bates showed no nerves in the season opener, stepping up in the moment for the Lobos.
Bates provided a spark for the Lobos with a personal 6-0 run in the third quarter against Southern Utah that included drawing a foul on a layup and converting the and-one opportunity at the line, followed by a transition three that brought the game back within a possession at 52-49. Bates added a fast-break layup off of a steal for the eighth-straight point, going 3-for-4 in the quarter to go with a steal and two rebounds.
Bates played 25:38 in the game and finished with a team-high four assists.
KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
Houston lost its season opener at Louisiana 55-48, with one player scoring in double figures (Bria Patterson, 13 points). The Cougard shot 23.3% (14-60) from the floor and 19.0% (4-21) from three-point range, with Patterson making two three-pointers.
Patterson finished with a double-double, leading the team with 10 rebounds, and also had a block and team-high two blocks.
As a team, UH forced nine steals and 19 turnovers and had four blocks.
UH outscored Louisiana 31-26 in the final two quarters after trailing 29-17 through the first two quarters.
The Cougars went 18-16 and 7-9 in the American last season and made it to The American Championships semifinals. The Cougars then made it to the third round of the WNIT, losing to Alabama after defeating Louisiana Tech and Tennessee Tech in the first two rounds.
Houston returns four starters from last season in Patterson, Britney Onyeje, Tatyana Hill and Laila Blair. Tae’lor Purvis filled in the fifth starter spot in the season opener. In total, the Cougars return 10 letterwinners and have six newcomers, five of which are transfers.
UH was picked to finish second in the American with Blair named to the All-Conference First Team.
Following Saturday’s game, the Lobos are back on the road to New Mexico State, set to face the Aggies on Tuesday at 6 p.m. MT.