ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Following a hard-fought win against Houston to open the home schedule, UNM turns its attention to an in-state battle at New Mexico State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with radio feed and live stats available.
Both teams enter the game 1-1 and having won their last game, with the Lobos winning 68-61 against Houston on Saturday and the Aggies last playing on Nov. 9, an 80-39 win over New Mexico Highlands.
The Lobos are 9-1 in the last 10 meetings and have won the last eight games, four of which at the Pan American Center. UNM is 25-14 in Las Cruces. Head coach Mike Bradbury is 4-1 in games at NMSU, 9-1 overall against the Aggies.
UNM has three players averaging over 10 points per game, led by LaTora Duff at 13.5, followed by LaTascya Duff (13.0) and Shaiquel McGruder (12.0) with Amaya Brown at 9.0 ppg. Brown leads the Lobos on the boards with 7.5 per game, with McGruder second at 6.5 per game.
On the other side of the court, the Aggies have two scorers in double figures in Taylor Donaldson (13.5) and Soufia Inoussa (11.0), with Fama Thiam at 9.5 and Molly Kaiser at 8.0. Thiam leads in rebounds with nine as well as blocked shots with two, Moe Shida has a team-high seven assists and Inoussa has a team-high six steals.
LAST TIME OUT
The Lobo women’s basketball team showed that pressure was no problem, grinding out a hard-fought 68-61 win over Houston on Saturday afternoon in The Pit in the home season opener.
New Mexico held its own against the Cougar press, leading for all but 17 seconds in the contest, and capitalized on Houston’s aggressive style, converting 24 of 29 free throws, including going 11-for-12 in the fourth quarter and 21-for-22 at the line in the final two quarters.
The Lobos were in the bonus for the final 5:26, and went 7-for-8 at the line to close out the game, with New Mexico extending the lead from four to six at the line on two occasions. Houston cut the lead to four with 33 seconds remaining and down the stretch, Shaiquel McGruder split a pair of free throws with 29 seconds on the clock and after a LaTascya Duff defensive rebound, drained both free throws for the final points of the contest.
ALL-AROUND AMAYA BROWN
Redshirt-senior Amaya Brown showcased her all-around ability to impact the game against Houston, finishing with a team- and career-high 16 points and team- and career-high 11 rebounds for her first career double-double, and added two steals, a block and went a career-best 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
A steal in the 3rd quarter led to an offensive rebound for Brown, which led to a Lobo layup that pushed the lead to 9 at 51-42 as part of a 10-0 Lobo run. During the run, Brown also went 4-4 at the free-throw line and directly impacted six of the points scored. The Albuquerque native went 6-for-6 from the line in the 3rd quarter with four rebounds (one offensive).
IN EXCLUSIVE COMPANY
At the 9:18 mark of the 3rd quarter in Saturday’s game against Houston, Shaiquel McGruder grabbed an offensive rebound, took a dribble to create space and banked in a shot. In doing so, she scored her 1001th-career point and became the 18th Lobo in program history to achieve 1000 points and 500 rebounds and the 25th Lobo to score 1000-career points.
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.
KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
New Mexico State opened the season on the road at Colorado, losing 85-55 before winning against New Mexico Highlands 80-39 at home.
NMSU has started the same five in both games in Donaldson, Inoussa, Thiam, Kaiser and Ashlee Strawbridge, with five coming off of the bench in both games. Inoussa led with 15 points in the season opener at Colorado (an 85-55 loss), with Donaldson and Thiam finishing with 10 points, and also had a team-best six rebounds and four steals. Donaldson led with 17 points in the last game against New Mexico Highlands, going 6-8 from the floor and 4-4 from the free-throw line. Sabou Gueye had 10 points off of the bench and Strawbridge had four steals.
NMSU went 10-19 last season, 6-12 in the WAC and return two starters from last year in Inoussa and Tayelin Grays. Grays has come off the bench in both games, averaging 14.0 minutes and 3.0 points. Of this year’s starters, Donaldson averaged 7.1 points and 18.4 minutes per game, Kaiser averaged 8.2 points and 18.8 minutes and Thiam averaged 3.1 points and 7.1 minutes last season with each having one start.
The Aggies were picked to finish 10th in the WAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll with 46 points.
UP NEXT
Following Tuesday’s game, the Lobos host Arizona State on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available for the game against the Sun Devils, with a special package deal of a ticket the men’s basketball game against NMSU and home football game against San Diego State for $25. Click here for ticket package