UNM Travels to San Diego State Thursday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos are back on the road to take on San Diego State on Thursday morning, with tip set for 11 a.m. PT/ 12 p.m. MT on the Mountain West Network.
UNM enters the game 10-8, 2-3 in the MW after falling to UNLV on Saturday, while SDSU enters 14-5, 4-2 in conference after falling to Colorado State on Monday night.
New Mexico’s sophomore class of Aniyah Augmon, Vianè Cumber and Paula Reus stepped up in the last game against the Lady Rebels, all finishing in double figures, including a career- and team-high 18 points and a team-high 10 rebounds for Augmon for her first double-double.
The Lobos have two scorers in double figures on the season in Shaiquel McGruder (14.1 ppg) and LaTascya Duff (12.3 ppg). In MW games, McGruder is averaging 12.4 ppg and Duff 10.4 ppg. UNM is averaging 71.0 ppg in conference games, making 9.0 three-pointers per game and shooting 45.1% overall and 36.3% from three.
SDSU enters the game averaging 66.4 points per game on the season and 66.8 points per game in conference games. The Aztecs are led by Sophia Ramos, who is averaging 13.7 ppg in MW games, and have four players averaging double figures in conference games.
UNM has won its last five games against the Aztecs, with three in San Diego.
SOPHOMORES STEPPING UP
Vianè Cumber has stepped into being a reliable three-point shooter and has finished with double figures in seven games with a game with 22 points, 17 against Mississippi State, 16 against South Carolina State, three games with 15 and 12 at UNLV. The Lobo sophomore is averaging 16.1 minutes per game and 8.1 points per game, shooting 48.5% overall and 44.7% from three-point range. Cumber is second on the team in made three-pointers with 34 and in field-goal percentage, leads the Lobos in three-point field-goal percentag. She is tied for second in the MW in three-pointers per game (2.0) and is ranked 18th in the NCAA in three-point percentage.
Aniyah Augmon has stepped into a larger role this season as well, and has finished with three assists in three games with a career-high five assists against Old Dominion, which she matched at Wyoming. She went 4-5 in the game against Arizona and added a steal, and in the last game against NMSU, hit three free throws in the fourth quarter in UNM’s 65-64 win. She finished with a then-career-high nine points at Colorado State, which she surpassed in the next game against Nevada, scoring 11 on 4-5 shooting. She tallied a new career high at UNLV with 18 points and tied her career high in rebounds with a season-high 10 for her first career double-double. The guard is averaging 18.7 minutes per game, 5.4 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists per game.
Paula Reus has stepped into a starting role this season, starting all 18 games this season, and is averaging 8.4 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, 2.1 assists per game and 0.8 steals per game in an average of 27.3 minutes per game. Reus has scored in double figures in eight games this season and finished with double-digit rebounds in two games. Reus led the team in rebounds in five games. She recorded her first career double-double against NMSU with 11 points and 10 rebounds (a career high) and matched her career high of 10 rebounds at Colorado State. Reus is third on the team in rebounds (90) and assists (38) and fourth in three-pointers (20) and in points (151).
THREE FALLING
UNM built an identity last season as a three-point shooting team, and this year’s team is trying to reclaim that identity.
The Lobos have finished with 10-plus three-pointers in seven games this season with a season-high 18 against South Carolina State, while shooting a season-high 46.2%. The 18 tied for the third most in a game in program history, only behind 19 and 21 the Lobos made last season against Colorado State and Utah State, respectively.
UNM is averaging 8.9 made three-pointers per game, ranked 11th in the NCAA, with 43.3 percent of UNM’s shot attempts three-pointers. The Lobos are shooting 33.1% from three with 161 makes. LaTascya Duff leads the Lobos with 51 made three-pointers, and is making 3.0 per game and 14 games of multiple three-pointers. Vianè Cumber is second with 34 made three-pointers, averaging 2.0 per game with 10 games with multiple three-pointers. Cumber is shooting 44.7% from three and Duff 37.0% from three. Cumber is 18th in the NCAA in three-point percentage.
In MW games, the Lobos are making 9.0 three-pointers per game to lead the conference, and shooting 36.3% from distance. Duff is shooting 42.9% from three with 12 makes and Cumber is shooting 55.6% with 10 made three-pointers.
FINDING OTHER WAYS TO SCORE
While UNM has had seven games with 10-plus three-pointers, the Lobos are actually 3-4 in those games. The Lobos are 4-2 when making exactly nine and won against Houston when only making two three-pointers.
The Lobos are shooting 43.0 percent from the floor this season and 50.6% (322-636) when excluding three-point attempts. The Lobos are 8-3 when shooting .400 or better and have shot .400 or better in 11 of the last 15 games, including a season-high 54.8% in the game against South Carolina State. UNM shot 54.5% in its game against Nevada for its second-highest percentage of the season.
The Lobos have shot better than 50.0% in three of the last six games and in four games this season (also shot 52.3% against NMSU).
BALANCED ATTACK
UNM has had seven different leading scorers this season in LaTascya Duff, Amaya Brown, LaTora Duff, Vianè Cumber, Shaiquel McGruder, Paula Reus and most recently, Aniyah Augmon.
The game at Nicholls was the first time that there was a repeat leading scorer, with LaTascya scoring a game-high 20 points at Southern Utah and at Nicholls. Reus led the team in scoring twice, with 18 at Texas A&M-Commerce and 14 against Arizona. Cumber has led the team in scoring twice with 22 against Western New Mexico and 17 against Mississippi State. Following the game at CSU, Brown has now led the team in scoring twice (16 against Houston, career-high 18 at Colorado State). Augmon led the team in scoring at UNLV with a career-high 18 points.
McGruder has led the Lobos in scoring seven times, scoring 24 against Arizona State, 23 against Abilene Christian and South Carolina State, 22 at Wyoming, 21 against Air Force and 16 against NMSU and Old Dominion.
UNM had five players finish in double figures in the win against Nevada and were three points shy of having seven. LaTascya and Cumber tied for the game high with 15 points, combining for seven threes with Cumber accounting for five. LaTora finished with 12 points and had a game-high six assists, Augmon posted a then-career-high 11 points and added four rebounds, two assists and a steal, and Reus finished with 11 points and again nearly posted a double-double with eight rebounds. The Lobos were close to having seven players finish in double figures, with Brown tallying nine points and McGruder finishing with eight points.
KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
San Diego State enters Thursday’s game 14-5 on the season, 4-2 in conference after Monday’s loss at Colorado State (71-58). The Aztecs have conference wins over Utah State (89-55), Nevada (80-70), Fresno State (49-43) and Boise State (55-42) and a loss against UNLV (76-70). SDSU is 10-1 at home this season, 2-1 at home in conference games.
The Aztecs are averaging 66.4 points per game (5th in the MW) and allowing 55.1 points per game, which is the best scoring defense in the conference. SDSU is shooting 43.5% (4th in the MW) while holding opponents to 36.8%, also the best defensive field-goal percentage in the MW. The Aztecs are also first in the MW in defensive three-point field-goal percentage at 27.5%.
In MW games, SDSU is scoring 66.8 ppg, allowing 59.5 ppg, and shooting 45.0% from the floor. The Aztecs have the best scoring defense in MW games and are third in scoring margin (+7.3) and defensive field-goal percentage (40.1%).
SDSU has three players in double figures, led by Sophia Ramos at 223 points (11.7 per game). Ramos is joined by Mercedes Staples (11.0 in 12 games) and Asia Avinger (11.9 in 14 games). Four players are averaging double figures in MW games with Ramos leading with 13.7 ppg. Avinger is averaging 11.8 ppg, Kim Villalobos is averaging 10.5 ppg and Abby Prohaska at 10.2 ppg.
Ramos, Villalobos, Prohaska and Yummy Morris have started all six MW games, with Avinger starting in five and Alex Crain starting in one. On the season, Villalobos and Morris have started in all 19 games, Ramos in 18, Avinger in 13 of 14 games she’s played in and Staples in 11 of the 12 games she’s played in. Crain has had four starts and Sarah Barcello has started in one game.
Prohaska is second in the MW in steals per game in MW games with 2.5 per game and Avinger is second in the MW in assists per game in MW games with 5.7 per game.
UP NEXT
Following Thursday’s game, the Lobos return to The Pit to face Boise State on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 1 p.m.