Lobos Begin Road Trip at Boise State Thursday

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- The Lobos return to the road to face Boise State for the second time this season with tip set for 6:30 p.m. MT on Thursday. UNM defeated the Broncos in Albuquerque five games ago and has gone 3-1 since and combined with the win over the Broncos, the Lobos have won four of their last five.

Boise State has faced similar success since the Jan. 21 meeting and enters the game on a three-game win streak and is 4-1 in its last five games.

UNM enters the game after going 1-1 last week, but did have five players average double figures, led by Paula Reus at 16.0 ppg. LaTora Duff averaged 14.0 ppg and 7.5 assists per game, Aniyah Augmon averaged 13.5 ppg, Vianè Cumber averaged 12.5 with six three-pointers and Amaya Brown averaged 10.5 ppg.

The Lobos have four players averaging double figures in MW games, led by Shaiquel McGruder at 12.7, LaTascya Duff at 11.9, LaTora at 10.6 and Augmon at 10.0, with Reus close at 9.6.

SOPHOMORES STEPPING UP     
Vianè Cumber has stepped into being a reliable three-point shooter and has finished with double figures in nine games, including four of the last seven games. In the win against the Rams, Cumber went a career-best 4-4 at the free-throw line including two clutch free throws to make it 63-59 with 15 seconds remaining and played a career-high 37 minutes. She made five three-pointers in the game at Utah State to finish with 17 points, getting the start in both games. The Lobo sophomore is averaging 19.3 minutes per game and 8.7 points per game, shooting 45.0% overall and 42.2% from three-point range. In conference games, she’s averaging 9.2 points per game, 22.1 minutes per game and is shooting 43.0% from the floor and 43.1% from three-point range. She has also started the last four games for the Lobos and has finished in double figures in three of the four games. Cumber is second on the team in made three-pointers with 49 and has had 15 games with multiple three-pointers. The New Mexico native is second in the MW in three-pointers per game (2.1) on the season with the second-most three-pointers (only trailing LaTascya Duff). She is also second in the MW in conference games with 2.3 three-pointers per game, and has made 25. Nationally, she is 23rd in the NCAA in three-point percentage.

Aniyah Augmon has stepped into a larger role this season as well, and in the game against CSU, Augmon made the go-ahead basket with 30 seconds remaining and tallied a team-high 10 rebounds in the 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 then-season-high 10 for her first career double-double. The guard is averaging 20.2 minutes per game, 6.9 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game and 1.9 assists per game. She is shooting 49.5% from the floor and 36.0% from three-point range. In MW games, she is averaging 10.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 2.2 apg while shooting 51.3% and 41.2% from three-point range. Augmon has led the Lobos in rebounds in three of the last four games and finished with a career-high 13 rebounds at Utah State. She had her second double-double of the season against the Aggies with 12 points. The Lobo guard has scored in double figures in the last three games and four of the last five games.

Paula Reus has stepped into a starting role this season, starting in 20 games this season, and is averaging 8.9 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game, 1.9 assists per game and 0.7 steals per game in an average of 26.5 minutes per game. In conference games, she’s averaging 9.6 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game and shooting 48.7%. Reus has scored in double figures in 12 games this season, including the last three and six of the last seven she’s played in (she missed the CSU game) and has 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 (113) and assists (44) and fourth in three-pointers (27).

FINDING OTHER WAYS TO SCORE
While UNM has had nine games with 10-plus three-pointers, the Lobos are actually 4-5 in those games. The Lobos are 4-2 when making exactly nine and won against Houston when only making two three-pointers, and against Boise State and Colorado State when making only four.

The Lobos are shooting 43.5% from the floor this season and 50.9% (432-849) when excluding three-point attempts. The Lobos are 10-5 when shooting .400 or better, and had a season-high 56.9% in the last game against San Diego State. UNM shot 54.5% in its game against Nevada and 52.2% in the last game at Utah State. UNM has shot .400 or better in the last three games, and over .500 in two of the last three.

The Lobos have shot better than 50.0% in six games this season.

THREE FALLING
UNM is averaging 8.8 made three-pointers per game, ranked 11th in the NCAA, with 42.5% of UNM’s shot attempts three-pointers. The Lobos are shooting 33.6% from three with 211 makes. LaTascya Duff leads the Lobos with 67 made three-pointers, and is making 2.9 per game with 16 games of multiple three-pointers. Vianè Cumber is second with 49 made three-pointers, averaging 2.1 per game with 15 games with multiple three-pointers. Cumber is shooting 42.2% from three and Duff 39.0% from three. The duo are 1-2 in the MW in three-pointers per game, both on the season and in MW games.

In MW games, the Lobos are making 8.6 three-pointers per game to lead the conference, and shooting 35.7% from distance. Duff is shooting 45.2% from three with 28 makes and Cumber is shooting 43.1% with 25 made three-pointers.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
Since the Lobos last played the Broncos, Boise State has gone 4-1 with wins over Air Force (60-55), San Diego State (62-57), Nevada (62-58) and Fresno State (66-61) and lost to Wyoming (69-62). BSU hasn’t scored over 70 points in its last 10 games, and has scored between 60-69 points in its last eight games. The Broncos are 4-2 at home in conference and have also won their last three games.

Boise State is averaging 66.0 points per game on the season and 61.6 points per game in conference. While the Broncos don’t have any players averaging double figures in conference play, they have four players with 8.5 or more points per game in Elodie Lalotte (8.9), Mya Hansen (8.9), Abby Muse (8.8) and Dani Bayes (8.5).

Lalotte, Muse, Bayes and Mary Kay Naro have started all 12 MW games with Anna Ostlie starting in three and Mya Hansen starting in nine. Hansen hasn’t played since the Wyoming game on Jan. 28 with Ostlie starting in the last three games.

Boise State is second in the conference in defensive field-goal percentage (.379) and in scoring defense (62.2) in conference games. Further, the Broncos are third in rebounding margin (+5.4) and lead in blocked shots per game (6.4) against MW opponents.

Nationally, the Broncos are fifth in the NCAA in blocks per game (5.8) with Muse third in blocks (71) and sixth in blocks per game (2.8).