Lobos Close MW Regular Season at Fresno State Tuesday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The MW season comes down to one game and UNM has set itself up to be in the mix for a high seed at the MW Tournament. Heading into Tuesday’s game against Fresno State, with tip set for 6 p.m. PT, the Lobos have won their last five games, six of the last seven and nine of the last 11 and are currently in a four-way tie for third in the conference standings at 11-6.
Over the course of the last five games, UNM has outscored opponents 80.2 to 62.8 ppg and outrebounding opponents 41.4 to 31.6 rpg. The Lobos have also gone 84.6% from the free-throw line, going 88-104, while opponents are 37-49 from the line. UNM has had five different leading scorers in that stretch in LaTascya Duff (Nevada), LaTora Duff (Wyoming), Vianè Cumber (San José State), Aniyah Augmon (Air Force) and Shaiquel McGruder (Utah State).
For Fresno State, the Bulldogs enter the game having won two of their last three and are led in scoring by Amaya West (14.4 ppg) and Imani Lacy (10.3 ppg) in MW play. Fresno State is averaging 60.5 ppg in conference, allowing 65.2 ppg.
GET AHEAD, STAY AHEAD
The Lobos are 17-3 on the season and 10-1 in conference games when leading after the first quarter and 16-2 overall and 9-1 in MW games when leading at the half. When leading at the end of the third quarter, the Lobos are 17-2 overall and 10-1 in conference games.
THE CUMBER EFFECT
Since Vianè Cumber entered the starting lineup, the Lobos have gone 8-2 with the sophomore finishing in double figures in six of the games. Cumber has also led the team in scoring in one of those games (16 against SJSU) and in rebounds in one game (nine against Wyoming).
1-2-3
LaTascya Duff and Vianè Cumber are 1-2 in the Mountain West in three-pointers this season with Duff leading with 82 and Cumber at 61. When it comes to MW games, Duff and Cumber remain 1-2 with Duff leading with 43 (2.5 per game) and Cumber with 37 (2.2 per game).
FINDING OTHER WAYS TO SCORE
While UNM has had 10 games with 10-plus three-pointers, the Lobos are actually 5-5 in those games. The Lobos are 4-2 when making exactly nine and won against Houston when only making two three-pointers, won against the Cowgirls when making three on just six attempts, against Boise State and Colorado State when making only four and at Air Force when making five.
The Lobos are shooting 43.6% from the floor this season and 50.9% (547-1074) when excluding three-point attempts. In conference game, the Lobos are shooting 44.7% from the floor and 51.4% (314-611) when excluding thee-point attempts. The Lobos are 14-5 when shooting .400 or better, and had a season-high 56.9% in the Feb. 4 game against San Diego State. UNM shot 54.8% in the last game against Utah State, shot 54.5% in its game against Nevada and 52.2% in the game at Utah State. UNM has shot .400 or better in four of the last five games and seven of the last nine games, and over .500 three times in that span.
The Lobos have shot better than 50.0% in seven games this season, five of which were in conference games.
7 FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
For the first time in program history, the Lobos had seven players finish in double figures in Saturday’s win against Utah State. Shaiquel McGruder led with a team-high 17 points with Viané Cumber finishing with 14, LaTascya Duff with 13, Amaya Brown and LaTora Duff with 11 and Kath van Bennekom and Jaelyn Bates with 12 and 11, respectively off of the bench. It was a career-high for van Bennekom, who went 6-7 in the game.
The Lobos were close to having nine players in double figures with Aniyah Augmon close at nine points and Paula Reus close at eight points.
Further, the 111 points scored against the Aggies set the program record for the most points scored in a conference game and the second-most scored overall. Ten Lobos scored in the game, with 45 points coming from the bench.