Lobos Begin Homestand with Eastern Illinois Tuesday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos return home from the Cancun Challenge to begin a six-game homestand, starting on Tuesday against Eastern Illinois at 7 p.m.
Tuesday’s game will be another SAAC canned food drive with donations accepted at the northeast and southwest entrances. Those who donate will receive a voucher for discounted tickets.
It will be the first meeting all-time against Eastern Illinois. The Panthers are 1-4 on the season after a win over Valparaiso (75-62) and losses to Nicholls (63-55), Fresno State (70-60), Indiana (96-43) and IUPUI (77-72). UNM is 4-2 on the season following two losses against Montana State and Georgia Tech last week in the Cancun Challenge.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
UNM has gone 34-4 over the last three years: 3-0 this season, 14-3 last season and 17-1 the year prior, which doesn’t include going 2-0 in the only two home games in 2020-21. Entering the season, UNM has gone 119-43 (.735) in The Pit with seven seasons with 10-plus home wins and three seasons with 15-plus wins in the last 10 years.
Coach Mike Bradbury is 91-24 in The Pit in his eight years at UNM.
THREE’S COMPANY
The Lobos have had three players score in double figures in two games, with Nyah Wilson and Viané Cumber reaching double figures in both games, and Paula Reus and Aniyah Augmon once. The trio of Cumber, Augmon and Wilson all scored in double figures in the season opener, accounting for 59 of UNM’s 76 points and matched Texas Southern’s total team point total.
Cumber took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 of her game-high 22 points in the final 10 minutes, while Wilson and Augmon were effective early, reaching double figures in the first 20 minutes to finish with a career-high 20 points and 17 points, respectively. Wilson and Augmon were also facilitators, with Augmon leading with a game- and career-high six assists and Wilson finishing with the second most on the team with three. Additionally, Wilson was 4-4 from three-point range with Cumber also making four.
It marked the first time that UNM had two 20-point scorers in a game since 2022.
The Lobos also have three averaging double figures on the season with Wilson at 14.8 ppg, Viané Cumber at 13.2, and Augmon at 13.2. Wilson and Augmon have scored double digits four and five times, respectively, (twice with 20 or more points for Wilson), while Cumber has scored in double figures in three games, twice with 20- plus points.
ON ANY GIVEN NIGHT
The Lobos have been led in scoring by four different players and in rebounds by seven different players in the games this season.
Vianè Cumber (22 points) and Charlotte Kohl (nine rebounds) led in the season opener, Aniyah Augmon (16 points and nine rebounds) led at Pepperdine and Paula Reus and Nyah Wilson (16 points each) and Wilson (nine rebounds) led against Tarleton State. In the game against Texas A&M-Commerce, Wilson led on her own with 22 points, and Kohl led in rebounds for the second time this season with a career-high 20 rebounds. In the game against Montana State, Cumber led with a career-best 24 points with Kohl leading on the boards with seven. In the last game against Georgia Tech, Augmon and Wilson tied for the team high with 17 points and four players tied for the team high in rebounds with four in Paula Reus, Cumber, Hulda Joaquim and Nahawa Diarra Berthe.
BATTLE ON THE BOARDS
While the sample size is small, the Lobos have shown their ability to control the boards, outrebounding their opponents 244-230 (+14), outrebounding opponents in three games.
Charlotte Kohl leads the team with 50 rebounds (8.3 per game) with Paula Reus second with an average of 6.2 rpg. Kohl had a 20-rebound performance, an 18-rebound outing in the final exhibition against Adams State, had a team-high eight rebounds in the first exhibition and grabbed nine against Texas Southern to start the season. Of her 50 rebounds, 23 are on the offensive end and her 3.83 offensive boards per game are the second most in the conference.
The Lobos are ranked 87th in the NCAA in rebounds per game (40.7), an improvement from last season in which the Lobos finished 177th in the NCAA in rebounds per game with 36.5. In addition, the Lobos have made an improvement in rebounding margin, finishing last season 246th at -2.0, compared to this season where the Lobos are currently ranked 152nd with an +2.3 rebounding margin. UNM is ranked 71st in defensive rebounds per game at 28.2.
PAINT POINTS
UNM has outscored opponents in the paint in five games this season and overall by a 206-156 (+50) margin, with a +24 margin against Texas Southern (38-14), +8 margin at Pepperdine (34-26), a +10 margin against Tarleton State (34-24), a +22 margin against Texas A&M-Commerce (50-28) and a +2 margin (32-30) against Georgia Tech. UNM has scored 206 of its 384 points (53.6%) in the paint thus far.
ALL ABOUT AUGMON
Aniyah Augmon has scored in double figures in five games this season, including in the last three (16 against Texas A&M-Commerce, 11 against Montana State and 17 against Georgia Tech). In addition, she’s currently fourth in the MW in assists per game (4.2).
Overall, Augmon is ranked fourth in assists per game (4.2), third in steals per game (2.8), tied for 10th in scoring (13.2) and 18th in rebounds per game (5.3) in the MW.
THE CUMBER EFFECT
Vianè Cumber has scored in double figures in three games this year with nine in two, leading the Lobos in scoring twice. She made four three-pointers in the season opener, three three-pointers at Pepperdine, three again against Tarleton and a career-best eight against Montana State to give her 29 career games with multiple three-pointers and her 18th career game making three or more three-pointers.
Following a three against Georgia Tech, she’s had 13-straight games with at least one and made a three in 38 games with 29 games with multiple threes in her career. In three years, Cumber has scored in double figures 22 times and 20 or more points four times.
Further, the Lobo guard currently is second in the MW in three-pointers per game with 3.33, and is 10th in the NCAA in three-pointers per game and 18th in three-pointers with 20. She also leads the MW in minutes played at 35.1 per game.
ABOUT EASTERN ILLINOIS
EIU is averaging 61.0 points per game, while allowing 73.6 ppg, and is led by three in double figures in Macy McGlone (13.8), Lalani Ellis (12.8) and Miah Monahan (10.4), with McGlone also leading in rebounds per game at 8.4. McGlone has scored in double figures in four of the five games, including the last three, with a double-double (19 pts, 12 reb.) in the last game against Fresno State. Ellis has scored 20-plus points twice this season.
McGlone, Monahan and Ellie Buzzelle have started all five games with Ellis starting four, Ellie Colson starting three, Charita Lewis starting two and Taris Thornton starting one game.