Lobos Face Thunderbirds Thursday Night
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The homestand continues for the Lobos on Thursday night against Southern Utah, with tip set for 7 p.m. Thursday’s game is Family Day, where kids 12 and under receive free admission at the doors.
UNM enters the game on a three-game win streak following Monday night’s 68-54 win over Mississippi Valley State. For SUU, the Thunderbirds are 2-5 on the season and are coming off of a Tuesday night 73-67 loss at Texas A&M-Commerce.
The Lobos have averaged 72.0 points per game during the win streak, led by 18.7 ppg from Paula Reus, 16.0 ppg from Nyah Wilson and 13.3 ppg from Charlotte Kohl. Kohl is also averaging 13.0 rebounds per game and has 11 blocks, with two double-doubles in that span.
Historically, UNM is 4-3 all-time against SUU, 4-1 at home and has won the last four games in Albuquerque. UNM started last season against Southern Utah on the road, falling 76-68.
CONSISTENT CONTRIBUTORS
Aniyah Augmon has scored in double figures in seven games, including five of the last six, while Nyah Wilson has scored in double figures in seven games, including the last four, with three games scoring 20 or more points. Paula Reus has scored in double figures in five games, which includes the last three, and Vianè Cumber has scored in double figures in four games with two games with 20-plus points.
GET THE REBOUND
The Lobos have shown their ability to control the boards, outrebounding their opponents 394-348 (+46) and outrebounding opponents in six games.
Charlotte Kohl leads the team with 89 rebounds (9.9 per game), with two 20-rebound performances, 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 89 rebounds, 40 are on the offensive end and her 4.44 offensive boards per game are the most in the conference. Kohl is 14th in the NCAA in rebounds, 11th in offensive rebounds per game and 27th in rebounds per game.
UNM outrebounded Texas Southern 49-36 (+13), Tarleton State 45-35 (+10), Texas A&M-Commerce 47-33 (+14), Eastern Illinois 47-46 (+1), New Mexico State 47-33 (+14) and Mississippi Valley State 56-39 (+17).
The Lobos are ranked 29th in the NCAA in rebounds per game (43.8), 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 92nd with an +5.1 rebounding margin. UNM is ranked 30th in defensive rebounds per game at 30.3.
CHARLOTTE’S BOARD
Charlotte Kohl became the first Lobo since 1978 to record multiple games of 20 rebounds, which was last done by Carol Moreland. Kohl brought down 20 rebounds in the game against Texas A&M-Commerce and again in the game against Mississippi Valley State.
In addition, she is one of three DI players to have multiple games with 20 rebounds (Saylor Poffenbarger, Arkansas and Lauren Gustin, BYU).
PAINT POINTS
UNM outscored opponents in the paint in eight games this season and by a 316-214 (+102) 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), a +2 margin (32-30) against Georgia Tech, a +16 margin against Eastern Illinois (36-20) a +26 margin against New Mexico State (42-16) and a +10 margin against Mississippi Valley State (32-22). UNM has scored 316 of its 600 points (52.7%) in the paint thus far.
QUICK POINTS BY THE NUMBERS
• 39-4 at home over the last 4 years
• Led for 39:21 vs. Tarleton, 36:30 at Pepperdine, 37:53 vs. Texas Southern, 32:47 vs. NMSU, 39:34 vs. MVSU
• Outscoring opponents 113-64 in fast-break points
• Outscoring opponents 104-73 in second-chance points
• Outscoring opponents in the 1st (142-123), 2nd (146-131), 4th (161-144) & 600-552 overall
ABOUT SOUTHERN UTAH
Southern Utah enters the game 2-5 on the season and is coming off of a 73-67 loss at Texas A&M-Commerce on Tuesday. SUU is 0-2 on the road this season.
The Thunderbirds have three in double figures, led by Daylani Ballena (16.6 ppg), Megan Smith (15.9 ppg) and Ava Uhrich (11.4 ppg). Ballena has been the leading scorer in the last two games, three times on the season, and has also tied for the team high in one game. In addition, she has only finished with fewer than 10 points one time this season, scoring eight points at UC Santa Barbara and scored a season-high 25 points in the last game. Smith has led in scoring in two games and Uhrich in one game.
Smith also leads in rebounds at 7.1 per game and in blocks with 11.
Four players have started all seven games (Ballena, Smith, Charli Kay and Samantha Johnson), while Uhrich has started the last five and Alexa Lord has started two.
The Thunderbirds were picked to finish second in the WAC preseason coaches’ poll, with 87 points and five first-place votes. SUU went 23-10 and 16-2 in conference last season, winning the WAC regular season title.
UP NEXT: Following Thursday’s game, the Lobos close the week at home against Hampton on Dec. 10 at 2 p.m.