ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Standing at 10-4 on the season and 1-0 in the Mountain West, the Lobos return home to host Boise State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
UNM opened conference with a 69-59 win at Nevada on Dec. 30 behind three players in double figures and a season-high 48.1% shooting, while the Broncos enter the game 9-6 and 0-2 in the MW following losses at Wyoming (61-47) and to Nevada on Wednesday (58-57). The Lobos have four players averaging double figures, led by Paula Reus and Nyah Wilson (12.5 ppg), Vianè Cumber (11.5 ppg), and Aniyah Augmon (11.0 ppg).
The Lobos are 10-15 all-time against the Broncos, but 6-4 in home games and have won three of the last four games in the series.
DEFENSE DELIVERS
In the conference opener at Nevada, the Lobos held the Wolf Pack to nine points and 20% (3-15) shooting from the floor in the first quarter. It was the sixth time this season that the Lobos have held their opponents to single digits in a quarter, five times in the first quarter. In addition, UNM has held an opponent to under 20 points in the first two quarters three times this season.
GET AHEAD, STAY AHEAD
The Lobos never trailed and led for 37:54 in the win at Nevada, the fifth time this season that UNM has never trailed in a game. It was also the seventh time this season that UNM has led for over 36 minutes in a game.
So far this season, the Lobos have led for:
•37:53 and led after each quarter against Texas Southern
•36:30 and never trailed at Pepperdine
•39:21 and never trailed against Tarleton State
•32:47 and led after each quarter against New Mexico State
•39:34 and led after each quarter against Mississippi Valley State
•38:06 and never trailed against Hampton
•38:39 and never trailed against Western New Mexico
•37:54 and never trailed against Nevada
UNM is outscoring opponents 226-183 (+43) in the first quarter and 459-382 (+77) through the first two quarters. UNM is also outscoring opponents 904-838 (+66) overall.
In 2022-23, the Lobos were 18-4 on the season when leading after the first quarter and 18-4 overall when leading at the half. When leading at the end of the third quarter, the Lobos were 19-4 overall last season. This season, UNM is 8-1 when leading after the first quarter, 9-0 when leading at the half and 8-0 when leading after the third quarter.
WILSON’S WORLD
Nyah Wilson has made quite the first impression in her first season as a Lobo, finishing in double figures in eight games, with 20 or more points in four games, and setting several career highs.
In her first true game as a Lobo, Wilson finished with 20 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal. The Dallas, Texas, native went 5-8 from the floor, a perfect 4-4 from behind the arc and nearly perfect at the free-throw line going 6-7. Her 20 points set a then-career high, as did her five made field goals, her four made three-pointers and four attempts.
She later bested that with 22 points on nine made field goals against Texas A&M-Commerce, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter.
She added 16 points against Tarleton, setting a career high in rebounds (nine), made free throws (eight) and minutes played (33). She improved her career best in free throws, going 9-10 in the game against Georgia Tech and had a career-high 11 rebounds against Southern Utah, the first time with double-digit rebounds in her career.
In her first MW game at Nevada, Wilson went 9-12 at the free-throw line and finished with a team-high 21 points to go with eight rebounds, three assists and her first career block.
On the season, she’s scored 175 points (12.5 ppg) and is tied for the team high in points, and is also tied for 12th in the MW in points per game and eighth in free-throw percentage (.764). Wilson is ranked 42nd in the NCAA in free throws (55) and 48th in free throw attempts (72) and has made the second-most free throws and taken the second-most free throws amongst MW players.
CONSISTENT CONTRIBUTORS
Aniyah Augmon and Paula Reus have scored in double figures in a team-high nine games, while Nyah Wilson has scored in double figures in eight games with four games scoring 20 or more points. Reus has scored in double figures in the last four and seven of the last eight. Charlotte Kohl has scored in double figures five times and has three double-doubles on the season. Vianè Cumber has scored in double figures in five games with two games with 20-plus points.
UNM is 8-1 when Reus scores in double figures, 7-1 when Wilson scores in double figures and 7-2 when Augmon scores in double figures.
PAULA FINDING HER STRIDE
Paula Reus has found her stride of late, scoring in double figures in the last four games and seven of the last eight games. She set her career high in points with 25 against Eastern Illinois, making a season-high four three-pointers.
Reus has scored in double digits nine times this season and 30 times in her three years. UNM is 8-1 this season and 23-7 all-time when Reus reaches double figures, with the lone loss this season occurring against No. 20 Gonzaga.
She has been close to a double-double several times with four games of eight rebounds and 15 points and nine rebounds in the WNMU game, has had at least one steal in the last six games with two games with two steals in that span, and has been a facilitator with five assists in two games.
Reus is tied for the team high in points (175, 12.5 ppg) but leads in made field goals (69), and is second in three-pointers (19), assists (29, 2.1 apg), blocks (6, 0.4 bpg), steals (14, 1.0 spg) and rebounds (87, 6.2 rpg).
PAINT POINTS
UNM has outscored opponents in the paint in 11 games and by a 450-332 (+118) margin.
To date, the Lobos finished 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), a +10 margin against Mississippi Valley State (32-22), a +8 margin against Hampton (18-10), a +4 margin against Western New Mexico (30-26) and a +12 (42-30) margin at Nevada.
UNM has scored 49.8% of its points (450 of 904) in the paint this season with eight games scoring 50% or more of its total points in the paint. The Lobos had a season high of 50 paint points against Texas A&M-Commerce.
ABOUT BOISE STATE
Boise State enters the game 9-6, 0-2 in the Mountain West following a 61-47 loss at Wyoming and a 58-57 loss to Nevada. BSU shares one common non-conference opponent with UNM in Pepperdine with the Broncos winning 63-47.
The Broncos are led in scoring by Natalie Pasco at 14.0 points per game, and on the other end, by Abby Muse who has a conference-high 57 blocks and 152 rebounds (10.1 per game) and a team-high 19 steals. Muse has had six blocks in five games and multiple blocks in 12.
As a team, Boise State leads the MW in scoring defense, allowing 56.0 points per game, in rebounding margin at +7.0 and in blocks per game at 7.3, while also second in defensive field goal percentage at 35.9%. The Broncos are fourth in three-point field goal percentage at 34.7% led by Pasco’s 38 three-pointers and 45.8% shooting from behind the arc.
Nationally, Boise State is second in the NCAA in blocks per game with Muse leading the NCAA in blocks and second in blocks per game (3.8). Muse is also fourth in the NCAA in rebounds.
Saturday will be the first of two consecutive home games for the Lobos, with UNM hosting Utah State on Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.