Lobos Close November with UC Irvine Wednesday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos close November and the opening month of the basketball season at home against UC Irvine on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Wednesday will be the fourth game of a six-game homestand, with the Lobos 2-1 in the homestand to date. UNM (3-3) is coming off of an 81-68 loss to Gonzaga on Sunday, while UC Irvine enters on a five-game winning streak and is 5-1 after defeating Penn in its last game 72-68 in overtime on Nov. 21.
SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday will be the third time all-time that the Lobos have faced UC Irvine, with both previous meetings taking place at home. UNM won the first meeting on Nov. 15, 2010 71-59 and the second meeting almost seven years ago to the day 83-61 on Nov. 25, 2017.
Of note, in the last game against the Anteaters, current graduate assistant Jaisa Nunn scored 17 points and recorded a double-double with 18 rebounds, the second-most rebounds in her career.
BLOCK IT UP
Blocks have been a prevalent statistic this season with the Lobos, finishing with five or more blocks in four of the games.
In the game against South Carolina State, Amhyia Moreland finished with a career-high six blocks, with the Lobo matching her career high of four by halftime. Of note, she is the first Lobo to record six blocks in a game since Antonia Anderson did it against UC Riverside on Nov. 5, 2019 and one of 12 Lobos to record six or more blocks in a game dating back to 2002. While Carol Moreland holds the program record of most blocks in a game, done twice in 1978, Nike McClure holds the most recent record of blocks in a game with nine, done in 2018 against Oklahoma.
The Lobos finished with 10 blocks against Morehead State, the most in a game since 2021, when UNM had 11 against Houston Baptist on Nov. 23. Seven different Lobos had at least one block with Hulda Joaquim, Destinee Hooks and Alyssa Hargrove leading with two apiece. Lara Langermann recorded her first career block, with Lydie Mwamba, Moreland and Reza Po all contributing one.
UNM has 34 blocks this season with Moreland with 10, Hargrove with seven, Joaquim with five and Hooks, Po and Mwamba with two. As a team, UNM is 15th in the NCAA in blocks per game (5.7) and second in the Mountain West. Moreland is tied for fourth in the MW in blocks per game at 1.7 and 57th in the NCAA in blocks.
QUITE THE STEAL
The Lobos have created six or more steals in each of the games this season, including 13 in two games and nine in the last game against Gonzaga, averaging 9.5 steals per game.
Alyssa Hargrove leads the team in steals with 15 (2.5 per game), following three or more steals in the last three games with four against Western New Mexico and three against South Carolina State and Gonzaga. She’s recorded a steal in each game and multiple steals in five. Hargrove led the team in steals against NAU, TTU and WNMU and tied for the team lead against South Carolina State.
Amhyia Moreland has had a steal in each of the last four games and Viané Cumber has had a steal in each of the last three, including a game-high four against Gonzaga, which tied her career high.
Three Lobos are averaging over a steal per game with Hargrove, Cumber (1.5) and Joana Magalhães (1.2). Hargrove is sixth in the Mountain West in steals per game, tied for third in number of steals and 80th in the NCAA in steals.
MOUNTAIN OF STATS
Among the Mountain West teams, the Lobos rank in the top three in six categories, leading the conference in two.
UNM leads the conference in assists per game (16.5) and field goal percentage (.448). UNM is second in blocks per game (6.2) and third in rebounding margin (+3.8), three-point field goal percentage (.338) and assist/turnover ratio (1.1).
UNM has the most assists in a game this season with a conference-best 24 against South Carolina State. The 10 blocks against Morehead State are tied for the second most in a game this season.
On an individual level, Viané Cumber leads the conference in three-pointers per game (3.2) with a conference-best 19 made three-pointers and her three-point percentage (.422) also leads the MW. Cumber’s seven three-pointers against Morehead State are the most made by a MW player this season with her 12 attempts in the game also the most.
Destinee Hooks’ 28 points at Texas Tech is tied for the most points scored by a MW player this season, with her 11 made field goals in the game the most by a MW player. Hooks is second in the conference in points per game at 17.8 with Cumber eighth at 14.8. Hooks is also fourth in field goal percentage (.550) with Cumber seventh (.449). Joana Magalhãesis is fourth in the conference in assists per game (3.2), third in number of assists (19) with Alyssa Hargrove tied for fifth in assists per game (3.0) and Reza Po tied for 15th in assists per game (2.5).
FAST-BREAK POINTS
On the season, UNM has scored 75 fast-break points, while limiting opponents to 41. The Lobos held NAU to five fast-break points, Western New Mexico to four and South Carolina State and Gonzaga to two.
The Lobos have had the edge in fast-break points in five games.
PAINT POINTS
While a small sample size, the Lobos trend of prioritizing the paint points has continued from last season with UNM scoring 234 of its 445 points in the paint, accounting for 52.6% of the points and an average of 39.0 points per game. The Lobos are outscoring opponents 234-168 (+66) in the paint and have outscored opponents in the paint in four games (2-2 in those games).
In the season opener, UNM scored 42 of its 78 points in the paint, accounting for 53.8%. UNM outscored NAU 42-34 in the paint, with 14 points in both the first and second quarters coming in the paint to account for 28 of UNM’s 42 points at the half. UNM had a season-best 56 paint points in the game against Western New Mexico, accounting for a season-high 65.9% of the total points. In the game against South Carolina State, UNM outscored the Lady Bulldogs 48-18 in the paint, scoring 60.0% of the total points in the paint. In the game against Gonzaga, UNM outscored the Bulldogs 38-30 in the paint with 55.9% of UNM’s total points coming in the paint.
STARTING STRONG, NEED TO FINISH STRONG
UNM has entered the fourth quarter with the lead in four games (NAU, Morehead State, Western New Mexico and South Carolina State). In those four games, UNM is outscoring opponents 79-59 in the first quarter and 74-44 in the second quarter (153-103 in the first 20 minutes), 68-46 in the third quarter and 88-81 in the fourth (156-127 in the last 20 minutes). UNM is 3-1 this season when taking a lead into the final quarter.
The Lobos led for the majority of the game in the four games, leading 34:12 and by as many as 13 against NAU but lost the lead and the game late. Against Morehead State, the Lobos led 39:33 and by as many as 24 in the fourth, but the lead was cut down to 10 in the 66-56 final. They only trailed for 3:47 (3:30 vs. NAU, 0:17 vs. MSU) in the first two games of the season. Against Western New Mexico, UNM led by as many as 29 and for 36:38.
On the season, UNM is outscoring its opponents 122-99 in the first quarter for the greatest point differential of +23. The Lobos are outscoring opponents by 99-79 in the second and 104-82 (+22), but trailing 126-120 in the fourth. UNM holds a 445-386 (+59) edge in overall points.
In addition, the Lobos have led for a total of 162:43 this season, leading after the first quarter in five games (exception was Gonzaga), and trailed for a total of 70:58, with the largest time coming against Gonzaga of 39:13. UNM never trailed in the game against South Carolina State, the first time that has happened this season, but also never led against Gonzaga although tying the game three times.
ABOUT UC IRVINE
Out of the Big West, the Anteaters lost their season opener to New Mexico State (57-49), but went on to win their next five, which included a 65-56 win over future Lobo opponent Pepperdine (UNM plays Pepperdine at home on Dec. 15). UCI is 2-0 on the road this season with wins at Drexel and Penn.
UC Irvine is averaging 63.2 points per game while allowing 57.3 points per game, and has two players averaging double figures: Hunter Hernandez (15.7 ppg) and Summah Hanson (11.8 ppg). Hanson and Hernandez have led the team in scoring in two games each and shared the team high in points with 20 each against Penn in the last game. Hanson also leads the team in rebounds with 6.5 per game and has led the Anteaters in rebounds in three games, including the last two. Hanson has come off the bench in all six games.
The Anteaters have started the same lineup in all six games in Hernandez, Déja Lee, Olivia Williams, Nevaeh Dean and Nikki Tom.
Defensively, UCI is averaging 8.5 steals per game and 2.7 blocks per game, while outrebounding opponents 35.5 to 34.8. Tom (11), Lee (11) and Williams (10) all have double-digit steals on the season, and Dean leads with seven blocks with Hanson the next at five. UCI has recorded 10 steals in two games this season (NMSU and Saint Mary’s) with at least seven steals in all six games.
UC Irvine was picked to finish second in the Big West Preseason Coaches’ Poll, finishing one point behind Hawai’i with 95 points and five first-place votes. Lee was selected to the All-Big West Preseason Team after being named the Big West Player of the Year last season.