Lobos Continue Homestand with Mean Green Sunday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos begin December with their fifth consecutive home game, set to face North Texas on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Sunday will be a toy drive with boxes placed at the northeast entrance for donations. Fans are asked to donate new toys for toy drive and no stuffed animals.
UNM enters the game 4-3 on the season following a 65-62 win over UC Irvine on Wednesday, with Lara Langermann hitting the game-winning three-pointer with 0.2 seconds left in a back-and-forth game that had nine ties and four lead changes, as UNM closed on a 9-3 run in the win. UNT enters the game 5-1 on the season and defeated Houston 69-53 in its last game on Nov. 24 and has won its last three games.
SERIES HISTORY
The Lobos have faced the Mean Green six times previously with a 3-3 record in the series, 3-1 at home. The first game of the series was in 1993, a 99-56 loss at home. The Lobos have won three of the last four games in the series, the latest an 81-59 win at home in 2012.
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 38 blocks this season with Moreland with 10, Joaquim with eight, Hargrove with seven, and Hooks with three. As a team, UNM is 24th in the NCAA in blocks per game (5.4) and second in the Mountain West. Moreland is fourth in the MW in blocks per game at 1.4.
QUITE THE STEAL
The Lobos have created six or more steals in six games this season, including 13 in two games and nine against Gonzaga, averaging 8.6 steals per game.
Alyssa Hargrove leads the team in steals with 16 (2.3 per game), following three or more steals in three of the last four 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 five games and Viané Cumber has had a steal in three of the last four, including a game-high four against Gonzaga, which tied her career high.
Three Lobos are averaging over a steal per game with Hargrove, Cumber (1.3) and Joana Magalhães (1.0). Hargrove is tied for fourth in the Mountain West in steals per game and in number of steals.
MOUNTAIN OF STATS
Among the Mountain West teams, the Lobos rank in the top three in seven categories, leading the conference in one.
UNM leads the conference in assists per game (16.7) and is second in field goal percentage (.441), blocks per game (5.4) and third in rebounding margin (+5.3), defensive rebounds per game (28.3) 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 (2.9) with a conference-best 20 made three-pointers and her three-point percentage (.370) 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 third in the conference in points per game at 17.7 with Cumber seventh at 14.9. Hooks is also third in field goal percentage (.531) with Cumber sixth (.424). Alyssa Hargrove is tied for second in the conference in assists per game (3.6) with Joana Magalhães ninth (3.0).
STARTING STRONG, NEED TO FINISH STRONG
UNM has entered the fourth quarter with the lead in five games (NAU, Morehead State, Western New Mexico, South Carolina State and UC Irvine). In those five games, UNM outscored opponents 96-74 in the first quarter and 85-62 in the second quarter (181-136 in the first 20 minutes), 91-61 in the third quarter and 102-95 in the fourth (193-156 in the last 20 minutes). UNM is 4-1 this season when taking a lead into the final quarter.
The Lobos led for the majority of the game in four of the 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 and UNM never trailed against South Carolina State and led by as many as 43.
On the season, UNM is outscoring its opponents 139-114 in the first quarter (+25). The Lobos are outscoring opponents by 110-97 in the second and 127-97 (+30) in the third for the greatest point differential, but trailing 140-134 in the fourth. UNM holds a 510-448 (+62) edge in overall points.
In addition, the Lobos have led for a total of 159:24 this season, leading after the first quarter in six games (exception was Gonzaga), and trailed for a total of 90:31, 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.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Alyssa Hargrove reached double digits in five official games as a Lobo, averaging 8.3 ppg on the season. Additionally, she is averaging 2.6 rpg, 3.6 apg, 2.3 spg and 1.0 bpg in 28.1 mpg, while shooting 42.3% from the floor and 47.4% from three with two three-pointers in three games.
Hargrove led the Lobos with four assists and a game-high two steals in the season opener, and had two steals, two blocks, two assists and three rebounds at Texas Tech. In the game against Western New Mexico, Hargrove had a game-high four steals and 10 points, nine of which she scored in the first quarter to pace the Lobos. In the game against South Carolina State, she had three steals, three assists and four rebounds. She filled the stat sheet against Gonzaga with four assists, three steals, two blocks, three rebounds and five points. It was her third game on the season with two blocks, tied her season high in assists and was the third consecutive game with three or more steals. In the game against UC Irvine, Hargrove assisted on the game-winning basket to give the Lobo her seventh assist of the game, which was not only a game high but a career high, topping her previous career high of six.
Hargrove currently leads the team in steals (16) and assists (25), is second in and made three-pointers (nine) and is third in blocks (seven) and scoring with a steal in all seven games and a block in four.
Destinee Hooks has been a consistent scorer for the Lobos, reaching double figures in six games and has scored 20-plus points in three games. The Indiana native scored a game-high 21 points in the season opener, including 12 points at the half on 5-7 shooting. Hooks scored five consecutive points for UNM in the fourth quarter, including a game-tying three-pointer with 49 seconds left to tie the game at 75. She later made a free throw with 2.4 seconds left that tied the game at 78. Hooks followed that up with her second 20-point performance at Texas Tech, scoring a game-high 28 points for the second time leading the Lobos in scoring. Hooks led the Lobos in scoring for the third time with 15 against Western New Mexico and the fourth time against Gonzaga with her third 20-plus performance of 24 points. In the last game, she recorded her first double-double as a Lobo with a team-high 17 points and a season-high 10 rebounds, tying for the team high in rebounds.
Hooks currently leads the Lobos in scoring at 17.7 ppg, as well as in made free throws (16) and attempts (31), and is third in three-pointers (six). Additionally, she is third in the MW in scoring and in field goal percentage (.531) and currently 33rd in the NCAA in field goals (51), 80th in field goal percentage and 75th in points (124).
CONSISTENT V
Viané Cumber has scored in double figures in all seven games this season, the only Lobo to do so. She scored a season-high 23 points against Morehead State to lead the team in scoring, had 14 in the season opener against Northern Arizona, 10 at Texas Tech, 13 against Western New Mexico and South Carolina State, 16 against Gonzaga and 15 against UC Irvine.
She is currently averaging 14.9 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, 2.0 assists per game and shooting 42.4% from the floor and 37.0% from three-point range. Cumber is second on the team in points per game, made field goals (36), steals per game (1.3) and rebounds per game. She also leads the team in made three-pointers with 20, 11 more than the next Lobo.
Further, Cumber has scored in double figures 43 times and 20 or more points seven times in her career.
FAST-BREAK POINTS
On the season, UNM has scored 88 fast-break points, while limiting opponents to 45. The Lobos held NAU to five fast-break points, Western New Mexico and UC Irvine to four and South Carolina State and Gonzaga to two.
The Lobos have had the edge in fast-break points in six games.
PAINT POINTS
Through the first seven games, the trend of prioritizing the paint points has continued from last season with UNM scoring 260 of its 510 points in the paint, accounting for 51.0% of the points and an average of 37.1 points per game. The Lobos are outscoring opponents 260-190 (+70) in the paint and have outscored opponents in the paint in five games (3-2 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.
DOUBLE TIME
The Lobos had two double-doubles in the win against Morehead State behind a 23-point and 12-rebound performance from Viané Cumber that included seven three-pointers and a 12-point and 10-rebound performance from Hulda Joaquim. It was Cumber’s fourth double-double, as well as the fourth time with 10-plus rebounds and seventh time scoring 20-plus points in her career. For Joaquim, it was her career high in points and the third time with double-digit rebounds as a Lobo, recording her first career double-double.
UNM had its second game with multiple double-doubles against UC Irvine with Destinee Hooks scoring 17 points to go with 10 rebounds for her first as a Lobo and Cumber recording her second of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
UNM has five double-doubles on the season with Joaquim accounting for two (14 points, 10 rebounds vs. South Carolina State) to go with Cumber’s two and the one for Hooks.
ABOUT NORTH TEXAS
Out of the American, the Mean Green are 5-1 on the season, 2-1 on the road, and have won their last three. UNT’s lone loss was to No. 25 Oregon (66-35). As a team, UNT is averaging 66.5 points per game and allowing 59.5 points per game.
The Mean Green has three players scoring in double figures, led by Tommisha Lampkin (16.0 ppg), followed by Desiree Wooten (13.2 ppg) and Kyla Deck (12.2 ppg).
UNT is 19th in the NCAA in free-throw attempts per game (23) and 49th in free throws made per game (14.7), as well as 37th in defensive three-point percentage (25.0) and 52nd in field-goal percentage (45.5).
Lampkin is 21st in the NCAA in rebounds per game (10.5) and 63rd in rebounds (63), leading the American in rebounds per game. Lampkin has also taken 48 free throws, the 22nd most in the NCAA. Deck and Wooten lead the team in steals with 12 and 11, respectively, and Lampkin leads in blocks with nine.
UNT was picked tied for second (with Rice) in the American Preseason Coaches Poll with Lampkin selected the American Athletic Conference Preseason Co-Player of the Year and a first team all-conference selection.