ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos head north to Boulder, Colorado to face the Buffaloes on Thursday night at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+. Thursday will be the second of four games in a 10-day span for UNM, with the Lobos opening the season with a 77-59 win over Northern Arizona on Monday. For CU, it will serve as its season opener.
SERIES HISTORY
The Lobos will play Colorado for the first time since 2013 and the first time in Boulder since 2012 on Thursday. UNM is 6-8 all-time against CU, with the Lobos losing the last eight games in the series. The last time the Lobos won against the Buffaloes was in 1979 (93-73) and the last time the Lobos won in Boulder was in 1978 (72-65).
UNM is 3-4 in Boulder with the Lobos winning the first three games of the series in Boulder (1976, 1977, 1978) and losing the last four games in Boulder (1979, 1984, 1991, 2012).
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Seven Lobos registered their first minutes at UNM in the season opener against Northern Arizona Monday night and made an impact with their minutes.
After sitting out last year due to injury, Clarissa Craig led the Lobos in scoring with 16 points, going 4-4 from the floor and 8-9 from the free-throw line, which included 4-4 in the fourth quarter. Her 16 points tied her career high as did her eight made free throws.
Freshman Laila Abdurraqib went 3-4 from behind the arc and added three assists, and fellow freshman Kaia Foster led the team with six rebounds. Emma Najjuma went 3-3 with three rebounds. Abdurraqibs three, three-pointers were tied for the most by a MW player in the first two days and her 75.0% shooting from three-point range the best to date.
Newcomers accounted for 19 of UNM’s 21 bench points.
ART OF THE STEAL
The Lobos were credited with 14 steals against Northern Arizona with six players recording at least one steal, three players with multiple steals and two players setting career highs in steals.
Nayli Padilla finished with a career-high three steals and Joana Magalhães registered a career-high six steals. Magalhães’ steals were the most by a MW player in the first two days of the season.
UNM reached double-digit steals in 11 games last season, with the season high of 15.
BIG 12 SCHEDULE
There’s a common theme among the nonconference schedule this season and that’s the presence of the Big 12 Conference.
Of UNM’s 11 nonconference games, five opponents are from the Big 12. Colorado will be the first team the Lobos face in their second game of the season, host Texas Tech on Nov. 23 and have three consecutive Big 12 opponents in Cincinnati on a neutral court in Naples, Florida on Nov. 29, Arizona (in Tucson on Dec. 7) and at home against Houston to close the nonconference schedule on Dec. 13.
SHARE THE WEALTH
Eleven players scored in both exhibitions with two reaching double figures in the first exhibition and five in the second exhibition. Of UNM’s 25 made baskets at UT Arlington, 18 were assisted, an improvement from the 15 assists on the 32 made baskets in the first exhibition.
Against NAU, 10 Lobos scored with three reaching double figures and 18 of the 28 made baskets were assisted.
HOW MUCH DO YOU BENCH
The bench proved to be a sign of strength for the Lobos in both games to date, with 33 points against Adams State coming from the bench and 26 points at UTA. Additionally, the bench combined for seven assists, five steals and 25 rebounds at UTA and six steals and 29 rebounds against ASU.
UNM got 21 points and 11 rebounds from the bench in the season opener.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Colorado returns three players from a season ago in Kennedy Sanders, JoJo Nworie and Jade Masogayo with the Buffaloes finishing 21-13, 9-9 in the Big 12. Masogayo was CU’s leading scorer last season, starting in all 33 games and averaged 12.5 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game. Sanders played in 29 games with one start and averaged 4.9 points in 18.0 minutes per game. Nworie played in 10 games and averaged 4.8 minutes per game and 2.5 points per game.
While it is the first regular season game for CU, the Buffaloes defeated the Colorado School of Mines 87-24 in an exhibition.
The Buffaloes were projected to finish ninth in the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Media Preseason Poll.