ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos return home for a two-game stretch starting with North Carolina A&T on Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are still available and for those unable to attend, the game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network with live stats available. Kids 12 and under are free.
UNM is coming off of a loss on the road at Colorado and is 1-1 entering the game against the Aggies, who are 0-2 following losses to Texas Tech and TCU.
SERIES HISTORY
Sunday will be the second meeting all-time between New Mexico and North Carolina A&T, with the last meeting in 2009. Also in Albuquerque, the Lobos won 77-55.
HOOKS HANGS 22
Destinee Hooks led the Lobos with a game-high 22 points at Colorado, the seventh time scoring 20-plus points at UNM.
Hooks went off for 12 points in the second quarter, using a personal 7-0 run in the first 2:03 of the quarter to give UNM a 19-18 lead, and went 5-7 from the floor and 2-3 from three-point range. The Lobo guard continued to pace the Lobos with six point in the third quarter.
In addition to leading the team in points, she also led with seven rebounds (four offensive).
WELCOME TO THE SEASON
The Lobo schedule features three games in the opening week of the season and four games each scheduled three days apart.
FAST START
The Lobos made four of their first five shots in the season opener against Northern Arizona with Nayli Padilla accounting for five points. At Colorado, CU scored the first six points of the game, but three-pointers from Destinee Hooks and Clarissa Craig tied the game. Two free throws by Craig and a basket by Joana Magalhães continued the Lobo run for the 10-6 UNM lead.
UNM is outscoring opponents 76-68 in the first 20 minutes, 34-33 in the first quarter and 42-35 in the second quarter.
NO THREES FOR YOU, BUT WE’LL TAKE THEM
The Lobos are holding opponents to 27.7% shooting from behind the arc, limiting Colorado to 4-20 shooting (.200) and Northern Arizona to 9-27 (.333) in the two games.
Colorado was 0-6 in the first quarter, 1-4 in both the third and fourth quarters and 2-6 in the second quarter. NAU was 1-7 in the first quarter and 0-3 in the fourth quarter.
Conversely, UNM is making 8.5 three-pointers a game with nine at CU and eight against NAU. Laila Abdurraqib and Destinee Hooks lead with five three-pointers each with Abdurraqib 5-8 on the season and Hooks 5-9. Abdurraqib currently leads the conference in three-point percentage (62.5%).
The Lobos are second in the Mountain West in three-point percentage at 37.0% and in made three-pointers per game.
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.
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.
Abdurraqib’s 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 in that span.
Newcomers accounted for 19 of UNM’s 21 bench points.
At Colorado, Abdurraqib again led the Lobos off the bench with nine points and was the second leading scorer for the Lobos. The freshman was also second in rebounds with six rebounds, added a steal and accounted for half of UNM’s bench points.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
North Carolina A&T opened the season with a pair of Lone Star State games, losing at Texas Tech (78-40) and at TCU (82-43).
Four players have started both games in Chaniya Clark, D’Mya Tucker, Paris Locke and Jordan Brown, with Clark and Tucker both leading the Aggies in scoring with 8.5 points per game. Tucker led the Aggies with 13 points against TTU and Clark led the Aggies with eight points against TCU. Clark and Locke both lead the team in rebounds at 5.5 per game after Clark registered 10 rebounds in the season opener at Texas Tech and Locke registered seven at TCU.
Brown is the leading distributor with four assists with Locke closely behind at three. Locke and Jamyia Lindsey have both been credited with three steals to lead the Aggies, who collectively have 13 on the season.
Of their 83 points, 30 have come in the paint and 28 from the free-throw line. Of the 28 free throws, Clark has accounted for 13. The Aggies aren’t very proficient from behind the arc, going 5-32 in the two games, while opponents are making 9.0 three-pointers per game.
Out of the CAA (Coastal Athletic Association), the Aggies enter the season having won the CAA regular season title after going 19-12 last season and 15-3 in the CAA, and were picked to finish third this season receiving two first-place votes and 124 points. A&T appeared in the WBIT, losing in the first round to No. 1 Virginia Tech 61-45. In addition, three players were named to the preseason All-CAA teams in Clark (first team), Locke (second team) and Tucker (honorable mention).