ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— A season-high performance led to Laila Abdurraqib’s first conference honor as the freshman was selected as the Mountain West Freshman of the Week on Monday.
Abdurraqib’s award marks the second for a Lobo freshman this season, joining Tyler Jones’ honor on Nov. 17.
In UNM’s win at Arizona, the Indiana native led the Lobos off the bench with a season-high 13 points, the fifth game this season doing so. Abdurraqib went 3-5 from behind the arc, tying her season high in three-pointers and the third time this season making three.
Not only was she efficient from three-point range, it was when her points came that was crucial. Her first three-pointer came in the second quarter to expand UNM’s lead to 29-21 and later added two free throws in the quarter to build UNM’s lead from four to six. She made her second three-pointer in the third quarter as part of a 5-0 Lobo run that turned a 48-46 lead into a 53-46 lead, and her third three-pointer with 7:08 remaining in the game to push the Lobo lead past a possession at 64-58. The point guard followed the three with a jumper 1:33 later to push it to an eight-point margin, finishing with five points in the fourth quarter.
On the season, Abdurraqib is second on the team in made three-pointers (18) and is averaging 7.0 points per game (fifth on the team) and 18.1 minutes per game (sixth on the team).