SAN DIEGO, Calif.— The Lobos return to the road for a midweek, morning matchup against San Diego State with tip set for Wednesday at 11 a.m. PT/ 12 p.m. MT.
UNM enters the game 12-5 on the season, 4-2 in conference and the Aztecs 12-3 on the season, 6-0 in conference. Wednesday features the top two three-point shooting teams in the Mountain West with SDSU averaging 8.7 three-pointers per game and UNM 8.5.
SERIES HISTORY
UNM is 42-38 all-time against the Aztecs and 16-17 on the road. The Lobos won the last time the teams met in San Diego 68-59 with Destinee Hooks leading with 18 points and Alyssa Hargrove scoring 12 points. UNM led for 36:07 of the game, trailing for 2:41 and outscored the Aztecs in all but the second quarter. The Lobos also held the edge in points off of turnovers (16-9), paint points (42-24), second-chance points (13-5), fast-break points (6-0) and bench points (27-22).
LOBOS ON THE ROAD
UNM is 4-2 on the road this season, averaging 72.3 points per game with a +6.2 scoring margin. In addition, the Lobos are averaging 10.2 three-pointers per game compared to 6.2 by opponents, shooting 35.7% from behind the arc and 41.8% from the floor. On the board, UNM is outrebounding opponents 42.0 to 35.7.
WIN THE QUARTER
The second quarter is UNM’s largest quarter for point production, scoring 321 points, with the largest margin of +77. The Lobos have won the second quarter in nine games this season, scoring 20-plus points in seven games (twice with 28 points, twice with 22 points, twice with 24 and once with 20) and holding opponents to 16 points or fewer in nine.
Further, UNM has outscored its opponent in the first quarter 10 times (NAU, UNO, UTM, CSU, UA, UH, BSU, UW, SJSU, NEV), the third quarter nine times (UNO, NAU, NMSU, UTM, UA, UH, UNLV, SJSU, NEV) and the fourth quarter 11 times (NAU, AT, UTM, UC, Chicago St., UH, BSU, UNLV, UW, SJSU, Colorado St.).
The Lobos have also held their opponent below 10 points in a quarter in 10 games this season, including in the last four games (five in the fourth quarter against NAU, five in the second quarter against Chicago State, four in the second quarter against NMSU, seven in the second quarter against UTM, nine in the fourth quarter against Houston, four in the first quarter against Boise State, five in the first quarter against Wyoming and seven in the fourth quarter against Wyoming, four in the first quarter at San José State and eight in the second quarter at San José State, two in the second quarter at Colorado State and nine in the first quarter against Nevada). The Lobos held the Cowgirls to single digits in two quarters, the first time doing it twice in a game this season, and repeated it the next game against San José State.
Four times, the Lobos have held their opponent below 20 points at the half: 12 points (San José State), 15 points (New Mexico State), 17 points (Chicago State) and 18 points (UT Martin).
UNM is 9-1 when leading after the first quarter, 12-1 when leading at the half and 10-1 when leading after the third quarter.
OWN THE BOARDS
The Lobos lead the MW in offensive rebounds per game (13.9), rebounding margin (+6.2), rebounding offense (41.5). Of note, the Lobos’ +6.2 rebounding margin is +3.1 better than the next team in the MW. UNM is 57th in the NCAA in rebound margin, 42nd in rebounds per game, 61st in defensive rebounds per game and tied for 73rd in offensive rebounds per game.
UNM has outrebounded its opponent in 11 games and is 11-0 when doing so.
As a team, UNM had a season-high 58 against San José State with the largest rebounding margin against UT Martin (+35). Of note, the 58 rebounds are the most in a game amongst MW teams this season. UNM is led by Emma Najjuma, who has 109 rebounds.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
The Aztecs are 6-0 in conference and have won their last eight games, which includes a road win at Kansas State. SDSU has wins over Boise State, Air Force, Wyoming, Grand Canyon, Fresno State and Utah State in MW play.
SDSU is averaging 70.9 points per game and allowing 60.3 points per game, third in the conference in scoring offense and second in scoring margin. The Aztecs lead in field goal percentage (43.0%) and is second in defensive field goal percentage (37.6%) as well as assists per game (14.0) and assist/turnover ratio (+1.1).
Naomi Panganiban leads the team with 13.7 points per game, followed by Nat Martinez at 10.7 points per game. The Aztecs have started the same five in all 15 games in Panganiban, Martinez, Nala Williams, Kennedy Lee and Bailey Barnhard.
In conference, SDSU is averaging 73.3 points per game and allowing 59.0 points per game, second in both categories. Panganiban also leads the team in conference play at 15.3 points per game and Lee second at 10.3 points per game. Lee also leads the team with 6.3 rebounds per game with Williams leading with 3.5 assists per game and 1.3 steals per game.