ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos begin a two-game road stint at San José State on Saturday afternoon with tip set for 2 p.m. PT/ 3 p.m. MT.
UNM enters the game 10-4 on the season, 2-1 in the Mountain West following a 62-48 win over Wyoming on Wednesday. For San José State, the Spartans are 2-12 on the season, 0-3 in conference following a loss to Utah State on Wednesday.
SERIES HISTORY
UNM is 18-4 all-time against the Spartans, 8-3 on the road. The Lobos have won the last six games in the series by an average of 74.3 ppg to 57.7 ppg (+16.6).
The Lobos won the last meeting 72-65, which was also in San Jose, with five Lobos scoring in double figures. Destinee Hooks led the team with 18 points with Nayli Padilla scoring 13 points off the bench. Alyssa Hargrove scored 11 points with three steals, three blocks, four rebounds and two assists. UNM led for 34:06 of the game and by as many as 13 in the second quarter, outscoring the Spartans 42-26 in the paint and 16-5 in fast-break points.
FAST START
UNM is outscoring opponents 235-187 (+48) in the first quarter, 261-212 (+49) in the second quarter and 496-399 (+97) in the first 20 minutes.
In the conference opener, the Lobos scored the first 14 points against Boise State with six different Lobos contributing to the points, and against Wyoming, the Lobos scored the first 10 points of the game.
WIN THE QUARTER
The Lobos have won the second quarter in seven games this season, scoring 20-plus points in six games (twice with 28 points, twice with 22 points, once with 24 and once with 20) and holding opponents to 16 points or fewer in seven.
Further, UNM has outscored its opponent in the first quarter eight times (NAU, UNO, UTM, CSU, UA, UH, BSU, UW), the third quarter seven times (UNO, NAU, NMSU, UTM, UA, UH, UNLV) and the fourth quarter nine times (NAU, AT, UTM, UC, CSU, UH, BSU, UNLV, UW).
The Lobos have also held their opponent below 10 points in a quarter in seven games this season (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). The Lobos held the Cowgirls to single digits in two quarters, the first time doing it twice in a game this season.
Three times, the Lobos have held their opponent below 20 points at the half: 15 points (New Mexico State), 17 points (Chicago State) and 18 points (UT Martin).
UNM is 8-0 when leading after the first quarter, 10-0 when leading at the half and 8-0 when leading after the third quarter.
60-70
While the trend right now is 6-7 and scoring 67 points, for the Lobos the trend is 60-70.
UNM is 6-0 when allowing 60 points or less, including holding four opponents below 50 points and three teams to 45 points or fewer. UNM is also 8-1 when scoring 70 or more points.
OWN THE BOARDS
The Lobos lead the MW in offensive rebounds per game (13.5), rebounding margin (+5.9) and rebounding offense (41.1), and second in defensive rebounds per game (27.6). UNM is 77th in the NCAA in rebound margin, 63rd in rebounds per game and tied for 70th in defensive rebounds per game.
UNM has outrebounded its opponent in nine games and is 9-0 when doing so.
As a team, UNM had a season-high 56 against UT Martin with the largest rebounding margin against UT Martin (+35). Of note, the 56 rebounds are the second most in a game amongst MW teams this season. UNM is led by Emma Najjuma, who has 93 rebounds.
For comparison, UNM averaged 39.0 rpg with a +3.4 rebound margin last season.
EMERGENCE OF EMMA
Emma Najjuma has recorded double-digit rebounds in four games, with 10 against Chicago State, 11 against Cincinnati, a season-high 16 against Arizona and 15 against Wyoming. Prior to those four games, the redshirt-sophomore’s season high was six against North Carolina A&T.
Of her 93 rebounds, 40 are offensive and 53 defensive, and has recorded six offensive rebounds in three games. Najjuma is fifth in the MW in rebounds per game (6.6) and third in offensive rebounds per game (2.9). In conference games, Najjuma leads the MW in offensive rebounds per game (4.0) and is second in rebounds per game (10.0).
She’s led the Lobos in rebounds in six games (North Carolina A&T, Chicago State, Arizona, Boise State, UNLV and Wyoming) and tied for the team high in one (Cincinnati).
Her 16 rebounds against Arizona are the most by a MW player this year with her 15 against Wyoming tied for second.
Additionally, she leads the Lobos in blocks (13), tied for third in the MW in blocks per game (0.9).
CALL ON CACIA
In her first season as a Lobo, Cacia Antonio has quickly made her presence known, leading the Lobos in scoring in three games, including the last two. Antonio has finished in double figures in eight of the 11 games she’s played in, including the last three games and a season-high 22 at UNLV.
The junior is averaging 11.5 points per game, shooting 44.0% and averaging 5.0 rebounds per game, 1.6 assists per game, 1.2 steals per game and 26.1 minutes per game.
In the three conference games, Antonio is averaging 15.7 points per game, second amongst all players in the MW, and shooting 55.9%, sixth in the MW.
Defensively, she’s registered a steal in seven games with four games with multiple steals and is tied for 11th in the MW in steals per game in conference games (1.3).
PADILLA PRODUCTION
Nayli Padilla has started five games after starting one game last season, and has made the most of her increased minutes.
In the five games, the sophomore averaged 10.6 points per game with 4.2 rebounds per game, 1.8 steals per game and 2.2 assists per game in 31.5 minutes per game. For comparison, last season she averaged 3.7 points per game, 2.2 rebounds per game, 1.6 assists per game and 0.6 steals per game in 25 games.
In addition, in the five games, she’s scored in double figures three times with multiple steals in four of the games.
The sophomore has scored in double figures in seven games, and leads the Lobos in minutes at 28.1 per game, three-pointers (30), is second in defensive rebounds (47) and is third in points per game (9.9).
Padilla is fourth in the MW in three-pointers per game (2.1), 13th in steals per game (1.6) and is 19th in scoring.
In conference games, Padilla leads the MW in steals per game (2.3) and is tied for fourth in three-pointers per game (2.0). She is also averaging 10.0 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game, 2.0 assists per game and 29.1 minutes per game.
SHARE THE WEALTH
In all 10 of UNM’s wins, the Lobos have had three or more players score in double figures. Five times (UT Martin, New Orleans, Chicago State, Houston and Boise State), the Lobos have had four players reach double digits. Only against UNLV has UNM had three players score in double figures and lost.
Nine different Lobos have scored 10+ points in a game, led by Destinee Hooks with 13, followed by Cacia Antonio (eight), Nayli Padilla (seven) and Alyssa Hargrove (six). Further, Laila Abdurraqib has scored double digits in three games, Joana Magalhães and Drew Jordon have done so in two games and Clarissa Craig and Jessie Joaquim in one.
UNM has also had seven different leading scorers in a game with Hooks leading in four games, Padilla in three, Antonio in three and Hargrove, Joaquim, Magalhães and Craig in one game each.
The Lobos are 6-0 when Hargrove reaches double figures, 6-2 when Antonio reaches double figures, 5-2 when Padilla does and 4-1 when Padilla and Antonio both reach double figures in the same game.
Further, of UNM’s 362 made field goals, 184 were assisted (50.8%) with a season high of 21 against New Orleans.
HOW MUCH DO YOU BENCH?
On the season, the bench has scored 344 points, accounting for 34.6% of the points. UNM is 81st in the NCAA and leads the MW in bench points per game (24.6).
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
The Spartans are 0-3 in conference play with losses to Wyoming, Grand Canyon and Utah State, and are averaging 60.0 points per game in the three games while allowing 78.7 points per game.
Maya Anderson has led SJSU with 14.7 ppg with Amira Brown averaging 10.7 ppg against MW opponents. Further, Anderson has led the team in scoring the last three games (eight games overall) and Brown leads the team in rebounds per game at 7.0. Anderson leads in steals with six and Allie Cummins leads the team in assists with 11.
Anderson and Cummins are the only two Spartans to start in all 14 games, while Brown has started in seven of the 13 games she’s played in (including the last two) and Gabriela Pato, Carla Fuster and Kaliyah Dillard starting in seven games.
On the season, the Spartans average 4.3 blocks per game to lead the MW, led by Pato (1.4) and Dilliard (0.9), who are second and tied for third respectively in the MW. Anderson is ninth in the MW in scoring at 13.6 ppg and Brown seventh in rebounds per game at 6.5 with Anderson ninth (6.2).