ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos are throwing it back on Saturday against Utah State for their Retro Day with tip set for 1 p.m. on Altitude and the Mountain West Network. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. for fans to interact with a retro set over by the Northeast entrance.
UNM enters the game 14-7 on the season, 6-4 in conference and has won its last two games, while USU is 6-14 on the season, 2-9 in conference.
SERIES HISTORY
The Lobos are 29-6 all-time against Utah State, 14-2 at home. UNM has won the last 17 games in the series by an average score of 82.6 to 62.7 and has scored over 90 points in seven of the last nine games against the Aggies.
Last season, the Lobos won 101-79 in Logan and 73-65 in The Pit with four players scoring in double figures in the first game and the Lobos shooting 58.1% with 12 made three-pointers. In the second game, UNM again had four players reach double-digit points with the Lobos outrebounding the Aggies 53-38 and outscoring the Aggies 45-37 in the final 20 minutes for the 73-65 win.
FAST START
UNM is outscoring opponents 345-269 (+76) in the first quarter, 377-328 (+49) in the second quarter and 722-597 (+125) 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. Against UNLV, the Lobos built a 13-2 lead behind a 10-0 run with the Lobos making five of their first seven shots .
Further, UNM held Wyoming (5), Boise State (4), San José State (4), Nevada (9) and UNLV (9) to single digits in the first quarter and held San José State (8) and Colorado State (2) to single digits in the second quarter.
WIN THE QUARTER
The third quarter is UNM’s largest quarter for point production at 383 points (18.2 avg.), followed by the second quarter (377 points), with the first quarter the largest margin of +76.
UNM has outscored its opponent in the first quarter 13 times (NAU, UNO, UTM, CSU, UA, UH, BSU, UW, SJSU, NEV, SDSU, AFA, UNLV), the second quarter in nine games this season, the third quarter 12 times (UNO, NAU, NMSU, UTM, UA, UH, UNLV, SJSU, NEV, SDSU, GCU, AFA) and the fourth quarter 13 times (NAU, AT, UTM, UC, Chicago St., UH, BSU, UNLV, UW, SJSU, Colorado St., AFA, UNLV).
The Lobos have also held their opponent below 10 points in a quarter in 11 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, 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, nine in the first quarter against Nevada and nine in the first quarter against UNLV). 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 11-2 when leading after the first quarter, 14-1 when leading at the half and 12-1 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 10-0 when allowing 60 points or less, including holding four opponents below 50 points and three teams to 45 points or fewer. UNM is also 10-1 when scoring 70 or more points.
OWN THE BOARDS
The Lobos lead the MW in offensive rebounds per game (13.4), rebounding margin (+4.9) and rebounding offense (39.8). UNM is ties for 71st in the NCAA in rebound margin, tied for 70th in rebounds per game and tied for 90th in offensive rebounds per game.
UNM has outrebounded its opponent in 13 games and is 12-1 when doing so (San Diego State was lone loss when outrebounding opponent).
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 Jessie Joaquim at 127, followed by Emma Najjuma at 122.
JESSIE’S BOARD
Jessie Joaquim has recorded two double-doubles, the only Lobo to record a double-double this season. In her first start as a Lobo against GCU, the forward led the team with 12 rebounds to go with 12 points. Joaquim has had five games with double-digit rebounds with a season-high 16 against San José State and has led the team in rebounds in seven games.
Joaquim’s first double-double came against Houston with 13 points and 12 rebounds off of the bench. In both of her double-doubles, Joaquim went 6-8 from the field.
The Lobo has started the last three games and has averaged 9.7 rebounds per game with two games of double-digit rebounds and has also created multiple steals in two of the games.
She leads the team with 127 rebounds (6.7 per game) with 47 offensive and 80 defensive rebounds and is fifth in the conference in rebounds per game and in offensive rebounds per game (2.5).
In conference, the forward leads the team with 75 rebounds (averaging 7.5 rebounds per game) and is sixth in the conference, as well as second in the conference in offensive rebounds (3.1).
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Utah State is averaging 61.4 points per game on the season, allowing 68.3 points per game, and has two players averaging double figures in Aaliyah Gayles (13.2) and Marina Asensio (10.8), however both players have only played in 14 games. As a team, the Aggies are shooting 38.2% from the floor and 28.5% from behind the arc with 6.5 made three-pointers per game.
The Aggie offense gets more efficient as the game goes on, scoring 282 points in the first quarter (14.1 average), 296 in the second quarter (14.8), 303 in the third quarter (15.2) and 347 in the fourth quarter (17.3). Their opponents are most efficient in the third quarter at 363 points (18.2 average).
In conference games, USU is averaging 58.5 points per game and allowing 68.5 points per game with Asensio leading at 12.2 ppg and Gayles following at 11.8. Only Elise Livingston has started all 11 games with Sophie Sene starting in the next most games at nine.