ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— After going 2-0 on the road with wins over San José State and Colorado State, the Lobos return home to host Nevada on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on Altitude 2.
UNM enters the game 12-4, 4-1 in the Mountain West with Nevada 6-9, 2-3 in the conference. The Lobos have won their last three games and six of their last seven, while the Wolf Pack have won their last two games with wins over Utah State and Wyoming.
SERIES HISTORY
UNM is 18-7 all-time against Nevada, 9-2 at home, and has won four of the last five games in the series. The Lobos faced the Wolf Pack just once last season, a 70-62 win at home, led by 18 points from Destinee Hooks and 10 points from Joana Magalhães.
The Lobos led for 37:36 of the contest and by as many as 12 in the second quarter, and outscored Nevada 38-24 in paint points, 17-10 in points off of turnovers and 21-16 in second-chance points. Hooks, Magalhães and Alyssa Hargrove combined for seven steals with Hargrove credited with a team-high three.
FAST START
UNM is outscoring opponents 261-213 (+48) in the first quarter, 304-222 (+82) in the second quarter and 565-435 (+130) 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. Further, UNM held Wyoming (5), Boise State (4) and San José State (4) 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 second quarter is UNM’s largest quarter for point production, scoring 304 points, with the largest margin of +82. 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 nine times (NAU, UNO, UTM, CSU, UA, UH, BSU, UW, SJSU), the third quarter eight times (UNO, NAU, NMSU, UTM, UA, UH, UNLV, SJSU) 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 nine games this season, including in the last three 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 and two in the second quarter at Colorado State). 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 9-0 when leading after the first quarter, 12-0 when leading at the half and 10-0 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 8-0 when allowing 60 points or less, including holding four opponents below 50 points and three teams to 45 points or fewer. UNM is also 9-1 when scoring 70 or more points.
SHARE THE WEALTH
In all 12 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. UNM had a season-best five reach double figures at San José State. Only against UNLV has UNM had three players score in double figures and lost.
Ten different Lobos have scored 10+ points in a game, led by Destinee Hooks with 15, followed by Cacia Antonio (10), and Nayli Padilla and Alyssa Hargrove (seven). Further, Laila Abdurraqib has scored double digits in five games, Joana Magalhães and Drew Jordon have done so in two games and Clarissa Craig, Kaia Foster and Jessie Joaquim in one.
UNM has also had nine different leading scorers in a game with Hooks leading in four games, Padilla in three, Antonio in three and Hargrove, Abdurraqib, Joaquim, Magalhães and Craig in one game each. Foster tied Antonio for the team lead in one game.
The Lobos are 7-0 when Hargrove reaches double figures, 5-0 when Abdurraqib scores double figures, 8-2 when Antonio reaches double figures, 6-2 when Padilla does and 4-1 when Padilla and Antonio both reach double figures in the same game.
Further, of UNM’s 417 made field goals, 211 were assisted (50.6%) with a season high of 21 against New Orleans.
OWN THE BOARDS
The Lobos lead the MW in offensive rebounds per game (14.2), rebounding margin (+7.3), rebounding offense (42.3), and in defensive rebounds per game (28.1). Of note, the Lobos’ +7.3 rebounding margin is +4.4 better than the next team in the MW. UNM is 49th in the NCAA in rebound margin, 36th in rebounds per game, 53rd in defensive rebounds per game and 63rd 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 105 rebounds.
HOW MUCH DO YOU BENCH?
On the season, the bench has scored 421 points, accounting for 36.6% of the points. UNM is 47th in the NCAA and leads the MW in bench points per game (26.3). The bench has scored 77 points in the last two games, accounting for 49.7% of the points.
Laila Abdurraqib has led the bench in scoring in seven games, Nayli Padilla four times, Jessie Joaquim twice, Destinee Hooks, Kaia Foster and Drew Jordon once.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Nevada is 6-9 on the season, 0-5 in road games this season. In conference, the Wolf Pack lost their first three games to Colorado State, Air Force and Boise State before winning their last two against Utah State and Wyoming.
The Wolf Pack are led in scoring by freshman Skylar Durley at 10.3 points per game, the only player averaging double figures. She is one of three players to start all 15 games, joined by Ahrray Young and Izzy Sullivan. Makayla Carter has started in 12, including the last four games. Durley and Young have each led the team in scoring in four games with Chloe Williams leading in three games and Sullivan in two.
On the season, Nevada is scoring 55.2 points per game while allowing 58.0 points per game and is shooting 39.3% but only 21.5% from three-point range, averaging 2.8 three-pointers per game. The Wolf Pack are second in the conference in scoring defense and lead in three-point field goal defense at 27.0%. Nevada ranks 49th in the NCAA in three-point percentage defense and 57th in scoring defense.
In conference games, Nevada is scoring 56.6 points per game and allowing 59.2 points per game, tied for third in scoring defense and tied for eighth in scoring offense. Durley leads the team with 13.2 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game, tied for 11th in the MW in scoring and tied for seventh in rebounding.