ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— With two home games left and four games left on the Mountain West schedule before the MW Tournament, the Lobos host Air Force Saturday at 1p.m. MT for Senior Day.
The Lobos will recognize Clarissa Craig, Alyssa Hargrove and student manager KC Henry before the game.
UNM enters the game 18-9 on the season, 10-6 in conference, while Air Force is 12-14 on the season, 6-10 in conference.
SERIES HISTORY
The Lobos are 52-4 all-time against Air Force, 25-1 at home, and have won the last eight games in the series.
UNM won the first meeting this season at Air Force behind a career-high 29 points from Joana Magalhães, with the sophomore making a career-high five three-pointers and added four steals. Between the third and fourth quarters, Magalhães went 4-4 from three-point range and 7-10 from the floor scoring 13 points in the third quarter and nine in the fourth. Two Lobos reached double figures with Destinee Hooks scoring 13 points.
FAST START
UNM is outscoring opponents 436-346 (+90) in the first quarter, 465-409 (+56) in the second quarter and 901-755 (+146) 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. Against Utah State, the Lobos used a 9-0 run to lead 9-2 and closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run to build a 12-point lead.
Further, UNM held Wyoming (5), Boise State (4), San José State (4), Nevada (9), UNLV (9) and Utah State (7) to single digits in the first quarter and held San José State (8), Colorado State (2) and Wyoming (8) to single digits in the second quarter.
WIN THE QUARTER
The second quarter is UNM’s largest quarter for point production at 465 points, followed by the fourth quarter (452 points), with the first quarter the largest margin of +82.
UNM has outscored its opponent in the first quarter 16 times, the second quarter in 12 games this season, the third quarter 14 times and the fourth quarter 15 times.
The Lobos have also held their opponent below 10 points in a quarter in 13 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, nine in the first quarter against UNLV, seven in the first quarter against Utah State, as well as nine points in the third and six points in the fourth quarter, and eight in the second quarter at Wyoming). The Lobos held the Cowgirls to single digits in two quarters in the first meeting, the first time doing it twice in a game this season, and repeated it the next game against San José State. Against Utah State, the Lobos held the Aggies to single digits in three quarters.
Six times, the Lobos have held their opponent below 20 points at the half: 19 points (Wyoming), 18 points (Utah State), 12 points (San José State), 15 points (New Mexico State), 17 points (Chicago State) and 18 points (UT Martin).
UNM is 14-2 when leading after the first quarter, 17-1 when leading at the half and 16-1 when leading after the third quarter.
WHAT A STEAL
The Lobos are averaging 9.9 steals per game behind 12 games with double-digit steals: 19 against Chicago State and Air Force, 18 against New Orleans, 16 against North Carolina A&T, 14 against Northern Arizona, San José State and Grand Canyon, 13 at Boise State, 12 against Houston and Boise State, 11 against Wyoming and 10 against New Mexico State.
In the game at Air Force, UNM tied its season high with 19 steals. Eight Lobos were credited with a steal, led by five from Alyssa Hargrove and four from Joana Magalhães. The Lobos created six steals in the first quarter, seven in the third quarter and five in the fourth quarter.
In the first three games, Magalhães was credited with six steals twice. The sophomore is averaging 1.7 steals per game and has recorded a steal in 22 games with nine games with multiple steals. Her season high last season was four, which she did twice, and finished the season with 44 steals. She is sixth in the MW in steals per game and tied for eighth in conference games with 1.5 per game.
Hargrove had a career-best seven steals in the game against New Orleans with UNM creating 18 steals as a team. Her seven are tied for the most by a MW player this season.
Additionally, Hargrove has recorded a steal in 18 games with 12 games with multiple steals and five games with three or more steals. She is averaging 1.6 steals per game, tied for ninth in the MW. In conference games, Hargrove is tied for 13th in steals per game (1.3) with multiple steals in five games.
Magalhães has had a steal in the last nine games with four games of multiple steals in that span and Cacia Antonio has had a steal in the last 13 games with seven games with multiple steals in that span.
As a team, UNM is 69th in the NCAA in steals per game and in conference games, UNM is averaging 9.0 steals per game with 144 steals, leading the MW.
For comparison, UNM reached double-digit steals in 11 games last season, with the season high of 15, and averaged 7.9 steals per game.
MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
With UNM’s win at GCU on Wednesday, the Lobos reached 10 conference wins and marks the sixth consecutive year reaching double-digit conference wins and the ninth time in Head Coach Mike Bradbury’s 10 years at UNM.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Air Force is 4-2 in its last six games with wins over Fresno State, Utah State, Grand Canyon and San José State and losses to Boise State and Nevada.
The Falcons are led in scoring by Milahnie Perry’s 17.6 points per game, with the guard also leading the Mountain West in scoring. As a team Air Force is averaging 59.7 points per game and allowing 62.0 points per game.
On the boards, the Falcons average 34.8 rebounds per game, led by 7.8 per game from Jayda McNabb. Of her 204 rebounds, 111 are on the offensive end, an average of 4.3 per game. Of note, McNabb leads the Mountain West in offensive rebounds per game with Lobo Jessie Joaquim second in offensive rebounds. McNabb also leads the team with 59 steals and 20 blocks.
Air Force leads the MW in turnover margin with a +3.5, averaging 14.0 per game, while forcing 17.5 per game. Against MW opponents, the Falcons are averaging 12.5 turnovers per game and forcing 16.4 per game.
In conference games, Perry is averaging 17.7 points per game and is joined in double figures by Keelie O’Hollaren at 10.8. The Falcons are scoring 60.4 points per game and allowing 64.0 points per game.
Only Emily Adams and McNabb have started all 16 conference games with Perry starting 15 of the 15 games she’s played in.