LOGAN, Utah— The Lobos close out their road conference schedule with two road games on the week, starting at Utah State on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. MT.
UNM enters the game 19-9 on the season, 11-6 in the Mountain West and has won three of its last four games. USU enters the game 6-20 on the season, 2-15 in conference.
SERIES HISTORY
The Lobos are 30-6 all-time against Utah State, 15-3 in Logan. UNM has won the last 18 games in the series and the last nine times played in Logan.
UNM won the first meeting of the season 58-33 on Jan. 31, holding Utah State to single digits in three of the four quarters and led for 37:15. The 33 points were the fewest allowed in the series with the Aggies, was the fewest points allowed by the Lobos since 2018 (33 points against Stephen F. Austin) and the fewest points allowed by the Lobos in a Mountain West game since 2016 (33 against Air Force).
Cacia Antonio led the Lobos with 12 points to go with two steals, joined in double figures by Nayli Padilla with 10 points who also had two blocks, two assists and a steal.
The Lobos outrebounded USU 48-30, led by a game-high 12 from Jessie Joaquim, six of which were offensive. UNM also held the edge in paint points (32-24), points off turnovers (15-6), second-chance points (13-2) and bench points (25-9) with Padilla leading the bench in scoring.
ROAD TESTED
Following the win at GCU, UNM is 7-4 on the road this season matching the road record in 2023-24, and with the exception of the COVID year where the Lobos played all but two games on the road, is the most road wins since 2018-19 when the Lobos went 8-4.
The Lobos are averaging 66.1 points per game on the road compared to 64.5 points by opponents, with UNM shooting 40.4% and averaging 8.6 three-pointers per game. UNM is also outrebounding opponents on the road at 38.2 per game with a +4.3 rebounding margin.
Destinee Hooks is averaging 12.0 points per game and Cacia Antonio is averaging 10.0 points per game.
UNM has won three of its last four road games.
FAST START
UNM is outscoring opponents 448-354 (+94) in the first quarter, 484-429 (+55) in the second quarter and 932-783 (+149) 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), Utah State (7) and Air Force (8) 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 484 points, followed by the fourth quarter (476 points), with the first quarter the largest margin of +94.
UNM has outscored its opponent in the first quarter 17 times, the second quarter in 12 games this season, the third quarter 15 times and the fourth quarter 16 times.
OWN THE BOARDS
The Lobos lead the MW in offensive rebounds per game (13.2), rebounding margin (+5.4) and rebounding offense (39.6). UNM is 57th in the NCAA in rebound margin as well as 64th in rebounds per game and 88th in offensive rebounds per game.
UNM has outrebounded its opponent in 18 games and is 17-1 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 186, followed by Emma Najjuma at 172.
SHARE THE WEALTH
In 17 of UNM’s wins, the Lobos have had three or more players score in double figures. Seven times (UT Martin, New Orleans, Chicago State, Houston, Boise State, at GCU and Air Force), the Lobos have had four players reach double digits. UNM had a season-best five reach double figures at San José State. Only at UNLV and against Colorado State has UNM had three players score in double figures and lost, and only at Air Force and against Utah State has UNM had two players finish in double figures and won.
Ten different Lobos have scored 10+ points in a game, led by Destinee Hooks with 23, followed by Cacia Antonio (13), Nayli Padilla (11) and Laila Abdurraqib (10). Alyssa Hargrove has scored in double figures in nine games, Joana Magalhães in seven games, Jessie Joaquim in three games, Drew Jordon in two games and Clarissa Craig and Kaia Foster once.
UNM has also had nine different leading scorers in a game with Hooks leading in eight games, Antonio in four, Padilla in four, Magalhães in four, Abdurraqib and Hargrove in two and Joaquim and Craig in one game each. Foster tied Antonio for the team lead in one game as did Hooks and Padilla.
The Lobos are 8-1 when Hargrove reaches double figures, 9-1 when Abdurraqib scores double figures, 10-3 when Antonio reaches double figures, 8-3 when Padilla does and 6-1 when Magalhães reaches double figures.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Utah State is averaging 58.8 points per game on the season, led in scoring by Aaliyah Gayles at 11.8 points per game. Defensively, the Aggies are allowing 67.8 points per game and are being outrebounded 32.8 rebounds per game to 40.9. Sophie Sene leads on the board with 6.3 rebounds per game, eighth in the MW.
In conference games, the Aggies are allowing 67.6 points per game while scoring 55.6 points per game with Sene and Gayles averaging 9.9 points per game.