ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Lobos head on the road for the start of two road games, leading off with a familiar opponent in Fresno State on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm MT. The game will be streamed on YouTube.com.
UNM and Fresno State both enter the game 1-1 with the Lobos coming off of a 68-39 win against New Mexico Highlands and the Bulldogs starting the season with a win over UC Merced and losing 73-56 to Colorado on Saturday. Of note, following UNM’s two road games this week, the Lobos host Colorado on Nov. 18.
SERIES HISTORY
UNM leads the series with Fresno State 21-17, but is 6-10 in games played in Fresno. Former conference opponents, UNM has won the last two games in the series and five of the last six games in the series. The Lobos have won the last three games played in Fresno, with the last game in Fresno a 65-61 win on March 1, 2025.
LAILA OUT OF THE HALF
In the two games, Laila Abdurraqib has scored 20 points and 15 points. Of those, the bulk has come in the third quarter. The Lobo guard scored nine of her 20 points in the third quarter against Seattle (45%) and 12 of her 15 points in the third quarter against New Mexico Highlands (80%).
Abdurraqib scored 14 points in the second half against SU (70%).
PAINT IT UP
The Lobos have scored a combined 74 points in the paint between the two games, accounting for 56.9% of UNM’s points scored. The Lobos scored 36 paint points against Seattle and 38 paint points against New Mexico Highlands, nearly matching NMHU’s total points (39).
NEWCOMERS DELIVER
In their first true game as a Lobo, several newcomers delivered significant contributions. UNM started three newcomers in Gracie Kelsey, Savannah Stricker and Katie Duncan, with Stricker getting the start in her first collegiate game.
Kelsey finished with a game-high three blocks to go with 10 points and seven rebounds. Stricker added a game-high five assists (to one turnover) and fellow first year Lobo Kate Wernli scored 10 points with a team-high two three-pointers. Mila Reynolds also finished with 10 points and was second on the team in assists with four.
The first years also played substantial minutes with Stricker playing 33 minutes and Wernli playing 27 minutes.
Against New Mexico Highlands, all 11 available Lobos played with 10 Lobos scoring. Keiara Curtis scored 13 points off of the bench, Reynolds made her first start as a Lobo and Brynn Eshoo got her first minutes, scoring four points to go with four rebounds and two assists. Kelsey tied for the team high with seven rebounds and Duncan scored eight points and tied for the team high with three steals while playing a team-high 29 minutes. Wernli had a balanced seven points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal, playing the second-most minutes at 27:38.
Newcomers combined to score 38 of UNM’s 62 points (61.3%) against Seattle and 47 of UNM’s 68 points against New Mexico Highlands (69.1%).
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
Fresno State is averaging 75.0 points a game, shooting 41.8% from the field and 32.2% from three-point range. Two Bulldogs are averaging double figures, led by Mekhia Chase at 19.5 points per game and Rubi Gray at 10.0 points per game. Chase led the Bulldogs with 20 points against CU behind four three-pointers as well as in the season opener against UC Merced with 19 points.
Defensively, Fresno State is being outrebounded on the boards averaging 37.0 rebounds per game verses 38.5 rebound per game for its opponents. Ashlyn Rean is averaging 9.0 rebounds per game with eight offensive rebounds. From behind the arc, opponents are shooting 28.1%.
The Bulldogs are proficient in steals, averaging 19.5 per game with Chase and Jada Hunter with nine steals apiece. Of their nine steals, seven came against UC Merced. FS ranks eighth in the NCAA in steals per game and 18th in turnovers forced per game (28.5).