Jan. 19, 2018
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State women's basketball team resumes its conference slate on Saturday when it welcomes New Mexico to Montezuma Mesa for a 1 p.m. tip-off.
The first 300 fans in attendance at Steve Fisher Court will receive a free Aztec T-shirt.
SDSU alumnus Chris Ello will handle the play-by-play duties for a live video stream via the Mountain West Network/Stadium on GoAztecs.com.
SDSU will be looking to put the brakes on a two-game losing streak after dropping a 64-53 decision on the road Wednesday at Fresno State.
The Aztecs trailed by just two at halftime, 27-25, but the visitors shot just 31.3 percent from the field (10-32) over the final two quarters, as the Bulldogs pulled away.
Individually, SDSU received 20 points from McKynzie Fort, while Cheyenne Greenhouse contributed 12 points of her own off the bench.
With her total, Fort moved into fourth place on the Aztecs' all-time scoring list with 1,504 career points, surpassing Jene Morris and Courtney Clements.
Entering Saturday's matchup, Fort occupies the second spot in the Mountain West with an average of 16.9 points for all games and ranks seventh in field-goal percentage (.493) and ninth in assists (3.5/gm). In addition, Gomez (9.3 ppg) is seventh in assists (3.8/gm) and eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3). Despite missing the last three games, Lexy Thorderson still finds herself among the league leaders as well in three-pointers per game (5th, 2.4) and three-point field-goal percentage (8th, .407).
As a team, SDSU enters the week among the top half of the conference in scoring defense (4th, 66.8 ppg), rebounding margin (5th, +0.8) and three-pointers made (5th, 6.9/gm).
San Diego State has faced the Lobos more than any team in program history, with UNM maintaining a 33-27 advantage in the all-time series.
After winning seven straight from 2012 to 2014, the Aztecs have dropped six of eight encounters vs. the Lobos. However, the Scarlet and Black registered a 63-51 triumph in the regular-season finale last year at Steve Fisher Court.
The Aztecs are 12-12 vs. the Lobos in San Diego, including a 7-11 mark since the inception of the Mountain West in 1999-2000.
New Mexico (16-4, 4-3 MW) is coming off a narrow 68-66 defeat at home to UNLV in its last outing on Wednesday to drop into a tie for fourth place in the MW standings with Colorado State and Fresno State.
UNM and San Diego State have played one common opponent during their respective non-conference schedules. The Lobos claimed an 83-61 decision over UC Irvine at home on Nov. 25.
New Mexico, which was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West preseason poll with 186 points and two first-place votes, has already surpassed its win-total from last year after finishing the 2016-17 campaign with a 15-15 mark.
Individually, the Lobos boast four starters with double-digit scoring averages, including senior Cherise Beynon, a two-time all-MW selecton who is third in the conference entering the weekend with 15.8 points per game, while junior Jaisa Nunn (15.4 ppg) and senior Tesha Buck (15.0 ppg) rank sixth and eighth, respectively, followed by fellow senior Alex Lapeyrolerie (12.3 ppg).
Nunn leads the MW with a .618 field-goal percentage and 10.4 rebounds per contest, including a league-best average of 4.9 on the offensive glass, while Beynon maintains the top spot in assists (7.4/gm) and ranks second in steals (2.6/gm).
Buck is UNM's top three-point threat, occupying the second spot in the conference with 3.4 triples per game while ranking sixth with a .424 clip (67-158) from beyond the arc. Not to be outdone, Lapeyrolerie has drained 51 treys on the year for an average of 2.6 per outing, which is third in the league. Entering the week, the Lobos lead the MW in several statistical categories, including scoring offense (83.8 ppg), scoring margin (+11.7), field-goal percentage (.432), three-point field-goal accuracy (.366), three-pointers made (9.7/gm), assists (17.2/gm) and turnover margin (+4.1).
Similarly, UNM finds itself among the top half of the conference in rebounds (2nd, 41.2/gm), steals (2nd,8.5/gm) and free-throw percentage (2, .743), but ranks just 10th in scoring defense (72.2 ppg).
Following this weekend's action, San Diego State will travel to the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains to lock horns with Colorado State on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Game time is set for 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT.