Lobos look to continue hot streak versus visiting Nevada

The puzzle pieces have started to come together.

Winners of six of its last seven games, the University of New Mexico women's basketball team has found a formula for success — even if it's not the same formula every time out.

The Lobos (12-4, 4-1 MWC), who host Nevada on Saturday, have been consistently good in some respects. They've been the Mountain West's best rebounding team, they're disruptive on defense and lead the conference in steals.

No surprises there.

"We hoped we'd be good in those areas," Lobos coach Mike Bradbury said. "We're long and athletic and we can be physical, too."

What hasn't necessarily gone to plan is UNM's offense, which ranks first in the Mountain West for all games at 71.8 points per game.

Sure, Bradbury expected the Lobos to score, but the points have often come in bunches and sometimes from unexpected sources. In UNM's five conference games, Laila Abdurraqib and Kaia Foster, Joanna Magalhães and Cacia Antonio have taken turns as game-high scorers. Starting guards Alyssa Hargrove, Nayli Padilla and Destinee Hooks, the Lobos' leading scorer for the season, have not.

In general, it's a good problem to have. UNM's depth gives Bradbury more options when he needs to find a hot hand.

Abdurraqib was the solution in Wednesday's 66-59 road win at Colorado State, coming off the bench to go 7-of-9 from 3-point range and pour in 25 points.

"We all have our days and that was one of mine," Abdurraqib said. "Some of those shots I might not take again because I'd rather look for my teammates and get us a better shot. Luckily, this time they went down."

The challenge for Bradbury is figuring who the hot shooter will be on any given day. Even during their recent winning streak, the Lobos have sputtered through some lengthy scoring droughts before finding their rhythm.

"The rotation changes from game to game," Bradbury said, "but it's a nice feeling to have options. We've won two close conference games with Destinee and Alyssa on the bench in the fourth quarter. That probably wouldn't have happened last year."

UNM's rotation got that much deeper Wednesday when Magalhães returned after missing two games with a right quad injury. Magalhães, who said she's not sure how the injury occurred, provided an immediate spark, scoring nine points in 29 minutes against the Rams.

"Sitting out was terrible. I never want to do that again," Magalhães said. "But I did get kind of a different point of view about what the team needs from me. It was kind of helpful to have that perspective when I got back."

Asked what specifically the team needs from her, Magalhães smiled.

"Always energy — and communication," she said. "Energy is a big part of me, so I want to make sure I carry that over to playing."

Energy figures to be a key component Saturday as the Lobos face Nevada (6-9, 2-3), another deep team that prides itself on hustle and physicality. The Wolf Pack have a young roster loaded with new faces this season, but their aggressive style hasn't changed, Bradbury said.

"They'll get up and guard you and be physical," he said, "and so will we. It'll probably be a football game out there."

Magalhães agreed and said the Lobos will be ready.

"Our focus has been better lately. We know we have to take every game seriously," she said. "Conference is conference. It's time to go for what we want."