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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The New Mexico Lobos continued their dominant defensive play by whipping the Colorado State Rams, 74-54, in front of a ravenous crowd of 14,506 at The Pit. Senior guard Cristal Garcia scored a career-high 21 points on a career-best 6-7 shooting from three-point range to lead New Mexico, which improved to 16-7 overall and 6-4 in the Mountain West Conference. CSU falls to 14-11 in all games, 5-6 in conference. UNM won its third straight while the Rams had their three-game winning streak come to an end.
The 20-point victory margin is the Lobos’ largest over the Rams since a 78-49 triumph on Feb. 9, 1979. UNM has allowed just 131 points – an average of 43.7 points a game – in its last three games, wins over Air Force, Wyoming and Colorado State. The Lobos are now 13-1 at home.
UNM led just 24-20 at the half as the two teams combined to shoot 15-52 (28.8%) from the floor and had 18 turnovers in the first period. However, sparked by three Garcia threes, New Mexico outscored the Rams 19-7 over the first 6:27 of the second half to take a 43-27 lead.
Chelsea Grear and Jordan Adams added 12 points apiece while Lindsey Arndt chipped in with 11. CSU forward Katie Borton paced the Rams with 18 points, while leading-scorer Ashley Augspurger was held to just two points.
The Lobos hit the road next week when they visit UNLV Thursday and San Diego State Saturday.