LaTascya Duff's 31 Points Spark Lobos to Win at Air Force
USAFA, Colo.— After shaking off a little rust after not playing in 18 days, The University of New Mexico women’s basketball team fell right back into routine, using strong third and fourth quarters to pull away from the Air Force in the 80-66 win on Tuesday night.
Making her first start of the season, LaTascya Duff scored 21 of her game-high 31 points in the final two quarters, as the Lobos outscored the Falcons 46-24 to turn an eight-point deficit at the break into a 14-point victory. Duff added a season-high five steals, the first time that a Lobo tallied five-plus steals since Shaiquel McGruder had eight against West Virginia in 2019.
In total, the Lobos had four players finish in double figures, including 16 from Jaedyn De La Cerda and 12 from Corina Carter.
Antonia Anderson finished with a 14 point, 10 rebound double-double for the senior’s first of the season.
It took until the 6:14 mark of the first quarter for UNM to get on the scoreboard, and by that point, Air Force had already scored nine points. The Lobos strung together some points on their next two possessions with a Duff three and an Anderson fast-break layup to bring the deficit down to two at 9-7, ultimately tying the game at 13 on a long three-pointer by De La Cerda.
An Anderson layup off an offensive rebound gave UNM its first lead of the game at 15-13 with 3:10 in the quarter but Air Force would reclaim the lead, 20-16, as the first quarter came to a close.
Air Force’s lead expanded to 12 at 33-21 midway through the second quarter, to which point UNM brought it back down to single digits on a De La Cerda layup off of a Duff steal with 2:42 to go and continued to narrow the lead to five with a fast-break layup by Duff with 21 seconds remaining. However, Air Force hit a three as time expired for the 42-34 halftime score in favor of the Falcons.
Duff and De La Cerda each had 10 points through the first two quarters with Anderson at four points and Carter at five points.
Out of the break, the Lobos returned to their identity, using ball pressure and scoring in transition to score six quick points, creating just a two-point game at 42-40 and a Falcon timeout. While Air Force scored on its next possession, the Lobos continued to answer each basket, eventually turning a 49-44 game into a tie game at 49 with 5:41 to play in the third.
UNM took the lead at 52-51 on a Duff jumper off of a steal by Autumn Watts and on the next defensive possession created another steal, this time by LaTora Duff, who converted with a fast-break layup on the other end.
The back-and-forth scoring continued with Air Force taking a 55-54 lead and the Lobos answering to pull back ahead by three at 58-55, although the Lobos continued to go on a what would be a 6-0 run to end the quarter with a 62-55 lead.
New Mexico outscored Air Force 28-13 in the third quarter with LaTascya accounting for 10 points on 3-for-4 shooting, including scoring eight-straight Lobo points that led to the tie at 49 and the 52-51 Lobo lead, and making three free-throws at the line. Anderson went a perfect 3-for-3 for eight points and Carter and De La Cerda each made their attempts for four points.
The Lobos also recorded six steals and outrebounded Air Force 7-2 in the third quarter with six different Lobos credited for a steal.
Entering the game, the Falcons led the Mountain West and were 16th in the NCAA in steals per game with 11.1, but it was the Lobos who held the statistical advantage in Tuesday’s contest, 11-4, and was the sixth time this season that the Lobos posted 10-plus steals in a game.
Air Force opened the fourth quarter scoring with a jumper but the Lobos answered with a LaTascya three-pointer and continued to put distance between the Falcons with a Carter three-pointer and two De La Cerda free throws for an 11-point advantage at 72-61.
The lead grew to 15 at 78-63 on a LaTora three and a LaTora layup in the closing minutes of the game were the final points of the evening for UNM in the 14-point win. Further, it is the eighth time this season that the Lobos have scored 80 or more points.
LaTascya hit three, three-pointers on four attempts in the fourth and went 4-for-7 from the floor to add 11 points to her final tally and Anderson grabbed six rebounds in the final 10 minutes to reach the double-double.
The two teams meet again on Wednesday night with a 7:30 p.m. start time on the Mountain West Network.