Duff Scores 25, Lobos Score 97 Points in Sweep of Utah State
LOGAN, Utah— The University of New Mexico outscored Utah State 29-8 in the third quarter and 49-28 overall in the final two quarters to sweep the Aggies 97-65 on Monday afternoon at the Spectrum.
Monday’s 97 points marked the second game of the series in which the Lobos surpassed the 90-point mark, winning 93-55 on Sunday.
LaTascya Duff made six three-pointers for the second-straight game, leading the Lobos with 25 points. It is the fourth-straight game that Duff has finished with 20-plus points, and has made six three-pointers in three of the last four games and four in the last six games.
Duff was one of four Lobos to finish in double figures with seniors Jaedyn De La Cerda and Antonia Anderson finishing with 22 and 19 points, respectively. Ahlise Hurst added 11 points off of the bench.
As a team, UNM shot a season-high .547 from the floor on 35-for-64 shooting and a season-high .483 from three-point range, making 14 three-pointers with three from Anderson, two from De La Cerda and one from LaTora to go along with LaTascya’s six.
LaTora Duff was credited with a game- and season-high nine assists and UNM had three players finish with six rebounds in Shaiquel McGruder, Anderson and Autumn Watts.
The Lobos (12-3, 9-3 MW) again outrebounded Utah State 43-33, grabbing 37 defensive rebounds to USU’s 25 and collecting six offensive rebounds.
Unlike Sunday’s game, the first quarter was much closer with the Aggies getting out to an early 10-2 lead with Shyla Latone accounting for five of those points. Latone was one of two Aggies to finish in double figures, finishing with a game-high 33 points.
An Anderson layup followed by an Anderson defensive rebound on the other end led to a LaTora three that tied the game at 12, and a De La Cerda three with 2:24 remaining in the quarter created another tie at 15 for the final tie of the game. USU closed on a 6-2 run behind two three-pointers to take a 21-17 lead into the second quarter.
The Lobos started the second quarter scoring the first 12 points, with a McGruder layup off of a steal underneath the basket opening the second quarter scoring and a Corina Carter three 54 seconds in that gave UNM a 23-21 lead, its first lead since 2-0. The Lobos then hit back-to-back threes from De La Cerda and LaTascya to extend the lead to eight, eventually building an 11-point lead on an Anderson layup off a Hurst steal with 5:32 left in the half.
Utah State cut the lead to three at 34-31 on a Latone three and again at 37-34 before UNM closed on 6-0 run capped by a LaTascya three with seven seconds remaining to take a 48-37 into the half. UNM outscored USU 31-16 in the second quarter with LaTascya scoring 12 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor and 3-for-3 from three-point range.
Following a Latone layup, UNM went on a 10-0 run, including three consecutive layups by De La Cerda to create a 20-point margin at 59-39, which eventually grew to 32 at the end of the third quarter at 77-45.
UNM’s defense limited the Aggies to eight points in the quarter with four steals and held USU to 1-for-6 shooting from three and 3-for-14 from the floor. Offensively, Anderson scored nine points with two three-pointers and LaTascya went 2-for-2 from three-point range, finishing with eight points.
The lead expanded ultimately to 33 points with the final margin being 32 points after Hurst made a layup for the final points of the game for either team with 1:08 remaining.
Azaria Robinson scored a season-high six points in the fourth quarter, making all three of her attempts.
UNM outscored USU 36-20 in the paint, 22-11 off of turnovers and 5-0 on fast-break opportunities in the game, with the bench also outscoring Utah State’s bench 23-9.