Lobos Make Program-Record 21 Three-Pointers in Win at Utah State
LOGAN, Utah— The Lobo women’s basketball team put on a three-point clinic on Thursday night against Utah State, setting a program record with 21 made three-pointers in a 98-83 victory.
The previous record was 18, made against Illinois in 2017, which the Lobos already surpassed in the third quarter.
In addition, the 21 three-pointers also broke the MW record of 20, that was achieved three times previously- by Colorado State in 2016, Wyoming in 2010 and BYU in 2001. Of those, only one was against a MW school, Wyoming against Air Force in 2010.
LaTascya Duff and Jaedyn De La Cerda hit seven three-pointers each with De La Cerda finishing with a game- and season-high 27 points and Duff with 24 points. LaTora Duff made three, three-pointers, finishing with 13 points, Antonia Anderson made two three-pointers and Viané Cumber and Kath van Bennekom each made a three. De La Cerda’s seven tied her career high, while LaTascya’s set a career high, besting the six that she made last year against Utah State. It also extended her three-point streak to 18 games and was her fourth game this season with 20-plus points.
Anderson made it officially the record with a three-pointer with 36 remaining in the third quarter, with the Lobos making seven three-pointers in the first, six in the second and six in the third quarter, shooting 66.7 percent in the second quarter and 60 percent from three in the third quarter.
LaTora also tallied a double-double with a career-high 14 assists to go with her 13 points for her second double-double of the season coming close to a triple-double with a team-high eight rebounds, and Anderson tied her season high with five blocks, the second time this season that the senior has blocked five shots in a game. Anderson now also has 148 all-time blocks, putting her one block behind third in program history.
The three-pointers started early for New Mexico, with Shaiquel McGruder winning the tip, hitting it back to LaTora who found De La Cerda in the corner for three. LaTascya was the second Lobo to hit a three, making it 6-0 early on, with the lead building to nine on a De La Cerda three with 6:51 to play in the first quarter. The lead grew to 12 on Cumber’s three with 2:50 remaining before Utah State narrowed the lead to seven, 28-21, at the end of the first.
De La Cerda came out firing, hitting four three-pointers in the first 10 minutes, with LaTora accounting for five assists and LaTascya at three assists.
UNM started the second quarter on a 17-2 run that included four made three-pointers in-a-row and a four-point play by LaTascya. The Aggies got the margin back down to 11 with LaTascya hitting a three with 54 seconds remaining, her sixth of the game, and an Aggie layup closing the scoring for the 55-42 half time score. LaTascya was a perfect 4-for-4 from three in the second quarter and accounted for 15 of UNM’s 27 points in the quarter.
The third quarter started much like the first quarter, with LaTascya opening up the quarter with a made three-pointer and De La Cerda and LaTora made back-to-back layups to push the lead to 22 with 4:26 left in the frame to give De La Cerda 21 points in the game and LaTora 10 points.
UNM closed the quarter with a De La Cerda three, a LaTascya three, a LaTora three (that tied the record) and Anderson’s three that broke it as UNM led 84-61 through three.
The Lobo lead remained in the 20-plus point territory through the majority of the fourth quarter, only getting down to 18 with 3:22 remaining. De La Cerda closed the Lobo scoring with a three with 48 seconds remaining on a three-pointer and Utah State made a three-pointer for the final tally.
All 13 Lobo players entered the game in the fourth quarter, with six recording a point, led by van Bennekom with four points.
With the win, the Lobos improve to 12-4 on the season, 3-0 in the Mountain West. In addition, it is the third-straight game against the Aggies that the Lobos have neared the 100-point mark, scoring 93 points, 97 points and now 98 points in the last three meetings.
UNM closes out the week with a home game against San Diego State, set for Sunday, Jan. 9 at 2 p.m.