Lobos Celebrate Senior Day with Wire-to-Wire Win Over Boise State

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— In fitting fashion, super senior Jaedyn De La Cerda opened Saturday’s game against Boise State with a layup 15 seconds into the game and from there, the Lobo women’s basketball team never trailed in a convincing 89-62 win on senior day.

De La Cerda finished with a game-high 20 points, her second-straight game with 20 or more points and her seventh-straight game in double figures, while also tallying a game-high seven assists and had two steals. LaTora Duff and Paula Reus each finished with 17 points, with Duff recording three steals and Reus finishing with an assist and a block, and Shaiquel McGruder finished with 12 points, three steals, an assist and a team-high six rebounds. Antonia Anderson finished with nine points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks and LaTascya Duff closed with eight points, an assist and three steals, returning to form with two three-pointers.

While Boise State answered to tie the game on the next possession, the only tie of the game, LaTora put the Lobos back in front with a three-pointer, finishing through contact and converted the four-point play at the free-throw line. A McGruder steal and fast-break layup pushed the lead to six at 8-2, with New Mexico continuing their momentum with a 6-0 run that included a McGruder steal and De La Cerda layup and a De La Cerda three-pointer that made it 14-4 to force a Bronco timeout less than three minutes into the game.

A LaTora three and a Paula Reus fast-break layup off of a LaTora steal stretched the lead to 14 at 22-8, with UNM ultimately leading 28-16 at the end of the first quarter.

De La Cerda scored nine points in the first quarter with three assists, while LaTora had seven points and Reus scored five. McGruder and LaTora also recorded two steals each in the first 10 minutes as the Lobos outscored the Broncos 11-0 in fast-break points and 14-2 in points off turnovers.

UNM got the lead back up to 14 on a LaTora and-one opportunity early on in the second quarter, and although Boise State chipped away to cut it to nine with 6:09 left, the Lobos responded with a three-pointer from LaTascya and went on an 8-2 run that included layups from LaTascya, LaTora and De La Cerda and two De La Cerda free throws for the 42-24 lead. The Broncos scored the last points of the quarter, but the Lobos led by 16 at the break.

LaTora and De La Cerda led the Lobos with 12 and 13 points, respectively, at the half, with the Lobos recording eight steals and forcing 14 Bronco turnovers.

The third quarter was more of the same, with UNM going on a 7-0 run behind a LaTora three-pointer followed by an Anderson steal and LaTora fast-break layup and a McGruder layup that made it 52-28. Boise State did make a late run in the third to cut the margin to 16 at 56-40, but again, the Lobos answered the call and put together another 7-0 run with a LaTascya three-pointer, a McGruder fast-break layup and a Reus layup to go up 63-40 with 2:19 in the quarter.

UNM closed the quarter with a Reus layup with 52 seconds left and as the time ticked down in the final few seconds of the quarter, De La Cerda put an exclamation point on the quarter with a corner three in front of the Lobo bench as time expired for the 70-44 score.

The Lobos shot 80 percent from three-point range in the third quarter with 4-for-5 shooting and went 12-for-18 from the floor, outscoring the Broncos 28-18 in the quarter. UNM finished with 10 three-pointers in the game, the 11th time this season that the Lobos have hit double digits.

New Mexico reached the 30-point mark on an Anderson offensive rebound and layup that made it 81-50, extending to 33 on a McGruder layup, the largest lead of the game for the Lobos. From there, the five Lobo seniors exited one at a time to standing ovations from the fans as the lead teetered between 32 and 28 points. The final margin would be 27 as the Lobos closed out their home schedule with a 27-point win.

The Lobos scored 39 points from turnovers and outscored the Broncos 21-9 in fast-break points, recording 13 steals, the second-straight game with 10-plus steals.

With the win, the Lobos finish the season 15-1 at home, the best home record in at least the last 15 years and improve to 22-7 on the season and 13-3 in conference play.

The Lobos head back on the road to close the regular season next week, starting with Fresno State on Feb. 23 and San José State on Feb. 25.

POSTGAME NOTES

• New Mexico made each of their first five field goal attempts to build a quick 14-4 lead just 2:55 seconds into the first quarter.
• New Mexico shot 56% (9-16) from the field and made four three-pointers in the first quarter.
  • The Lobos finished the game shooting 46% (34-74) from the field and made nine more three-pointers than the Broncos (10-1).
• Tora Duff was New Mexico’s first player in double-figures with 8:37 to go in the second quarter.
• New Mexico had four double-digit scorers in the game: De La Cerda (20 points), Tora Duff (17 points), Reus (17 points), McGruder (12 points).
• New Mexico forced 13 Boise State turnovers in the first half.
  • The Lobos outscored the Broncos 39-14 in points-off-turnovers for the game.
• Each of the five New Mexico starters recorded at least two steals in the game.
  • The starters combined for 13 total steals in the game.
• New Mexico had nine different players score in the game.
• This was De La Cerda’s third game this season scoring 20 or more points.
• Reus’s 17 points were the second most she’s scored in a game this season and this game was her fourth scoring 15 or more points in a game this season.
• This was Tora Duff’s 10th game this season scoring 15 or more points.