LAS CRUCES, N.M.— A dominant second quarter by New Mexico in which the Lobos outscored New Mexico State 28-4 and held the Aggies scoreless for 7:18 in Sunday’s contest led the way for a 77-45 Lobo road win.
The 45 points were the fewest points allowed by the Lobos in the series since allowing 44 in 2012, also in Las Cruces, and tied for the third-largest margin of victory in the series (32, also done in 2008 and 1979). However, it is the largest margin of victory by UNM in Las Cruces in the series.
Nayli Padilla led the Lobos for the second straight game with 14 points behind a career-high four three-pointers, and was one of three Lobos to reach double figures.
Destinee Hooks scored 10 points for her fifth game this season reaching double digits and Cacia Antonio matched her Wednesday’s performance, finishing with 10 points. Alyssa Hargrove finished with nine points with Laila Abdurraqib and Clarrisa Craig finishing with eight points apiece.
Defensively, the Lobos outrebounded the Aggies 43-31 and registered 10 steals led by three from Hargrove and two apiece from Jessie Joaquim and Tyler Jones. UNM finished with a season-high 10 three-pointers and shot a season-best 53.7% from the field and a season-best 45.5% from behind the arc.
A Craig offensive rebound following UNM’s first shot led to an opening layup by the redshirt senior to get the scoring started 14 seconds in. Craig followed an Antonio shot for another second-chance basket to make it 4-0 before NMSU tied the game at four and took a 7-4 lead. A Joaquim layup and Joana Magalhães free throw tied the game with another tie at nine before NMSU took an 11-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Craig led the Lobos with six of UNM’s 10 points in the first quarter while also grabbing four rebounds, three offensive, that led to six second-chance points.
Baskets by Craig and Hargrove in the first 26 seconds with Hargrove’s second steal of the game setting up her fast-break layup put UNM up 14-11. While an Aggies layup brought NMSU within one, it was the final basket for the Aggies until there was 1:50 left in the quarter.
The Lobos opened the second quarter on a 12-2 run that included an 8-0 run with three-pointers from Hargrove and Hooks to give the Lobos a 22-13 lead less than three minutes into the quarter. A Padilla three and layup by Antonio extended the run to 13-0 over a span of 3:45.
A steal by Jones led to an and-one opportunity by Abdurraqib, with the freshman completing the three-point play at the free-throw line, and while NMSU made a layup to end the eventual 16-0 run, UNM closed the quarter with a Padilla three-pointer, a jumper from Jones and a three-pointer by Jones for the 38-15 Lobo lead at the break.
UNM shot 68.8% in the quarter, holding NMSU to 12.5% shooting, making five three-pointers and shooting 71.4% from behind the arc. Between the first two quarters, NMSU shot 15.6% and went 0-7 from three-point range with Craig leading all players with eight points and seven rebounds.
The momentum continued in the third quarter as the Lobos stretched the lead to 36 at 57-21 at the 3:52 mark using a 14-0 run over a span of 2:45. Hooks started the run with a jumper, Antonio made a three-pointer, Hooks completed a three-point play, Abdurraqib made a three-pointer and Antonio closed the run with another three-pointer. The 36-point margin held through the end of the quarter with UNM outscoring the Aggies 23-10 and outshooting the Aggies 69.2% to 21.4%. Through the first three quarters, NMSU went 0-11 from three-point range with UNM making eight three-pointers on 15 attempts.
Between the second and third quarters, UNM outscored NMSU 51-14.
Padilla scored five of UNM’s seven points to start the fourth quarter, building the lead to 43 points at 68-25 1:59 into the quarter. NMSU cut the margin down to 38 with two Hargrove free throws pushing the lead back to 40 with 6:30 to play. The Aggies used a 6-0 run to bring the Lobo lead to 34 before a Padilla three stopped it. NMSU closed the final 2:29 on a 9-4 run for the final score.
Padilla was a perfect 3-3 with two three-pointers in the final 20 minutes for eight points with Hooks scoring seven and Antonio and Drew Jordon scoring six points between the two quarters.
With the win, the Lobos improve to 4-1 on the season, 59-29 in the series with the Aggies and 27-16 in games played in Las Cruces.
UNM returns home for its next two games, starting with UT Martin on Thursday.