USU WBB: Big second quarter propels Lobos past Aggies

New Mexico defeated Utah State 93-73 in women’s basketball at The Pit on Wednesday night. New Mexico came into the game ranked second in the Mountain West Conference and seeking a second win over USU this season.

New Mexico was led by Jaedyn De La Cerda’s game-high 21 points. The senior guard also had five assists with 0 turnovers.

Senior guard Kaylin Randhawa led USU in scoring with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Shyla Latone and Manna Mensah each contributed 12 points as well.

Utah State came out hot, starting the game 6-of-8 from the field. But New Mexico didn’t waiver. At the end of the first, the score was tied at 22. New Mexico came out firing with a massive second quarter, outscoring the Aggies 29-7. This included a 15-0 run to finish the first half. USU had 14 first-half turnovers while New Mexico only had 1.

Going into halftime, USU trailed 29-51. The Aggies had a difficult time against New Mexico’s defense. USU committed 19 turnovers on the game while New Mexico only had 6. USU only shot 43% from the field as well.

Coach Jauwan Scaife said that transition defense and turnovers hurt the Aggies a lot.

“We played hard at moments,” Scaife said. USU played a better second half, only turning the ball over five times and outscored New Mexico in the fourth quarter 26-16. But it still wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit. New Mexico attacked the rim constantly throughout the whole game.

USU has been playing the last few games without their head coach, Kayla Ard, who has been out with an illness since Feb. 11. Assistant Jauwan Scaife has stepped up to fill in for coach Ard during her absence. When asked about how coach Ard is doing, Scaife said that she is doing well and they are expecting her back soon.

“We are excited to get our leader back,” he said.

The Aggies are now 8-17 on the season with a 3-12 record in Mountain West conference play.

“We need to have a short memory and prepare for our next game,” Scaife said. “The Aggies play at Air Force on Feb. 19. USU only has three games left in the season, with one of those games being against Nevada, who is currently ranked third in the Mountain West.”