USU Women’s Hoops: 3-point defense dooms Aggies in loss to Lobos
Utah State Women’s basketball is still searching for its first conference win after a 98-83 loss to New Mexico on Thursday night. The Lobos shot an outstanding 50% from three and 44% from the field to power them past an Aggies team that had just nine players available.
Senior guard Kaylin Randhawa led the Aggies with 19 points and five rebounds, playing a team-high 29 minutes. Senior guard E’Lease Stafford had eight points and led the team in rebounds with 12, despite leaving the game early in the second quarter with an ankle injury and not returning until after the half.
Utah State struggled to contain the New Mexico scorers throughout the game, giving up 21 made three-pointers in total. The Aggies continually rotated through man and zone defense to try and limit the Lobos shots to no avail. The Lobos had more made threes than the Aggies had even attempted going into halftime.
“We gave up a lot of three-pointers,” said head coach Kayla Ard after the game. “They’re a really good three-point shooting team, but that’s an adjustment you have to make.”
Utah State struggled in the turnover battle, turning the ball over 21 times in the game. Even with five extra giveaways, the Aggies had 20 points off turnovers compared to the Lobos 18.
The Aggies were able to keep it close throughout the first quarter and remain within striking distance in the second quarter before going into the half down 13. After the break, the two-headed Lobo monster of LaTascya Duff and Jaedyn De La Cerda took over, scoring 24 and 27 points, respectively. Combined, they scored over half the Lobos points, and each hit seven threes to account for two-thirds of New Mexico’s three-pointers.
The Aggies overall played a solid game despite the lopsided score. The Aggie’s 83 points tied their third-highest point total in 13 total games. “I was really pleased with most of the things we did offensively,” said Coach Ard. “That’s one of the best offensive performances we’ve had this year, so I’m pleased with that side of it.”
Utah State will travel to Boise, Idaho, to take on the 4-9 Broncos Sunday afternoon. Boise State has not played a game since their New Year’s Eve matchup with these same Lobos, a matchup they lost 68-72. With COVID-19 postponing two games since then, the Broncos have had plenty of time to rest and prepare for the Aggies.
“We try not to focus on that too much, to be honest. We need to build off what we did tonight,” Coach Ard said regarding Sunday’s matchup. “Tonight, we had a good offensive performance, and we need to build on that and not worry about what Boise’s doing.”