The Lobo women's basketball team claimed its sixth conference win of the season on Wednesday night, as well as gained a season sweep of Utah State with a 68-58 win in Logan, Utah.
The Lobos (10-9, 6-3 MW) are back over the .500 threshold once again with the victory, while the Aggies dropped their second straight conference game to fall to 9-10 on the season, and 2-6 in the Mountain West.
New Mexico is also now third in the conference standings, behind Wyoming and Colorado State.
UNM junior guard Alex Lapeyrolerie led the Lobos in scoring on the night, scoring 21 points on 6-of-18 shooting. Lapeyrolerie also made all five of her free throw attempts on the night.
Three other Lobos scored in double-digits for the Lobos. Junior guard Cherise Beynon (15), freshman guard Mykiel Burleson (13) and sophomore Jaisa Nunn (11) all played a big part in scoring.
Beynon also logged a team-high seven assists and brought down five rebounds to compliment her scoring effort.
It was a back-and-forth affair throughout most of the second quarter, with both teams hitting shots early on. The teams were tied at 21 halfway through the quarter before the Aggies went on a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 30-21 with 2:13 left to play.
The Lobos were able to stop the bleeding before the end of the second quarter, as Lapeyrolerie finished a layup and got the and-1. The Lobos trailed Utah State 30-24 going into halftime.
The third quarter was undoubtedly the best quarter of basketball the Lobos played on Wednesday evening. New Mexico tied the game at 32 early in the period and broke the game open on a 9-0 run of their own to extend their lead to 41-32 with a little less than five minutes in the quarter.
The Lobos then outscored the Aggies 25-11 in the third and were able to finally end a quarter with the lead, going into the final frame up 49-41.
The Lobos were not only able to maintain a lead, but actually grew it in fourth quarter. Beynon scored six of her 15 points in the final quarter alone.
She began the period by making a quick layup to extend the Lobos’ lead to 51-41 and that wouldn’t be many more dramatics for the rest of the night.
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The Aggies weren't able to close the gap any closer than eight points, with the Lobos answering every Utah State run. UNM was able to close out the game with its second double-digit victory over Utah State this season.
Overall, head coach Mike Bradbury said he was content with his team’s performance, despite a shaky first half on the defensive end.
"Defensively, we weren't following the plan," Bradbury said in a release. "But in the third quarter, I give them credit — they took the challenge. We challenged them and they accepted it. I thought we were good in the second half, they (the players) did their job and I thought Alex and Cherise were exceptional."
As a team, the Lobos shot 45.3 percent from the field, while holding Utah State to 36.1 percent on the night.
The Lobos also outrebounded the Aggies, bringing down 42 boards to its opponent’s 32.
Up next for the Lobos is a home conference game against Nevada — a team the Lobos beat 69-63 on the road— on Saturday at 7 p.m. at WisePies Arena.
UNM will follow that up with a game on Sunday at 2 p.m., hosting Northern New Mexico in a matchup that was recently added to the schedule.
Matthew Narvaiz is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers women's basketball and Baseball. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @matt_narvaiz.
