Iowa State vs. New Mexico State: NCAA Tournament final score, stats

No. 3-seed Iowa State rolled to an NCAA Tournament first-round victory Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones (26-8) easily advanced to the second round with a 97-61 win over No. 14-seed New Mexico State (26-7).

Coverage from Hilton:

» Everyone scores for Iowa State in NCAA Tournament first-round rout

» Elle Ruffridge, red-hot Missouri State await Iowa State in second round

Turning point: New Mexico State kept up for most of the first quarter, but it didn't take long for Iowa State's explosive offense to kick into full gear. The Cyclones started the second quarter on a 13-2 run to go up 36-18 and never looked back. Iowa State knocked down 6 of 11 3-point tries and led 50-26 at halftime. Bridget Carleton, Alexa Middleton and Ashley Joens all connected from outside during the game-changing run.

MVP: Carleton again showed why she's the Big 12 player of the year. The Iowa State guard scored a game-high 23 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished three assists and blocked two shots. She was 6 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, and 8 for 8 at the free throw line.

Key stat: 25.7. The Aggies were simply outmatched against the Big 12 runner-up Cyclones, shooting 25.7 percent from the field (20 of 75). Iowa State shot 47.8 percent and all 12 Cyclones scored.

Stat leaders:

Points: Bridget Carleton, Iowa State (23); Gia Pack, New Mexico State (19)

Rebounds: Kristin Scott, Iowa State (8); Brooke Salas, New Mexico State (12)

Assists: Alexa Middleton, Iowa State (9); Brooke Salas, New Mexico State (5)

Steals: Ines Nezerwa, Iowa State (2); Brooke Salas, Gia Pack, New Mexico State (2)

Blocks: Bridget Carleton, Ines Nezerwa, Iowa State (2); Monique Mills, New Mexico State (2)

3-Pointers: Bridget Carleton, Iowa State (3-4); Gia Pack, New Mexico State (3-9)

» Box score

Up next: Iowa State will host No. 11-seed Missouri State in the second round Monday. The Bears knocked off No. 6-seed DePaul in the first round, 89-78.