ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The NM State women's basketball team stormed back late in the second quarter with a 22-0 run that spanned into the third to sweep the Rio Grande Rivalry with a 52-47 victory over New Mexico on Sunday at WisePies Arena.
 
The win made it three-straight for the Aggies against their neighbors to the north. The last time NM State (9-2) won three-straight against the Lobos was during a five year stretch (1992-96) when NM State won 10-straight. Sunday's game was the first time the Aggies held an opponent under 50 points since its 60-48 road win at Missouri-Kansas City. It was also the first time the Aggies won on the road against New Mexico since a 78-73 double-overtime win on Dec. 22 of the 1995-96 season.
 
"I'm so proud of the kids, they played great against a big hostile crowd of about 4,000 people," head coach Mark Trakh said. "It's a big win for us. We haven't beaten them twice since 95-96. I really was proud of the kids. They really defended, rebounded, played hard, they were scrappy and were all over the place."
 
NM State had trouble finding the bottom of the basket in the first quarter, shooting just 3-for-9 from the floor. However, the defense provided the Aggies plenty of opportunities on the offensive end as they outshot New Mexico (7-4) 12-9.
 
The second quarter proved a bit better for the Aggies thanks to Sasha Weber, who scored nine of the team's 15 points in the quarter. The Lacey, Wash., product brought NM State within 28-21 at the half thanks to a deep three. She would finish with a game-high 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
 
"Sasha did a great job, she picked up the offense," Trakh said when asked about Weber's performance. He also mentioned that the defense really got after it and played great defense.
 
NM State went on a roll to start the second half. The Aggies outscored New Mexico 18-3 in the third frame, including a 22-0 run that last 10:27 minutes before Jayda Bovero knocked down a pair of free-throws to give the Lobos their first points since the 2:23 mark in the second quarter when Cherise Beynon made 1-of-2 from the line.
 
During that blitzkrieg by the Aggies, UNM was held without a field-goal for a whopping 14:06 minutes.
 
New Mexico opened the final quarter of play with a 5-0 run, behind Nunn's five points before Moriah Mack's jumper in the middle of the key made  it 41-36.
 
The Lobos would get as close as 45-41 with 3:20 left on the clock when Bovero drilled a 3-pointer from the corner by the UNM bench.
 
Tyler Ellis, who came in for Brianna Freeman, made crucial plays and rebounds down the stretch for NM State. Beyond the four points and two rebounds on 2-of-3 shooting, what the scoresheet didn't show were the shots she altered.
 
Alex Laperolerie gave New Mexico some life when she cut the NM State lead to 49-44 with 1:11 left on the clock, but buckets from Ellis and Shanice Davis put the game out of reach.
 
"Tyler [Ellis] came in and gave us some really, really good minutes," Trakh said.
 
Freeman nearly had her second-straight double-double, but finished with 10 points and eight boards. Mack, NM State's defensive catalyst and spark, almost had a double-double herself with nine points, eight rebounds five assists and four steals. Despite scoring just four points, Tamera William helped the Aggies in other ways, pulling down nine boards with two blocks.
 
The Aggies now head home to get some rest before they depart for New York for the Fordham Holiday Classic (Dec. 29-30).
 
POSTGAME NOTES: UNM's last basket during the 22-0 run by NM State was at 3:52 in the second quarter and didn't make another field-goal until the Jaisa Nunn got a layup 16 seconds into the fourth quarter…Sunday was the first time NM State held an opponent to zero-percent in a quarter (third) since the start of the four quarters era this season…Sunday's win was NM State's third win in a row and snapped New Mexico's three-game winning streak…The Aggies are now 5-0 when trailing after the first quarter…NM State is also 7-0 when the opponents have more turnovers.