LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The NM State women's basketball team looks to make it 18-straight wins at home on Saturday and match its second-best home winning-streak in program history when the Aggies play host to UTEP in the Battle of I-10 at 2 p.m. (MT).
 
Glen Cerny will have the call on Saturday with Patrick Knapp serving as the analyst. Aggie fans can catch the 92nd meeting between the two schools on ESPN3, FOX Sports Arizona Plus, FOX Sports Southwest Plus or FOX College Sports Pacific.
 
LINKS: Live Stats | ESPN3 | Live Stream | @NMStateWBB | @UTEPWBB
 
BATTLE OF I-10 HISTORY
Saturday's contest will be the first time since the 1976-77 season where both NM State (6-1) and UTEP (6-0) have met with at least five wins and one or fewer losses. A 7-0 Aggie squad defeated a 6-1 Miner team, 79-67, on Dec. 14, 1976.
 
The last time UTEP entered the Pan American Center with an undefeated record (5-0), the Miners were handed their first loss of the season by the Aggies, 69-68, on Nov. 28, 2012.
 
NM State currently leads the head-to-head series 47-36. The Aggies also have 3 additional wins against the Miners during the 1973-74 season, but women's basketball wasn't officially a varsity sport at UTEP until the 1974-75 season.
 
The Aggies are 1-6 against the Miners under head coach Mark Trakh and 5-14 against UTEP in the last decade. The last time NM State defeated UTEP was in 2012 when Trakh's 4-2 squad handed the Miners their first loss of the season at the Pan Am Center.
 
STAT REWIND
In last year's Battle of I-10 match-up, NM State had four players in double-figures and was led by Shanice Davis' 21 points and seven assists. Zaire Williams chipped in with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep while Brianna Freeman and Sasha Weber added 10 points each in the 78-73 loss on the road.
 
Cameasha Turner led all scorers with 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 8-of-8 shooting from the line. Stacie Telles finished with 13 points for the Miners while LuLu McKinney recorded 12 points.
 
The most glaring stat from last year's game was that UTEP shot 33 free throws and made 24 of them while NM State shot just 17 – making 12.
 
MATCHING UP WITH THE MINERS
UTEP enters the Pan Am Center with a 6-0 mark after defeating New Mexico 70-62 on Wednesday at the Don Haskins Center. The Miners won behind a career-best 22 points from sophomore LuLu McKinney.
 
The 5-7 guard was 6-for-11 from the floor, including a 6-for-8 night behind the arc and 4-of-5 shooting from the line. She was third on team in scoring last year with 8.1 points per game to go wither her team-high 89 assists and .861 shooting from the line.
 
UTEP will have to square off against the Aggies without the services of redshirt senior Chrishauna Parker, who is out with a foot injury.
 
Redshirt junior Jenzel Nash currently leads UTEP with 14.3 points per game and 6.0 boards per contest to go with her 16 assists and 14 steals.
 
Last year's leading scorer, Cameasha Turner also returns for the Miners. Turner is currently second on the team, averaging 12.7 points. She enters the rivalry game shooting .429 from the floor and .833 from the charity stripe.
 
Starr Breedlove, a transfer from Louisville, checks in with 12 points per game and is the third and final player averaging in double-figures for the Miners.
 
Sparkle Taylor, UTEP's second leading scorer last season with 10.3 points per game, is currently fourth on the team with an average of 9.4 points. Taylor came off the bench for the Miners the first five games, before sitting out on Wednesday's game against New Mexico. Taylor has been effective on the floor for UTEP, knocking down 18-of-36 shots.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Despite a career-high 20 points from junior guard Tamera William, NM State couldn't quite hang on to its lead at the end of the game and fell to Arizona, 68-64, on the road Wednesday night.
 
Sasha Weber chipped in with 16 points and five steals while Abby Scott and Brooke Salas added 11 points and 10 points, respectively. Weber's five steals also tied her career-high. Shanice Davis tied her season-high in assists with seven in the loss.
 
The loss also ended the Aggies' six-game winning-streak. NM State's 6-0 record prior to that loss was the best start to a season since the 1993-94 team went 8-0.
 
GAME SET FREEMAN
Reigning Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Brianna Freeman, reminded opponents last weekend why she was the unanimous vote for the WAC Preseason MVP. The junior recorded back-to-back double-doubles in the Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic hosted by the Aggies.
 
For her efforts, she was named this week's WAC Player of the Week. It is the first honor for Freeman this season and third of her career.
 
In the opening game against Northwestern State, Freeman put up a career-high 27 points on 12-of-18 (.667) shooting to go with 11 boards. She also racked up a pair of blocks and assists to help the Aggies defeat the Lady Demons, 65-54.
 
On Saturday, the 6-1 forward, notched her second-straight double-double and third one of the year against Northern Arizona. The 12 points and 10 rebounds also gave the Killeen, Texas, product her 12th-career double-double.
 
HOW SWEEP IT IS
NM State swept the WAC Player of the Week (Nov. 30) honor for both men's and women's basketball for the first time ever in school history. The last time NM State swept a weekly conference honor in basketball dated back to March 3 of the 2002-03 season when the Aggies were in the Sun Belt Conference.
 
MAKIN' IT RAIN
In its final game of the Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic, the NM State women's basketball team was on fire from the floor. The Aggies shot a blistering 50-percent (34-of-68) and were also 50-percent from beyond the arc (16-of-32) against Northern Arizona.
 
The last time the Aggies shot 50-percent from the floor in a game was in Ceder City, Utah, against Southern Utah last year. NM State won that game, 81-64, thanks to 28-of-56 shooting from the floor and a 15-for-30 night behind the arc. Like Saturday's game versus NAU, the Aggies had a player scorch their opponents for seven 3-pointers. Like Sasha Weber's 7-of-10 performance against Northern Arizona, then-freshman Zaire Williams was 7-for-9 that night against the Thunderbirds.
 
IN THE NATION
Through Thursday night's games, NM State is tied for 25th in NCAA Division I women's basketball with a 6-1 record. The Aggies are also in the top-50 of several categories. New Mexico State dropped to 40th in blocked shots (35). NM State is ranked No. 44 when it comes to steals with 71. The Aggies' are 50th when it comes to free-throw percentage, checking in at 73.9 percent.
 
On the offensive end, NM State's 55 three-point field-goals made ranks them 20th, while its 7.9 long balls per game ranks them in 36th. Its 20.86 turnovers forced average is also good for 44th in the country.
 
Sasha Weber's 21 shots from downtown have her sitting in 15th in the country while her 3.0 average in three-point field-goals has her in 27th place. Brianna Freeman's three double-doubles so far on the year has her checking in at No. 26.
 
BEST OF THE BEST
Sasha Weber currently ranks amongst the best of the best in the NCAA. Her 1,232 career points total has her at No. 54 in the NCAA Division I active career leaders list in scoring while her 212 made 3-pointers has her checking in at No. 13 amongst active players.
 
WRITING THEIR OWN STORY
The 2015-16 NM State women's basketball team etched its name into the Aggie record books when it started the season 6-0, two wins shy of the 1993-94 squad who started the year off 8-0. That team went on to finish the season 24-4 and 14-4 in Big West play.
 
The Aggies are also one win away from tying their second-best home winning-streak ever. NM State is riding a 17-game win-streak dating back to last season and can tie the mark of 18 set from 1992-94 on Saturday when they face I-10 rival, UTEP.
 
ELLIS EXPLODES
Junior forward Tyler Ellis had a breakout game last Tuesday against Southern Utah, scoring a career-high 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor to go with five rebounds. What's more impressive is the fact that she did it all in just nine minutes of action.
 
The 6-2 product from Antelope, Calif., came up big for NM State down the stretch. She scored 10 of the final 15 points for the Aggies in the third quarter, which held Southern Utah from chipping away at the NM State lead.
 
THE WILLIAM WAY
Junior Tamera William has been on a tear for NM State early on in the 2015-16 season. The 5-9 guard is averaging 12.1 points, which is good for third on the team and 11th in the conference through games on Dec. 2. The Las Vegas, Nev., product is also 6-of-13 from beyond the arc and 27-of-34 from the charity stripe to go with her nine steals, four blocks and 36 rebounds. William also tallied her first-career double-double on Nov. 19 when she netted 14 points and 10 boards against Sacramento State.
 
In the season-opener against North Dakota State, she paced the Aggies with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. William then followed it up with a game-high 18 points to help guide NM State past in-state rival, New Mexico, for the second-straight time in two years – the first time NM State has won back-to-back games against UNM since the 1995-96 season.
 
She followed up her double-double performance with a new career-high in rebounds with 13 against Southern Utah. On Dec. 2 against Arizona out of the Pac-12 Conference, William recorded a career-high 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting. She was also 2-of-3 from deep and a perfect 6-for-6 at the line.
 
SALAS SHINES
Freshman Brooke Salas has taken full advantage of the opportunity as a starter for NM State. The Placentia, Calif., product opened her Aggie career with 10 points against North Dakota State in a hostile road game and nearly had a triple-double. She also finished with eight boards and seven steals.
 
The 5-10 guard followed up with a 13 point showing against New Mexico in NM State's home-opening rivalry match. Her final line included four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
 
After going 0-19 behind the arc in her first five collegiate games, Salas finally knocked down her first 3-pointer against Northern Arizona and finished the night 3-of-5 from downtown. She also picked up a new season-high that night, scoring 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
 
Salas is currently fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 11.0 points and 5.7 rebounds.
 
PAN AM LOVE
After last weekend's wins, the Aggies have now won 17-straight games at the Pan American Center and looks to continue that streak this Saturday, Dec. 5, when they host I-10 rival UTEP at 2 p.m. (MT).
 
The last time NM State lost at home was a year ago. That loss came against Cal State Fullerton in a 66-51 affair on Nov. 29.
 
That loss, however, catapulted the Aggies to a 22-3 run to end the 2014-15 season. Counting last season, NM State has now won 28 of its last 32 games.
 
BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER Z
Sophomore Zaire Williams came off the bench and nearly had a double-double against Sacramento State. The Dana Point, Calif., product dished out eight dimes to go with her eight points, six steals and six rebounds to help the Aggies down the stretch against the Hornets. The eight assists by Williams was also a new career-high. Head coach Mark Trakh believed she was the impact player of the game against the Hornets, being the most stable guard for the Aggies against Sacramento State's pressure.
 
WEBER MOVING ON UP
Sasha Weber, a 6-0 senior guard, continues to leave her mark in the record books as she moved into 15th all-time in scoring for the Aggies. With her 16 points on Wednesday against Arizona, the Lacey, Wash., product now has 1,232 points in her career. She's now 10 points shy of passing Anna Boldt (1,241, 1979-1984), a Victoria, Texas, native that played at Victoria High School, for 14th place.
 
Weber recently passed Mari Sanchez (1,196, 1990-2003) last Saturday when she scored a career-high 25 points against Northern Arizona.
 
With 21 games remaining in the regular season, Weber has an opportunity crack the top 10 and could possibly be in the top six if her scoring average stays within the range of years past.
 
With her two blocks last Saturday, Weber is now in sole possession of ninth-place in career blocks with 69.
 
Weber also made her 200th three-point field-goal last Tuesday against Southern Utah when she nailed a 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
 
WHAT'S ON TAP
NM State plays host to Eastern New Mexico at 7 p.m. (MT) on Dec. 14 before finishing out the rest of the 2015 calendar year on the road.
 
NM State will first head to the Bay Area for a battle with San Jose State. The Aggies will then play the second game of the Rio Grande Rivalry on Dec. 20, this time in Albuquerque. After that, the team travels to New York for the Fordham Holiday Classic after Christmas.