LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Coming off an impressive 66-55 season opening victory over San José State, the NM State women's basketball team now heads to Albuquerque, N.M. for the first installment of the Battle of I-25 rivalry with New Mexico on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m.
HOW TO STAY CONNECTED
Aggie fans that can't make it to the game can listen on 91.5 KRUX FM as Adam Young will have the call or stream the game on the
Mountain West Network.
PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
Friday's season home opener looked as if the Aggies had not missed a step from their 26-5 run in 2015-16. The team beat San José State, 66-55, at the Pan American Center. As a team, the Aggies corralled 52 rebounds, forced 21 turnovers and shot .917 from the free throw line.
Three individuals scored 10 or more points. Sophomore guard,
Brooke Salas led the way with 18, forward
Brianna Freeman chipped in 14 and
Tyesha Taylor dropped 10 of her own. The play was well spread out as ten individuals saw playing time on opening night.
SALAS NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
NM State sophomore guard
Brooke Salas was named Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week after putting up a double-double in the team's season opener, which helped the Aggies beat San Jose State, 66-55. This is the first WAC player of the week honor of Salas' career.
The Placentia, Calif. native dropped 18 points, including 4-4 from the free-throw line, and a career-high 13 rebounds. This was the first double-double of the sophomore's young career at NM State.
Along with the shooting and great work on the boards, Salas added four assists, three steals and a block to her impressive game totals.
SCOUTING THE LOBOS
The University of New Mexico Lobos enter the 2016-17 season returning only one starter from last year's squad, Cherise Beynon. Beynon averaged 12.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists last season. Last year's team compiled an overall record of 17-15 and a Mountain West record of 9-9 as they lost in the semifinals of the MWC tournament. The squad's final game of the season saw them face off with Weber State in the WBI, as they lost 75-67.
Each team enters the contest with a record of 1-0 as the Lobos defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, 83-56, on Saturday afternoon. New Mexico had two 20-point scorers with redshirt junior, Alex Lapeyrolerie (21 pts) and senior Richelle van der Keijl (20 pts).
This will be the 75th meeting between the Aggies and the Lobos. NM State holds a record of 28-46 (.378) against UNM over the last 43 years.
WHO'S UP NEXT?
New Mexico State will then head to Honolulu, Hawai'i for the Bank of Hawaii Classic. The tournament will see the Aggies square off with Sacramento State on Friday, Nov. 18, at 7:00 p.m. MT and Hawai'i on Sunday, Nov. 20, at 8:30 p.m.
