LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The first Battle of I-25 bout of the season saw the New Mexico State women's basketball team fall, 84-55, at the University of New Mexico. After a quick break to regroup, the Aggies travel to Honolulu, Hawai'i for the Bank of Hawai'i Classic, Nov. 18-20. The tournament will feature NM State in two games.
The first match-up pits the team against Sacramento State on Nov. 18, at 6:00 p.m. MT. After the battle with the Hornets, the squad will hit the court again on Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m. MT to square off against tournament host, the University of Hawai'i.
FREEMAN LEADING THE WAY
Through the first two games of the season, forward
Brianna Freeman has led the Aggies play. The senior leads the team, as she has scored a team-high 30 points and had 12 rebounds, a team-leading four blocks and one steal. Leading NM State in blocks is nothing new for the Killeen, Texas native as she etched her name in the single-season record books, at number six, after totaling 41 blocks in 2015-16.
STARTERS CAN'T HAVE ALL THE FUN
The starting five for the Aggies has had a strong supporting cast to start the season, from bench players like
Tyesha Taylor,
Gia Pack and
Jasmine Cooper. Taylor has been red-hot entering the weekend, scoring 18 points with a .500 field goal percentage, good for second on the team. The forward, out of Temple, Texas, is also third on the team, in rebounds after grabbing 12, to go along with three blocks.
Freshman forward,
Gia Pack, has started her career on the right foot, with eight points, four rebounds and three assists. The strong bench play has been rounded out by forward,
Jasmine Cooper, who has four rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
WE'LL BE TAKING THAT
New Mexico State's defense has been high octane over their first two contests against San José State and New Mexico. The stifling defensive play has been highlighted by the team forcing 21 turnovers in each game. The last time NM State forced more than 20 turnovers was on Jan. 14, 2016 at UMKC (23). This play has seen
Brooke Salas,
Tamera William and
Moriah Mack lead the team with six steals each.
HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE
The Bank of Hawai'i Classic, hosted by the University of Hawai'i will see the Aggies play one away game and one neutral contest. However, NM State redshirt-freshman,
Jeneva Toilolo, hails from Nanakuli, Hawai'i which is 30 minutes from the Stan Sheriff Center, where both contests will be played. The homecoming for the forward will come after she has seen time in seven games in her career.
TAKING A LOOK AT THE HORNETS
Coming into Friday's contest, Sacramento State sits at 1-2 overall, with losses to San Francisco and Nevada, while their sole victory comes against Cal Poly. After returning three starters from last year's squad, the team is also seeing production from some of the new faces. As a team, Sacramento State averages 90.7 points and four Hornets average double-digit points, through three contests.
Redshirt-senior Emily Easom paces the scorer's averaging 16 points and four rebounds. Freshman, Tiara Scott, is second on the team, averaging 13.7 points, 3.7 steals and 3.3 assists. Closing out the double-digit scorers is Ashlyn Crenshaw (11.7) and Maranne Johnson (10.7).
Friday's competition will be the sixth meeting between the Hornets and the Aggies. NM State leads the series 3-2 and won the previous meeting, 80-77, on Nov. 19 of last season.
SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WAHINE
The tournament host, University of Hawai'i, has started the season at 0-2 after tough losses to USC and fellow Western Athletic Conference team, CSU Bakersfield. The Rainbow Wahine has been outscored 134-95. Both losses for Hawai'i came on the road, but at home the squad boasts a six-game winning streak dating back to last season.
Hawai'i's scoring has been led by Briana Harris, averaging 11.5 points and Sarah Toeaina who has averaged 11.0 points. Harris also leads the Rainbow Wahine on the boards as she has corralled 13 rebounds through two games.
The two teams will square off for the 34th time in program history, as Hawai'i holds a slim 17-16 series lead over NM State. The teams have not met since Feb. 16, 2012, where the Rainbow Wahine was victorious, 58-51.
WHEN THE TEAM ARRIVES HOME
Once the trip out in the Pacific concludes, NM State will return home to host Pepperdine University on Nov. 23, at 1:00 p.m.
