LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Sunday afternoon saw the New Mexico State women's basketball team square off with Pac-12 opponent Arizona at the Pan American Center. The contest took extra time to find a winner as the Aggies lost in overtime, 74-63.
After the game head coach
Mark Trakh was asked about his team's performance and said, "I thought we fought really hard and got after it. We brought a Pac-12 school to the brink and you can't ask for much more than that. This team played hard tonight and I'm proud of them."
The first quarter of Sunday's contest gave fans a glimpse of what was in store for the game as it featured a back-and-forth ten minutes of play. The quarter saw five lead changes and 1:42 of a tie game as neither team could truly pull away. As the clock ticked down, Arizona went on a 7-0 run and finished the quarter up, 16-10.
During the first five minutes of the second quarter, Arizona began to extend the lead as it went up by as much as 10 points. However, each team could not find a rhythm with their field-goal attempts and this allowed the Aggies to capitalize. NM State went on a 6-0 run and then answered each of the Wildcats baskets as the half ended 26-24 in favor of Arizona.
As each team emerged from the locker room, the Wildcats looked to resume their earlier play as they again stretched the lead and at the first timeout with 4:12 left, the Wildcats were ahead, 35-27. Over the remaining four minutes, the Aggies tried to close in on their opponent, but the team was forced into bad shots and could not get the rolls as they trailed, 41-36, heading in to the fourth.
The final 10 minutes of regulation featured NM State and Arizona trading baskets for the first eight minutes. This was until the Aggies offense and defense began to click and went on an 8-0 run.
Tamera William hit both free throws with under a minute remaining and the Aggies got their first lead in over 30 minutes as they went up, 54-53. The resilience was seen on both ends of the court, however, as Arizona came back and tied the game as regulation ended at 56-56.
Overtime was the toughest period for NM State as it sent Arizona to the line 12 times and the team was perfect on the free throws. The ability to finish gave the opposition a lead they would not give up as NM State was outscored 18-7 and lost by a final score of 74-63.
Tamera William led the Aggies with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks. On the other end, Arizona had three players in double-digits that helped it claim victory. Just as NM State has done in their previous contests they forced more turnovers (21) than its opponent (19), but it was not enough as the loss puts the team at 5-3 on the season.
New Mexico State women's basketball will take a week off before they travel to Flagstaff, Ariz. on Dec. 11, to take on Northern Arizona at 3:00 p.m. MT.
