LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Led by a season-high 22 points from freshman Brooke Salas, the NM State women's basketball clinched a tie for the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title on Saturday with its 76-63 win over Chicago State.
 
The Aggies were able to clinch a tie for the regular-season title thanks to UMKC's, 59-57, victory over UT Rio Grande Valley on the road. NM Still now just needs to win one of its next four games to clinch the No. 1 seed at the WAC Tournament and win the regular-season title outright.
 
The last time NM State (21-3, 10-0) won back-to-back regular season titles dated back to the 1986-87 (T1st; 23-7, 10-2 High Country) and 1987-88 (1st; 26-3, 10-0 High Country) seasons.
 
Leading 35-32 to start the second half, Salas opened up a 10-4 run of her own against Chicago State (4-20, 2-8 WAC) to force a timeout at the 6:58 mark.
 
Right after the timeout, a steal by Zaire Williams on the inbounds allowed Sasha Weber to drain a 3-pointer from the corner to put NM State on top 48-36. A jumper from Brianna Freeman, who finished with 11 points on five rebounds to go with three blocks, at the 4:25 mark gave NM State its largest lead of the game (50-36) before taking the 55-47 lead into the fourth.
 
Salas added another five points in the fourth frame before finishing just short of a double-double again. The Placentia, Calif., product was 8-of-14 from the floor, four of which came from downtown, to go with her eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
The Cougars came within 62-55 with 3:50 to go in the game, but a 3-pointer from Salas followed by one from Weber gave the Aggies a double-digit lead for good.
 
Chicago State's post players gave NM State trouble early on in the game Saturday. However, the Aggies weathered the storm thanks to 4-of-9 shooting from behind the arc in the first quarter.
 
The Aggies struggled a bit offensively in the second quarter, sinking just 5-of-16 from the floor as the Cougars closed within three points three separate times before Jasmine Sanders' layup brought them within 35-32 at the half.
 
Moriah Mack and Williams also finished in double-figures for the Aggies. Mack recorded 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go with four boards while Williams had 11 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 effort at the line.
 
New Mexico State now hits the road for the last time this season for a pair of games on the west coast. First up will be CSU Bakersfield, who spoiled NM State's undefeated season last year at the Icardo Center on Thursday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m. (MT). A couple days later, the Aggies will play Seattle U on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 8 p.m. (MT).
 
POSTGAME NOTES: The last time NM State went undefeated in conference play was back in1987-88 when they went 10-0 in the High Country Athletic Conference…Salas went 4-of-7 from 3-point range on Saturday, beating her previous high of three...The 11 points by Williams was a new season-high for the sophomore...NM State has now had four players with 10-plus points in a game six times this season, three in non-conference play and three in conference play…Saturday was the second-straight game where the Aggies have allowed opponents to shoot above 40-percent from the floor and still win…This is the 13th time this season NM State has turned their opponents over 20-plus times this season in 24 games…Third-straight game where the Aggies have recorded 10-plus steals…NM State has now shot 40-percent or better from the field in four of its last five contests…Aggies finished 10-of-25 from downtown Saturday and have hit 10-plus treys in a game four times since the start of conference play, only did it twice during non-conference stretch.