LAS CRUCES – The New Mexico State women's basketball team is riding its second-longest winning-streak in program history at 12 games and looks to cement itself as the No. 1 seed in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament this week on the road.
 
In its first game of the week, NM State will play CSU Bakersfield at the Icardo Center on Thursday at 8 p.m. (MT) in the WAC Digital Game of the Week. Two days later, the Aggies fly north to the stomping grounds of senior Sasha Weber to battle Seattle U with another 8 p.m. (MT) tip, this time on the American Sports Network.
 
Adam Resendez will have the call on Thursday against the 'Runners. On Sunday, Daron Sutton will have the call while NAME will serve as the analyst on the ASN broadcast.
 
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GETTING STREAKY
Winners of 12-straight for the second consecutive year, the New Mexico State women's basketball team looks to inch closer to the program record of 15 by the end of the regular-season. The only other time NM State has reached 12-straight wins was during the 1976-77 season.
 
A win on Thursday will extend NM State's streak to 13 wins, giving it sole possession of the second-longest winning-streak in program history.
 
NM State's longest winning-streak is 15 games, which was set during the latter half of the 1988 season and was then broken in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Washington on March 19, 1988 – an 85-74 loss.
 
With four games remaining in the regular-season, the Aggies will have a shot at surpassing that record.
 
ANOTHA' ONE
With its win on Saturday over Chicago State, New Mexico State clinched at least a share of the Western Athletic Conference title. The last time NM State won back-to-back conference titles was during the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons.
 
The Aggies need just one win in their remaining four regular-season games to clinch the WAC title outright and earn the No. 1 seed in the WAC Tournament (March 9-12).
 
NM State also added a pair of player of the week honors this week when Brooke Salas was named the WAC and College Sports Madness Player of the Week for her 22-point performance against Chicago State. The freshman finished with eight boards, three assists, two steals and a block as well on 8-of-14 shooting.
 
ROAD THROUGH THE 'RUNNERS
The Aggies' first test will be CSU Bakersfield at 8 p.m. (MT) on Thursday, Feb. 18. The Roadrunners, who are 8-17 overall and 5-5 in conference play, recently lost their last game at Utah Valley – 72-53. The 'Runners were also the team that snapped NM State's 12-game winning-streak last season at the Icardo Center.
 
Last time out, NM State held CSUB to just 63 points and forced 17 turnovers for 26 points. The Aggies did most of their damage in the second quarter when they outscored the 'Runners 34-18 to take a 47-33 lead into the break, en route to NM State's 86-63 win in front of a record-breaking 5,034 fans at the Pan American Center. Sasha Weber led the way that game, scoring 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, six of which came from 3-point range. Moriah Mack also torched CSU Bakersfield for 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with her eight rebounds. As a team, the Aggies shot .488 from the floor and even out-rebounded CSUB 36-33.
 
Heading into Thursday match-up, the league's leading rebounder in Batabe Zempare paces CSU Bakersfield with 11.2 points per game to go with her 9.1 rebounds average. Up until the Utah Valley game last week, Zempare was averaging 14.7 points in her last four games. However, foul trouble held the 6-2 senior to just seven points on 2-6 shooting from the floor and 3-of-5 from the line. She was, however, still able to pull down a dozen boards for the 'Runners.
 
Alyssa Shannon is second on the team in scoring at 10.2 points per game as CSUB's floor general. The 5-2 senior has dished out a team-best 111 dimes overall and 46 in conference play. Despite bumping up her scoring average to 11.0 points, she moves down to third in scoring on the team when looking at just conference statistics.
 
Addi Walters checks in at third on the team with 10.0 points per game, but leads the 'Runners in conference play with 11.9 points per game. The 3-point specialist for CSUB has knocked down 33 of her 62 triples in conference play.
 
AGGIES TAKE FLIGHT AGAINST REDHAWKS
New Mexico State will then fly to the Pacific Northwest for an 8 p.m. (MT) tilt on the American Sports Network against Seattle U on Saturday. The Redhawks have been on a bit of a slide since they beat UT Rio Grande Valley on Jan. 23. Since that win, SU has lost five-straight games. They look to right their ship when they host UTRGV on Thursday before playing host to NM State.
 
Last time out against SU, Brooke Salas went off for 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with her seven boards and six assists. Senior point guard Shanice Davis also chipped in with 18 points of her own, including a 4-for-9 effort behind the arc to go with her three assists and three steals. Brianna Freeman added 14 points of her own with four rebounds and three blocks.
 
Taelor Ross continues to pace the Redhawks with 12.3 points per game and team-best .453 shooting clip. She's also the only Seattle U player to be averaging in double-digits for conference play (10.1 ppg).
 
Tal Sahal, a 5-11 freshman, is second on the team in overall scoring with 10.2 points per game. She's also second in scoring on the team in conference play, checking in with a 9.8 points average despite shooting just .292 from the floor. On the boards, Sahal is third in both overall (4.0 rpg) and conference only (5.2 rpg) stats.

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.
 
The freshman set a new season-high again this past Saturday against Chicago State at home. The freshman reeled off a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting to pace the Aggies. She also finished with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.
 
Salas is currently fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds.
 
AWARDS CENTRAL
Sasha Weber received NM State's second WAC Player of the Week honor this season when she reeled off 20 points and 16 points against San José State and New Mexico, respectively, on the road. This is the second honor of her career and first of the season. During the three-game stretch, Weber averaged 14.3 points and 4.0 rebounds. The Lacey, Wash., product was also .519 from the floor and .474 from three to go with seven assists, three blocks and three steals.
 
Brianna Freeman earned the Aggies' first player of the week honor on Nov. 30 when she recorded back-to-back double-doubles in the Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic hosted by the Aggies. During the tournament, the junior forward averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 boards.
 
Brooke Salas tallied NM State's second College Sports Madness Player of the Week honor on Jan. 25 after guiding the Aggies to a 2-0 weekend. The freshman recorded a career-high 20 points against Seattle U to go with her seven boards and six assists. She then put up a dozen points to go with four boards, four assists and a pair of blocks. She finished the weekend averaging 16.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
 
Salas earned her second College Sports Madness weekly honor and her first WAC Player of the Week honor on Feb. 15. The freshman put up 22 points in 35 minutes of action on 8-of-14 shooting. She also pulled down eight boards to go with her three assists, two blocks and one block. Salas also gave NM State a spark to start the second half, scoring 10-straight points to open the third quarter of play.

IN THE NATION
Through Monday night's games, NM State is tied for 12th in NCAA Division I women's basketball with a 21-3 record. The Aggies are also in the top-80 of several categories.
 
On the offensive end, NM State's 193 three-pointers has them in 22nd-place while their 8.0 shots from downtown per game rank them 18th.
 
On the defensive end, NM State's 20.17 turnovers forced average is also good for 23rd in the country. Its 251 steals on the year has them in 31st while its 10.5 steals per game puts NM State in 20th. New Mexico State's 5.25 turnover margin is good for 16th in the nation.
 
Sasha Weber's 62 made 3-pointers have her ranked 49th in the country while her 2.70 average beyond the arc has her sitting in 28th.