LAS CRUCES, N.M.  – The New Mexico State women's basketball team dropped its first game of the season, a 58-46 decision at home to Abilene Christian on Tuesday night.
 
The Wildcats (4-0) started the scoring with a three at the 9:27 mark of the first quarter while the Aggies struggled from the field. ACU raced out to a 13-2 lead five minutes into the period thanks to three three-pointers. NM State (3-1) closed the gap slightly and ended the quarter trailing 17-8.
 
The second quarter saw the Aggies ratchet up the defensive intensity, as they forced four turnovers after Abilene Christian pushed its lead to 19-8. Those turnovers led to a Gia Pack three and an and-one from Brooke Salas to cut the deficit to 19-14. The Wildcats got another bucket, as did Salas, for a 21-16 Wildcat lead at the media timeout with 4:31 in the quarter.
 
NM State then forced a shot clock violation at 2:07 before Monique Mills made a three to cut the lead to just two at 21-19. ACU made one of two free throws with 1:21 left in the half before a pack floater with 51 seconds and an Aaliyah Prince steal-and-score gave the Aggies a 23-22 lead at the half. NM State closed the quarter on a 12-3 run while only allowing the Wildcats to shoot 2-15 (13.3%) from the field in the period.
 
Pack opened the half with two free throws to extend NM State's lead to 25-22. However, ACU went on a 6-0 run to take back the lead at 28-25. Monique Mills then sank a three but the Wildcats responded with a three of their own for a 31-28 lead. The Aggies got a two from Pack with 7:30 to play but were shut out until the media timeout at 4:31 where they trailed 33-30. The two teams traded buckets until the end of quarter for a 37-36 ACU lead at the end of the third.
 
The Wildcats then started the fourth on a 12-4 run to extend their lead to 43-36 before Pack made a bucket to make 43-40. However, ACU scored once more before the media timeout and the Aggies went into the timeout trailing 45-40. That was the closest NM State got for the rest of the night as the Wildcats answered every time the Aggies threatened for a final of 58-46.
 
Pack led all scorers with 22 points and 11 rebounds, her second double-double of the season, on 7-16 shooting from the field. Salas added 11 points and five rebounds. As a team, the Aggies shot just 30.8% (16-52) from the field while being outrebounded 37-31.
 
New Mexico State is back in action when it hosts Northern New Mexico on Monday, Nov. 26, at 6 p.m. (MT). As always, children 12 and under as well as students with a valid student ID receive free entry to all NM State women's basketball games.