ALBUQUERQUE – The New Mexico State women's basketball team dropped an 83-58 decision at New Mexico in the Battle of I-25 on Saturday afternoon.
 
NM State (4-2) got on the board first with a  layup from Adenike Aderinto and led 7-4 with 7:25 to go in the first thanks to another Aderinto lay-in and a three from Gia Pack. However, the Lobos (5-1) got hot from three and closed out the quarter on a 24-5 run to take a 28-12 at the end of the period. New Mexico finished the first quarter 5-12 from three.
 
The Aggies defended the three much better in second quarter, allowing just one three on seven attempts, but UNM began attacking the rim effectively, including 13 second quarter points from Aisia Robertson. New Mexico State headed into the half trailing 45-25. Pack led all scorers at halftime with 15 while Aderinto added six.
 
After scoring 15 in the first half, Pack stayed hot for the Aggies, adding 11 points in the third quarter to surpass her season-high in points with 26 after three quarters. Despite Pack's strong quarter NM State was unable to gain any ground in the period and entered the fourth trailing 56-36.
 
New Mexico State then closed the deficit to 15 at 66-51 on a jumper from Aaliyah Prince with 5:42 left to play. However, the Lobos ended the game on a 17-7 run for the final tally of 83-58.
 
Pack scored a season-high 26 points to go along with seven rebounds while Aderinto notched a career-high 12 points and seven rebounds. Brooke Salas recorded her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Salas also moved into 10^th place on the NM State all-time scoring list and has notched 1,398 points for her career.
 
NM State shot just 35.2% from the field while UNM shot 53.0% including eight three-pointers. The Aggies were outrebounded 45-40 while New Mexico held a slight edge in turnovers, turning it over 12 times to 13 for New Mexico State.
 
The NM State women's basketball team is back in action when it returns to the City of Crosses on Tuesday, Dec. 11, at 6 p.m. (MT). As always, kids 12 and under as well as students with a valid student ID receive free entry to all Aggie home games.