KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The New Mexico State women's basketball team took down Kansas City 90-86 at the Swinney Recreation Center on Thursday night to claim sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference.
 
Kansas City (11-9, 5-2 WAC) opened the game on a 10-3 run with the Aggies (14-6, 6-1) only points in that stretch coming on a three from Monique Mills. After the Roos pushed their lead to 16-9, NM State responded with a 9-2 run to the end quarter trailing by just one at 18-17.
 
New Mexico State carried its run into the second quarter, with Gia Pack making a three just 10 seconds into the period followed by a jumper from Dominique Mills to take a 22-18 lead. From there, Monique Mills and Aaliyah Prince made back-to-back threes followed by an Aggie steal and a three-point play from Pack for the 31-20 lead with 6:50 in the second. Pack's three-point play capped a 22-4 run from the 2:30 mark of the first quarter.
 
However, UMKC hung around and went on a 12-4 run of its own to bring the score to 35-32 Aggies at the half. Gia Pack scored 11 points on 2-3 shooting from three and four assists while Monique Mills added eight points. NM State hit six threes during the half and forced 14 Kansas City turnovers.
 
The Roos then started the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take back the lead at 40-35. However, NM State battled back and regained the lead, 48-46, after two baskets in a row from Brooke Salas and two free throws from Pack after a flagrant on the Roos. The two sides then went back-and-forth for the remainder of the period with the Aggies holding a 61-55 edge going into the final quarter of play.
 
Monique Mills got the scoring going in the fourth with a three to make it 64-55 before Aissatou Fall recorded a lay-in for the 66-55 lead. After UMKC closed to within 72-66 after a three-point play from Ericka Mattingly, Pack knocked down two threes around a three for the Roos and Stabresa McDaniel drilled a step-back to extend the lead to 80-69 with 3:53 to play.
 
With New Mexico State leading 84-76 with 59 seconds left, Kansas City was able to close to within 87-84 with 13.6 seconds in the game. McDaniel then made one free throw before Gia Pack knocked down two with 4.1 seconds left. The Roos were fouled on a three with 0.6 seconds left but made only two of the free throws for a final score of 90-86 NM State.
 
Pack led the way for New Mexico State with 32 points on a 11-15 shooting from the field and 4-6 shooting from deep. Monique Mills poured in a season-high 17 points while matching a career-best in three-point field goals made with five. McDaniel and Prince also scored double-figures for NM State, scoring 12 points each.
 
The Aggies shot the lights out, making 33-62 shots for a 53.2 shooting percentage. NM State also lit it up from long range, making a season-high 11 three-pointers while Kansas City held a rebounding edge at 35-33. New Mexico State also forced 20 Roos' turnovers.
 
New Mexico State is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 2, at 11 a.m. (MT) when it takes on Chicago Sate in a WAC matchup. Saturday's game can be streamed live thanks to the WAC Digital Network.