LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State women's basketball team heads to Las Vegas, Nev., for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament starting with a quarterfinal matchup against Chicago State on Wednesday, March 13, at 1 p.m. (MT) in the Orleans Arena.
 
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Where to Watch
The Aggies' quarter and semifinal matchups at this week's WAC Tournament are set to stream live on ESPN+ with Mychal Clanton and Sed Bonner on the call with Rachel Vigil as sideline reporter. Saturday's championship is broadcasting live on ESPN3. Post-game press conferences are to be streamed on the WAC Digital Network.
 
Listen Up!
Fans unable to make it to #WACvegas can tune into 91.5 FM KRUX to listen to all the action with Adam Young on the call. An audio stream is also available through TuneIn.
 
Follow Along
NM State fans can follow along with every WAC Tournament game thanks to live stats from StatBroadcast.
 
Rankings Watch
While she averaged a double-double during the season, Brooke Salas also finished the regular season ranked in the top-20 nationally in a number of categories, through games on March 10. She ranks 10th in double-doubles (19), 12th in defensive rebounds per game (8.0), 17th in rebounds (329) and 15th in rebounds per game (11.3).
 
Fifth Times the Charm
Following New Mexico State's win over Kansas City on Feb. 28, the Aggies clinched their fifth-straight WAC regular-season championship. Since the 2014-15 season, NM State is 66-6 in WAC play including a 35-1 record at home. The Aggies haven't lost a conference game at the Pan American Center since the final game of the 2015-16 season against UT Rio Grande Valley on March 5, 2016, a streak of three years and 26 games. NM State joined Louisiana Tech as the only two programs in WAC history to win five-consecutive championships as the Lady Techsters won five in a row from 2001-06.
 
Bringing Home the Hardware
Along with winning its fifth-straight WAC Championship, NM State also dominated the WAC postseason awards. Brooke Salas earned Defensive Player of the Year honors while being named the WAC Player of the Year for the second-straight year. Gia Pack was named First-Team All-WAC for the second year in a row with Stabresa McDaniel earned a spot on the WAC All-Newcomer team.
 
This is the second season in a row that Salas has won the WAC Player of the Year award while also being named First Team All-WAC. Salas led the league in scoring with 19.2 points per game as the Aggies won their fifth-straight WAC championship. This is the second-consecutive season that she finished first in the WAC in scoring. She also led the conference in rebounds at 11.3 per game.
 
During conference play, Salas averaged 19.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. Her 329 rebounds on the year are also tied for seventh in the WAC single-season record book.
 
The senior from Placentia, Calif., also earned WAC Defensive Player of the Year honors and was named to the WAC All-Defensive team, the second season in a row she received All-Defensive team accolades. She was second in the WAC in blocks (1.7) while also ranking second in steals (2.7). Salas also holds the NM State career record for blocks as she currently sits at 148.
 
Joining Salas on the All-WAC First Team for the second year in a row is guard Gia Pack. The junior guard from Phoenix averaged the fourth most points in the WAC with 15.8, including 16.3 in WAC play, while also averaging 7.0 rebounds per game, good for seventh in the league. She also ranked sixth in assists (3.5), seventh in three-point percentage (.352) and 10^th in steals (1.8).
 
Grad transfer Stabresa McDaniel was named to the WAC All-Newcomer team in her lone season in Las Cruces. McDaniel averaged 9.2 points per game during league play while shooting the second-highest average in the league at .551, which improved to .567 in WAC games. She also recorded two 20-point games during the WAC slate as she dropped 21 against California Baptist on Jan. 3, and 20 versus Chicago State on March 2.
 
Home Away From Home
The Aggies are all too familiar with Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, home of the WAC tournament. Since the 2014-15 season, NM State is 7-1 in the Orleans including a stretch of three-consecutive tournament championships from 2014-17. New Mexico State is 10-5 overall in the Orleans arena since the WAC tournament moved there for the 2010-11 season.
 
Streakin'
New Mexico State's current 14 game winning streak is the fourth-longest streak in program history and the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Aggies have had a win streak of 10 or more games. Take a peek at the top eight.
 
2016-17: 17, Lost vs. Stanford& (72-64)
2015-16: 15, Lost to UTRGV* (66-55)
1987-88: 15, lost at #11 Washington& (99-74)
2018-19: 14!
2014-15: 12, Lost at CSU Bakersfield* (82-78)
1976-77: 12, Lost to Weber State* (61-58)
1987-88: 11, Lost at Pepperdine (77-73)
1986-87: 11, Lost at Utah* (77-63)
!Denotes active streak
*Denotes conference game
&Denotes NCAA Tournament
 
Scouting the Cougars
Chicago State enters the WAC Tournament as the eight seed with a 2-27 overall record and a 2-14 record in conference play. NM State beat the Cougars twice this season, taking down the Cougars 87-66 in Chicago on Feb. 2 and 77-54 in Las Cruces on March 2.
 
Tyeshia Bowers is the only Cougar that averages double figures at 12.0 points per game. Ines Mata Boix is CSU's second leading scorer as she averages 9.2 per contest while pulling down 10.6 rebounds per game, third in the WAC.
 
Chicago State ranks ninth in the league in scoring as they average just 55.6 points per game. The Cougars also rank ninth defensively, giving up 84.8 points per contest.
 
Last Time Out
The Aggies wrapped up the regular season with a trip to second-place California Baptist on Saturday, March 9.
 
The two sides were tied after one quarter with the Lancers taking a 39-32 lead into the halftime break. However, NM State put together a monster third quarter. New Mexico State outscored CBU 33-10 in the quarter, with a Brooke Salas three at the buzzer capping the deluge. The Aggies then won the fourth quarter 27-15 for a 92-64 final score, their 14^th-straight win.
 
Brooke Salas finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds for her 19^th double-double while Gia Pack almost notched a triple-double with 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Joining Salas and Pack in double-figure scoring was Stabresa McDaniel with 16 and Aaliyah Prince with 14.
 
Up Next
Should the Aggies beat Chicago State, they would move on to the WAC semifinals on Friday, March 15, at 1 p.m. (MT). NM State would face the winner between No. 4 Kansas City and No. 5 UT Rio Grande Valley in a potential semifinal.