LAS VEGAS – The New Mexico State women's basketball team looks to punch its fourth ticket to the NCAA Tournament in the last five years when it faces off against UT Rio Grande Valley for the Western Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday, March 16, at 3 p.m. (MT).
 
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Where to Watch
The Aggies' championship matchup is set to stream 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.
 
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 9-1 in the Orleans including a stretch of three-consecutive tournament championships from 2014-17. New Mexico State is 12-5 overall in the Orleans arena since the WAC tournament moved there for the 2010-11 season.
 
Streakin'
New Mexico State's current 16-game winning streak is the second-longest streak in program history and the third time in the last four seasons that NM State has won at least 15-consectuive games.
 
2016-17: 17, Lost vs. Stanford& (72-64)
2018-19: 16!
2015-16: 15, Lost to UTRGV* (66-55)
1987-88: 15, lost at #11 Washington& (99-74)
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
 
A Look at the Vaqueros
UTRGV earned the second in the WAC Tournament with a 10-6 record in conference play. The Vaqueros and Aggies met twice this season with NM State beating UTRGV 71-63 in Las Cruces on Jan. 26 and 70-67 in Edinburg on Feb. 23.
 
Idil Turk is the Vaqueros leading scorer as she averages 10.5 points per game. She is an excellent three-point shooter who shoots the three at a .320 clip. Second-Team All-WAC honoree Madison Northcutt also averages double-figures at 10.2 points per game. She nearly averages a double-double as she pulls down 8.8 boards per game.
 
UT Rio Grande Valley ranks in the middle of the WAC pack offensively, checking in at fourth in scoring offense with 63.8 points per game. However, the Vaqueros are stingy on the defensive end as they boast the top scoring defense in the league, only allowing 60.9 points per game.
 
Last Time Out
New Mexico State took on Kansas City in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament on March 15. The fourth-seed Roos were up to the task, taking the Aggies to overtime with New Mexico State eventually winning 91-80.  
 
The game was back-and-forth as Gia Pack and Ericka Mattingly dueled in the Orleans Arena. Kansas City led 23-19 after the first quarter but the Aggies battled back to tie the game at 37 heading into the halftime break.
 
The two teams continued to trade the lead and go blow-for-blow with the score tied at 60 after three quarters. Then, the Aggies held a 75-72 lead with a minute to play but Mattingly hit a deep three to tie it with 57 seconds left. NM State had a good look at the buzzer but missed a three and the game went into overtime, the Aggies first overtime game all season.
 
Overtime was the Pack show as the junior hit back-to-back threes to open the period. The Roos hit a three of their own but Monique Mills hit a three to kick off a 10-2 run to close the game. Pack finished with a career-high 36 points, including 11 in the overtime period while Kansas City's Mattingly finished the game with 37 points. Brooke Salas scored 12 points and Kalei Atkinson added 11.
 
Up Next
Regardless of the outcome of Saturday's championship matchup, New Mexico State will earn a postseason berth. As the WAC regular-season champion the Aggies would receive the auto-bid to the WNIT should they lose and they would earn the auto-bid to the NCAA tournament if they win the WAC tournament championship.