LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State women's basketball team fell in a tightly contested Western Athletic Conference game, 58-54, to Utah Valley at the Pan American Center on Thursday night.
 
The game started off tightly contested with the Aggies (5-12, 2-2 WAC) and the Wolverines (7-9, 4-0) trading buckets and NM State leading 7-6 at the 5:24 mark. New Mexico State's defense locked down and only allowed two points for the remainder of the quarter. Meanwhile, the offense got going and the Aggies led 15-8 after one.
 
NM State quickly built its lead to 24-15 after a Gia Pack with 5:47 left in the half. Utah Valley closed to 26-20 but another three from Pack pushed the lead back out to nine. However, the Wolverines ended the half strong and the Aggies led 31-25 at the break.
 
UVU then opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 35-33 lead before Adrianna Henderson put NM State back in front with a three of her own. The two sides continued to trade buckets for the rest of the period and New Mexico State led by three, 45-42, heading into the fourth quarter. The fourth was all Wolverines, however, as they held NM State to just nine points in the quarter to come away with a 58-54 win.
 
Pack dropped 25 points with five three-pointers and pulled down 10 boards for her seventh double-double of the season and second-straight. The senior from Phoenix, Ariz., also moved into a tie for seventh on NM States all-time scoring list with 1,559 points, tying with Tracy Goetsch.
 
As a team, the Aggies outrebounded the Wolverines, 36-29, but also turned it over 15 times to nine for UVU.
 
NM State returns to the Pan American Center on Saturday, Jan. 18, to take on Seattle U for a 12 p.m. tip. That game is set to air live on Fox Sports Arizona and the WAC Digital Network.