LAS CRUCES, N.M. – In another battle till the end, the Aggies fell to their rivals from the Sun City in overtime, 78-82.
 
In a contest that featured 10 lead changes and eight moments in which the score was dead even, NM State still held the lead for a total of 33 minutes and 49 seconds. However, the hometown Aggies saw their largest deficit of four points come at the final buzzer.
 
Sophomore Taylor Donaldson exploded for a career-high 25 points to lead the way for the Aggies. The Newbury Park, Calif., native also posted two steals and two blocks in an efficient 36 minutes of playing time off the bench. Fellow second-year guard Molly Kaiser added to the offensive production from the bench as she poured in 12 points, including going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
 
The Aggies looked spry off the opening tip as they connected on a pair of layups and jumped out to a 7-3 lead as Mel Isbell knocked down a three-pointer in transition. Following a made Miner shot, Tayelin Grays then went on a four-point solo scoring run to help the Aggies pull ahead 11-5 with 5:59 remaining in the opening period.
 
UTEP responded to draw NM State within just two points before Grays and Soufia Inoussa combined to help the Aggies go on an 8-3 run and give NM State a seven-point advantage with under two minutes to play in the first quarter. A pair of Taylor Donaldson free throws helped the Aggies go ahead by nine points with 1:22 on the clock. Despite being stifled for much of the first quarter, the Miners finished the period on a 5-0 scoring run to set the score at 22-18 in favor of NM State entering the second quarter.
 
Bigue Sarr began to make her presence felt to open the second quarter as she pulled down her third offensive rebound and scored a second-chance layup, putting the Aggies ahead six points. However, the Aggies' dominant post player was limited to just 19 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble that began when she picked up her second personal foul with over five minutes remaining in the half. With the Aggies' leading scorer having to sit, Donaldson emerged as the go-to option in the second quarter as she finished with 10 in the period to finish the half just one point shy of her career-high.
 
When the Miners battled to even the score at 34 with 4:09 remaining in the half, Donaldson knocked down a pull-up jumper to put the Aggies up two points and end a quick two-minute UTEP run. Graduate student Adrianna Henderson saw her first action of the season in the second quarter and scored four points from the free-throw line to assist in putting the Aggies ahead 40-37 with 39 seconds left in the half. UTEP guard Katia Gallegos then knocked down two free throws of her own before Donaldson took an Inoussa handoff and hit a jumper with four seconds on the clock to lift the Aggies to a three-point advantage at the half.
 
The third quarter was back-and-forth from the start as the first five minutes and 25 seconds saw the lead switch hands eight different times. The Aggies then pulled ahead thanks to a 9-2 scoring run that featured five points from Donaldson and four from Kaiser, putting the Aggies up eight points with 1:55 left to play in the third. NM State would sustain this edge and carry a 61-53 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The Miner squad came out of the break firing on all cylinders as they pulled even with 5:43 remaining in the fourth quarter. Both teams saw exactly half of their fourth-quarter points come from the charity stripe as UTEP went 10-for-14 and the Aggies knocked down 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. Behind a free throw from Gallegos, the Miners tied the score at 73-73. In the face of UTEP's pressure, the Aggies still had a chance to emerge victorious as head coach Brooke Atkinson drew up a play with 16 seconds remaining on the clock. However, the UTEP defense proved to be up to the task as they did not allow the Aggies to get a look at the rim and forced an Aggie turnover as the clock expired.
 
The Aggies' emerging star Donaldson scored first in the extra period to put her team ahead before a four-point UTEP scoring run gave the Miners a lead they would never relinquish. Trailing by three points, a Donaldson three-pointer from the corner with 15 seconds on the clock was the Aggies' final opportunity at pulling even with their rivals as the Miners went on to bury free throws down the stretch and prevail 82-78.