OREM, Utah – Aaliyah Prince scored 15 of her 21 points in the second half and the New Mexico State women's basketball team out-lasted Utah Valley 65-62 in Western Athletic Conference action at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah, on Friday night.
 
The Aggies (5-9, 3-4 WAC) and Wolverines (7-5, 5-4) both came out of the gates on fire with UVU leading 17-15 after one quarter. The two sides slowed down a little bit in the second half but NM State was unable to make up any ground and trailed 30-26 at the break. Rodrea Echols scored eight of her 16 points in the first half.
 
After UVU scored the first points of the second half, the Aggies dialed up the pressure and deployed their press to great effect. NM State forced eight turnovers which led to nine Aggie points and Prince scored 10 points in the period as the Aggies took a 45-44 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The two teams battled it out in the fourth quarter with NM State leading 60-58 with 3:24 to play after a great move from Prince led to a layup. However, UVU scored the next four points to take a 62-60 lead. Then, after a Wolverine miss, Soufia Inoussa grabbed the board and raced the length of the court to knot it up at 62.
 
On the next UVU possession, the Wolverines missed a shot and the Aggies corralled the miss and called a timeout with 28,2 seconds to play set up their offense. Coming out of the timeout, Echols got to the rim and got a friendly bounce to put the Aggies ahead 64-62 with 10 seconds to play. On the ensuing possession UVU was called for an offensive foul before Echols hit one-of-two free throws to push the Aggie lead to 65-62. With one more chance, a UVU three at the horn rimmed out for the 65-62 final in favor of NM State. The Aggies shot 69.2-percent from the floor in the fourth quarter.
 
Prince scored 21 points off the bench including 15 in the second half while Echols added 16 points and six boards with three three-pointers made. Deja Terrell scored eight points on 4-5 shooting while Inoussa scored eight points, grabbed nine boards and dished out six assists.
 
As a team, the Aggies shot 46.6-percent from the floor and outrebounded Utah Valley 38-26. NM State excelled in transition, outscoring UVU 13-5 on the fast break.
 
NM State and UVU will go toe-to-toe again tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 20, at 3 p.m. (MT). Fans can catch all the Aggie action live on the WAC Digital Network.