Opening Tip
NM State (3-6, 0-0 WAC) returns to the Pan Am Tuesday night for their first home game in 28 days. The Aggies last home game was played on Nov. 15 against New Mexico, a game the Aggies won 73-64 in overtime.
UTEP (6-2, 0-0 C-USA) heads into Las Cruces having not played a game in over a week. Their last contest was at Air Force on Dec. 4, where they lost a close one possession game to the Falcons on their home court.
The last meeting between the two schools came just a few weeks ago on Nov. 30 where the Miners bested the Aggies 65-61 at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso.
Fans can bring a new unwrapped gift to Tuesdays game to be donated to Toys for Tots as well as take their photo with Santa on the north concourse.
Last Time Out
The Aggies made their way to Albuquerque this past weekend to take on the Lobos for the second meeting of the two game season series. The Lobos were looking to avenge themselves after a tough overtime loss to the Aggies in Las Cruces nearly a month ago.
The game was another thrilling back-and-forth affair that saw the Lobos walk snuck out with a one-point victory (65-64) after a couple of Aggie misses in the closing seconds.
Molly Kaiser led the team in scoring with 16 points that day.
Sylena Peterson (13) and
Taylor Donaldson (11) also added to the scoring mix. Donaldson set a new career high in steels with four in the game.
Double-Digit Duo
The guard pair of
Molly Kaiser (11.0) and
Sylena Peterson (10.6) lead the Aggies in scoring this season. Kaiser has reached double figures in five separate contest this year: 12 points vs. New Mexico (11/15), 15 points at UTEP (11/30), 14 points at San Diego (12/3), 11 points vs. Idaho in the USD Winter Classic (12/4) and 16 points at New Mexico.
Peterson is averaging 17 points over her last three games played. Her best game came a few weeks ago in her hometown of San Diego, where Peterson recorded 22 points and 13 rebounds enroute to her first career double-double.
Knocking 'em Down
Second year forward,
Ashlee Strawbridge leads the team in both field goal percentage (.489) and three-point percentage (.556). Strawbridge has connected on 23 of her 47 shots taken this season, including five makes from three-point range.
Big Minutes
Four different Aggies have played 200 or more minutes for Jody Adams this season:
Ashlee Strawbridge (246),
Fama Thiam (230),
Molly Kaiser (234) and
Taylor Donaldson (215). Donaldson is the only member of the four to have not started or played in all nine of the Aggies game this year.
Road Warriors
As mentioned, NM State is returning to the Pan Am for its first home game in nearly a month. However, this will be just a quick one game home stint before they hit the road again this weekend when they travel to face Portland State (Dec. 17). Following that game, the Aggies return home for another one game home stand before they close out the calendar year in Edinburg, Texas to face UTRGV for the start of conference play.
Up Next
The Aggies are back in the air this weekend as they get set to take on Portland State on Saturday (Dec. 17) at 3 p.m. (MT). That game can be streamed live on ESPN+, or you can follow along through Live Stats thanks to Statbroadcast
