NM State (5-7, 0-0 WAC) at UTRGV (6-5, 0-0 WAC)
Thursday, December 29, 2022 | 5:30 p.m. MT | UTRGV Fieldhouse

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Opening Tip

• Conference play is officially underway on Thursday when NM State (5-7, 0-0 WAC) travel to Edinburg, Texas to take on UTRGV (6-5, 0-0 WAC) for the first game of WAC play.

• The Aggies are currently riding a two-game win streak after defeating Portland State (55-53) and Northern NM (90-42) their last two times out.

• The Vaqueros dropped their last matchup against Bowling Green (71-47) last Tuesday at the South Padre Island Classic which also featured Texas A&M Commerce and Boise State.

Last Time Out

• NM State pulled off their third home win of the season last Tuesday when they easily defeated Northern NM (90-42).

• The Aggies scored their highest point total of the season (90)

• Three different Aggies found themselves with double digits in scoring including Freshman forward Lucia Yenes who led the team in scoring after reaching a career high 19 points.

• The Aggies set season highs in seven different categories: Turnovers (27), steals (17), assists (25), rebounds (46) field goals made (41), field goals attempted (76) and blocked shots (5).

• The team also had one of their more efficient games shooting a 53.9% clip for the game.

Nail Biting Finishes

• Nine of the last ten contests for the Aggies have all been decided by single digits with six of those games being within two possessions or less.

• NM State is outscoring opponents 630-699 during that stretch with an overall record of 4-6. Two of those wins came on the road against the likes of San Diego (57-52) and Portland State (55-53).

• The other was a 73-64 overtime victory over I-25 rival New Mexico back in November at the Pan Am in Las Cruces.

Double Trouble

• The veteran guard pair of Molly Kaiser (10.9) and Sylena Peterson (10.3) lead the Aggies in scoring this season. Kaiser had scored double figures in over half of the Aggies games this season and is averaging 12.5 points per game over her last seven contests.

• Peterson is coming off an eight-point, three rebounds, three assist, two steal game against Northern NM last week after missing the Aggies previous two contests due to illness. Prior to going down, Peterson was averaging 17.0 points per game over her last three games before going down, including a 22-point, 13 rebound outing in her hometown of San Diego against Idaho in the USD Winter Classic (Dec. 4).

Defense Travels

• NM State is allowing just 60.2 points a game to their opponents this season which is the fourth lowest amongst WAC schools thus far. Only two teams have scored 70+ points on the Aggies this season: Colorado (85) and Yale (73).

• The team also carries the second highest turnover margin in the WAC (+3.42) forcing 19.58 turnovers a contest.

Big Ene Energy

ï Ene Adams didn't get a lot of playing time to start the season but has played a huge role for the Aggies of the bench the last three games.

• Prior to Dec. 13th, Adams had only played 11 minutes over three games.

• Now, she's played a total of 49 minutes over her last three games, scoring eight points in each of those three contests, and averaging 6.7 boards a game over that stretch.

Scouting the Vaqueros

• UTRGV (6-5, 0-0 WAC) is two and two over their last four games defeating Saint Mary's (55-39) and Boise State (72-60) and falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (65-58) and Bowling Green (71-47).

• The Vaqueros are averaging 58.9 points a game this season while giving up an even 64.0 points to their opponents.

• Iyana Dorsey leads the team in scoring averaging 14.8 points a contest.

• Additionally, the Vaqueros carry a long-range threat in Mele Kailahi who leads the team in three pointers made (20) and three points percentage (.426).

• UTRGV sits just two spots ahead of the Aggies in the early WAC standings currently sitting in a three-way tie for fourth place.

Puttiní Fans in the Stands

• NM State and UTRGV are among the conference leaders when it comes to attendance. The Vaqueros are currently second in the WAC in average attendance (1,627) while the Aggie are just one of eight school in the conference averaging over 1,000 fans a game (1,122)

Up Next

• NM State will return to Las Cruces for one more game before the New Year begins when they host Southern Utah on New Year's Eve for the second conference game of the 2022-23 season. The Aggies will be on the road to start 2023 as they are set to head to Orem, Utah for a date with Utah Valley Jan. 4th.