EDINBURG, TEXAS – New Mexico State women's basketball (6-7, 1-0 WAC) kicked off conference play today with a 67-59 win over UTRGV (6-6, 0-1 WAC) in Edinberg, Texas. It's the first conference win for Head Coach Jody Adams, and it comes on her birthday - talk about one heck of a gift.
Shania Harper led all Aggies in scoring (14) after she set a season high in points and came one point shy of her career high. After only scoring one basket in the first half,
Molly Kaiser had herself another double digit second half performance scoring ten points on four of six shooting, including one made three.
Sylena Peterson had herself a nice performance scoring 11 points, going seven of 12 from the charity stripe.
UTRGV kicked off the game by scoring four straight points off the bat after two shotting fouls by the Aggies. At the 8:39 mark, The Aggies finally got on the board with a
Sylena Peterson layup coming off an
Ene Adams assist This ignited a 15-2 run by the Aggies giving them a 15-6 lead with 4:42 left in the quarter. NM State would not record another basket until the 1:27 point after
Ene Adams fought her way through two Vaquero defenders for a tough layup in the post. This would be the final field goal for the Aggies as they ended the quarter with a 17-11 lead.
Shania Harper got the scoring started in the second period receiving a pass from
Molly Kaiser for her third bucket of the night. A
Taylor Donaldson jumper and
Shania Harper hook shot put the Aggies up 23-17 with 6:47 left in the half. NM State would not make another basket for over three minutes giving UTRGV life at the end of the period. Lucia Yenes ended the Aggies scoring doubt with just over two minutes left after she connected on a jump shot from midrange. The Aggies were able to hold onto an eight-point lead (32-24) heading to the locker rooms.
Shania Harper had already reached her season high (10) by this point and looked to break her career high (15) in the second half.
Soufia Inoussa gave the Aggies their first three pointer of the game after going 0-2 in the first half. The Aggies connected on another three pointer, this time from
Taylor Donaldson, the very next possession. After some made layups, free-throws, and midrange jump shots, 45-38 lead with 50 seconds left. With about 30 second left,
Tayelin Grays gave the Aggies their third three pointer of the game putting the Aggies up 10 (48-38) headed into the final frame.
UTRGV came out the break firing after hitting three free-throws and a layup putting them back within five. A
Molly Kaiser free-throw and another
Shania Harper hook shot gave the Aggies a 51-45 lead with 7:32 left in the game. UTRGV cut the Aggies lead down to one at the 5:28 mark after a string of made free-throws. However, this would not be enough to take the lead as NM State went on a 10-3 run to close out the game securing their first conference win of the season.
Notes
- UTRGV won the opening tip
- Shania Harper set a new season high in scoring (14) coming just one point shy of her career high
- Molly Kaiser set a new career high in blocks (2)
- The Aggies led the whole game after giving up the first four points
- NM State has their first three game win streak since March 2021 when they beat Chicago State twice and Tarleton once to close out the regular season. They would extend that streak to four with a win over Seattle U in the first round of the WAC Tournament.
- The bench came up big for the Aggies scoring 42 total points, the most points scored by the bench this season
Next Up
The Aggies return to the court Saturday when they take on Southern Utah at the Pan Am in Las Cruces on New Year's Eve. This will be part of a double header between NM State WBB and NM State MBB as the women are set to play at 1 p.m. and the Men are set to go at 4 p.m.
