Game 21
NM State (8-12, 4-6 WAC) vs. Dixie State (7-14, 3-7)
Thursday, Feb. 10 | 6 p.m. (MT) | Pan American Center (12,572) | Las Cruces, N.M.
Watch | Live Stats | Tickets | NM State Game Notes | Dixie State Game Notes
Opening Tip
• NM State welcomes Dixie State to the Pan Am Center on Thursday night as the two programs prepare to face off for the first time ever.
• Dixie State is now entering year two in the WAC, however, the university decided to suspend all of its women's basketball activities after seeing five of its eight non-conference games canceled due to COVID-19 policies.
• The Trailblazers concluded last year with a 1-2 record with their lone win coming over Park University, 81-52 on Dec. 12, 2020.
• On Thursday, the Aggies will look to continue to protect their home floor as they are undefeated in league play inside the Pan Am and currently sit at 7-2 on the season.
• After falling to Seattle U on Saturday, Jan. 5, the Aggies bounced back in their last outing to even the season series with the Redhawks.
• This will be the 69th WAC contest in which Brook Atkinson will be at the helm as the Aggies have compiled a league record of 44-24 during her tenure, including two regular-season WAC titles.
• Including Tuesday's win, the Aggies are now in ninth place in the conference standings while Dixie State sits in 11th place in the 13-team league.
The Nitty Gritty
• Head Coach Brooke Atkinson leads one of the WAC's top rebounding teams as the Aggies rank first in the conference in rebounding margin, out-rebounding opponents by 5.2 boards per game. This mark is also good for the 52nd-best in the nation.
• The Aggies also rank first in rebounding margin in league contests as, on average, they collect 7.5 more rebounds than their opponents in WAC games.
• The Aggies also hang their hats on shooting efficiency as they rank inside the top five in the conference in field goal percentage by way of shooting at a 41.6 percent clip this season.
• The Aggies also rank in the top five among WAC team in free throw percentage (4th, .701), scoring margin (5th, 3.3), scoring offense (4th, 67.2), turnover margin (4th, +0.70) and turnovers forced per game (5th, 17.35)
• NM State is led in scoring by graduate transfer Bigue Sarr who ranks ninth in the WAC in points per game (13.8) and fourth in rebounds per game (8.1). Sarr also posts a field goal percentage of 55.3 percent to rank fourth in the league and 23rd in the nation in that category. Sarr's ability to create second-chance opportunities for the Aggies is also among the league's best as she ranks third in the WAC in offensive rebounds per game, pulling down 3.1 per contest.
• Taylor Donaldson also stacks up well in the category of shooting percentage as she is currently connecting on shots at a 47 percent rate to rank 13th in the conference.
• Mel Isbell has also quickly become one of the WAC's top shooters since league play began as the UNLV transfer is shooting at a .406 clip to rank ninth among shooters in WAC play.
Scouting the Trailblazers | Roster | Schedule | Statistics
• Dixie State will enter Thursday as winners of just one of its last eight games and will be most recently coming off a 27-point home loss to Stephen F. Austin.
• Against the Ladyjacks, the top scorer on the side of Dixie State was Emily Isaacson as she posted 18 points, including going three-for-four from beyond the arc.
• The Trailblazers also allowed SFA's Aiyana Johnson to score 25 points and pull down 13 rebounds in Saturday's contest.
• Entering their Pan Am debut, the Trailblazers' leading scorer is Shanaijah Davison who averages 16.1 points per game while also collecting 6.5 rebounds per game.
• In its first full season of competition in the WAC, Dixie State has proven to be one of the best units from deep as they rank first in three-pointers made per game (9.3), three-point attempts per game (27.3) and three-point percentage (34.1) versus league opponents.
• The team from Utah also averages 39 total rebounds per game this season, ranking third in the conference.
• The Trailblazers are led by 13-year head coach JD Gustin who is currently in his sixth season with Dixie State.
• The team's last victory came over Chicago State on Saturday, Jan. 29, when they defeated the Cougars, 82-70, in St. George, Utah.
Last Time Out | NM State 59, Seattle U 54 | Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022
• An and-one from Mel Isbell and a late-game block from Bigue Sarr lifted the Aggies past the Redhawks on Tuesday afternoon.
• The Aggies were led in scoring by Sarr as she posted a game-high 17 points while also leading the way with 11 boards to tally her seventh double-double of the season.
• Isbell logged the second-most points for the Aggies, finishing with nine points on the evening.
• Tayelin Grays, Jade Bradley and Soufia Inoussa were also big contributors from their starting roles as Grays finished with seven points and seven rebounds while Bradley finished with eight points and three assists and Inoussa turned in eight points.
• As a team, the Aggies limited Seattle U to just 36 percent from the field and 17 percent from three-point land.
• NM State also out-rebounded the Redhawks 43-31, including coming down with 18 offensive rebounds that turned into 14 second-chance points.
• In total, the Aggies led for all but two minutes and 21 seconds of play.
• On the Redhawks side, Bree Calhoun and McKenzi Williams were limited to just seven combined points after the duo totaled 50 points in the previous meeting.
• Courtney Murphy and Barbara Rangel paced Seattle U as each scored 11 points.
• Georgia Kehoe was the Redhawks' top board-getter, pulling down six rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
Up Next
• The Aggies will have another quick turnaround as they get ready for their third-straight home game when they play host to Utah Valley on Saturday, Feb. 12.
• Tip-off for the contest versus the Wolverines is set for noon and will be broadcasted on ESPN+ in addition to being available for international viewers on wacdigitalnetwork.com
Sights on Six
NM State will seek its sixth WAC regular-season title since the 2014-15 season. Including this season, the Aggies are 83-22 in conference play across the past seven seasons.
Preseason Picks
NM State was picked to finish in seventh place in the WAC Coaches' Poll while the media selected the Aggies to land in sixth this season.
The WAC media also selected junior guard Soufia Inoussa to the Second Team All-WAC list.
Bringing Home the Hardware
Following her final season with the Aggies, Aaliyah Prince earned Second Team All-WAC and WAC All-Defensive Team honors. Prince finished the season ranked 11th in the league in steals per game while ranking 13th in points per game.
