LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Aggies team motto this season has been 'Big Belief', and Head Coach Jody Adams is doing her best to make the fans in Las Cruces believers as well. For the third straight game and sixth time in the last seven contests, NM State (9-8, 4-1 WAC) came away victorious, knocking off Sam Houston (6-8, 2-2 WAC) 69-48 on Thursday night. Tough defense and attacking the paint proved to be the key in this contest, as NM State recorded a 50-22 advantage in the post while holding the Bearkats to 24% from the field and just 2-11 from three-point range.
 
Ashlee Strawbridge set a new career-high with 13 points to lead the Aggies in scoring, with
Sylena Peterson (11 points, five rebounds, six assists) and Shania Harper (11 points, eight rebounds) joined her in double figures. Madelyn Batista paced Sam Houston with 14 points, while leading scorer Chyna Allen finished with 13 points on just 3-15 shooting.  
 
The Bearkats won possession of the opening tip but came away without any points on their first offensive possession. A floater in the lane by Sofia Inoussa broke the seal and gave NM State the first points of the contest with 8:31 to go. Sylena Peterson found herself wide open in the left corner, taking and making the Aggies first three-pointer of the night. Ashlee Strawbridge went coast-to-coast for an easy layup to make it a 9-2 NM State advantage with 5:53 remaining in the opening frame.
 
Shot clock winding down, Lucia Yenes found Molly Kaiser for a jumper from the right elbow to make it 11-6 Aggies with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter. At the end of one, the Aggies held a 15-11  advantage over the Bearkats.NM State held Sam Houston to 3-17 shooting in the first quarter, with Chyna Allen making the only field goals of the period for the Bearkats.
 
Aggies were able to score the opening bucket of the second quarter following a Bearkat turnover on their half of the floor. Soufia Inoussa got the ball and sped down the lane to hit a running layup to score the first points of the second stanza. Sam Houston responded right back, hitting a three to make it 17-14 Aggies with 9:08 remaning in the half. This prompted a 15-0 Aggie scoring run over the next 4:48 with all the Aggies points coming in the paint. The Aggies largest lead of the half (18) came during this run after Sylena Peterson hit a jumper with 4:01 left in the half. Aggies held Sam Houston on a scoring drought of over 7 minutes until the 1:57 mark, when a Bearkat layup made it 32-16.
 
The Aggies headed into the locker rooms up 36-21 at the half. Sam Houston came in with a rebounding margin of +7.4, but NM State won the battle of the boards 23-14 in the first half. Exemplifying the Aggies dominance down low, they outscored the Bearkats 26-10 in the paint. Sam Houston shot a measly 18% in the first half as a team compared to the Aggies efficient 54.8% shooting clip.
Taeylin Grays opened the second half with a paint bucket, but Sam Houston responded with a quick jumper. Molly Kaiser made her second field goal of the game with 8:01 to go in the third following another Bearkat turnover, just one of five turnovers the Aggies would force in the period.
 
Taylor Donaldson forced a turnover and took it coast-to-coast drawing a foul to make it a three point play. Donaldson missed the free throw, but gave NM State a 48-29 lead putting them up 19 with just under five-minutes to play in the period. Saboue Gueye decided to join the scoring party with a pull up jumper from the right wing becoming the tenth Aggie to record a bucket in the game. NM State carried a 54-36 lead over Sam Houston headed into the fourth quarter.
 
Molly Kaiser drove the baseline, took a jump stop and sank a floater to score the first points in the final frame. A pair of Soufia Inoussa free throws gave NM State its largest lead of the night (23) after going up 60-37 with 7:57 left in the contest. Ashlee Strawbridge set a new career high (13) after connecting on a three pointer with 5:09 left. Sylena Peterson capped of the scoring for the night after sinking a running right-handed floater to make it 69-48 with 3 minutes to go. This proved to be the final score giving the Aggies their fourth win in conference (4-1) and putting them one game above .500 (9-8).
 
Notes

• Sam Houston won the opening tip.
• NM State dominated points in the paint 50-22, while also outrebounding the Bearkats 35-27
• Ashlee Strawbridge led the Aggies in scoring on way to a career-high 13 points.
• Shania Harper recorded her fourth double-digit performance in the past five games nearly recorded her second consecutive double-double after securing eight rebounds for the night.
• Sylena Peterson finished with 11 points, her seventh double-digit night on the year.
• Ten different Aggies scored throughout the game
• Moe Shida made her first appearance of 2023 after missing the previous two games due to injury
• The Aggies are now 4-1 on the season in games decided by double digits.
• This is also the first time this season the Aggies have defeated a team by double-digits in back-to-back games after nine of the Aggies first 11 games were decided by single-digits.

 
Up Next
The Aggies will close out their three game homestand Saturday as they get set to host Utah Tech, who started off the season winning seven of their first ten games but have since cooled to 4-3 record over their last seven games, going to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in WAC play. The Aggies are set to play the Bison at 4 p.m. Saturday as a part of another double header between NM State men's and women's basketball with the men scheduled to play at 7 p.m.