Opening Tip
• Coming off a 63-57 overtime victory in Utah Wednesday, New Mexico State (7-8, 2-1 WAC) returns to the Pan Am Saturday to face Tarleton (6-8, 0-3 WAC).  
• This Marks just the sixth road game of the season for the Aggies after spending ten of the last 15 games on the road.
• Tarleton comes into Las Cruces currently riding a five-game skid, most recently losing to Grand Canyon in Phoenix, 70-51.
• This will be just the fourth meeting between the two schools with the Texans holding a 2-1 advantage over the Aggies all-time. The two programs split the season series during the 2020-21 season, however, Tarleton took last year's showdown by a two-point margin after defeating the Aggies in Stephenville, 58-56.
 
Last Time Out
• NM State secured their fourth road win of the season Wednesday after taking down Utah Valley in overtime, 63-57.
• Grays led the team in scoring after she matched her career high in points with 18 on 6-13 shooting, including two made threes. She also reached the 500 mark for points in a career after only needing 14 points coming into the game.
• Taylor Donaldson also had a career night setting high in rebounds (9) and tying a career high in assists (7), which see set at Portland State earlier this season. Donaldson nearly became the first Aggie with a triple double since Aggie great Brooke Salas when she recorded 32 points, 22 rebounds and 11 blocks in 2018 versus Alcorn State.
• Both teams finished the game with similar shooting clips – NM State shot 33.8% from the field, 33.3% from three and 82.4% from the charity stripe while UVU finished 36.7% from the field, 31.3% from three and 84.2% from the line.
 
Nail Biting Finishes
• 12 of the Aggies 15 games this season have all been decided by single digits with eight of those games being within two possessions or less.
• Nine straight games had been decided by single digits before NM State faced Northern NM at home Dec. 20, dominating the Eagles by 48 (90-42).
 
Double Trouble
• The veteran guard pair of Molly Kaiser (11.0) and Sylena Peterson (10.2) lead the Aggies in scoring this season. Kaiser has scored double figures in over half of the Aggies games this season and is averaging 11.5 points per game over her last four contests.
• Sylena Peterson managed to score 11 points for the Aggies during the overtime win at Utah Valley this past week. Peterson also leads the team in steals, averaging two per game. Her best game came on Dec. 3 in a loss to Idaho in her native town of San Diego. Peterson put up her first career double-double in that game igniting for 22 points, 13 rebounds and five steals.
 
Defense Travels
• NM State is allowing just 60.0 points a game to their opponents this season which is the third lowest average amongst WAC schools thus far. Only two teams rank higher than the Aggies in this category: Grand Canyon (57.79) and Stephen F. Austin (58.14)
• The team also carries the second highest turnover margin in the WAC at +4.20 forcing 19.60 turnovers a contest.
• Additionally, the Aggies rank 47^th in the nation in turnover margin and 54^th in turnovers forced per game.  
 
Graytness
• Tayelin Grays reached 500 career points her last game against Utah Valley after tying a single game career high in points with 18.
• During her five-year career, Grays has appeared in 109 games for the Aggies, including 40 starts with 1,926 total minutes.
 
Scouting the Texans
• Tarleton (6-8, 0-3 WAC) is currently in the midst of a five-game losing streak after falling to Grand Canyon 70-51 on Thursday.
• The team is led in scoring by 5'8" junior guard, Teresa Da Silva who is averaging 15.5 points a game this season.
• Sophomore Guard, Tyler Jackson is the only other Texas averaging double digits this season (10.1).
• As a team, Tarleton is scoring 65.0 points a game this season while giving up 65.7 points a game to their opponents.
• The Texas currently rank last in the WAC standings after a slow 0-3 start to conference play.
 
Up Next
• NM State will have two more games in Las Cruces before hitting the road again. First they will take on Sam Houston next Thursday at 6 p.m. before facing Utah Tech the following Saturday at 4 p.m.