CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - In their first overtime affair of the 2023-24 campaign, the Aggies fell short in a tightly contested matchup. NM State began its stay at the APSU Christmas Tournament by squaring off with the hosting Governors. The Aggies coughed up a five-point fourth quarter lead and were sent to overtime on a game-tying APSU layup with less than 10 seconds remaining. In overtime, APSU hit a buzzer-beating floater from the right side to seal the 57-55 win. NM State fell to 6-5 on the season, while Austin Peay moved back to .500 at 6-6. 

First Quarter

The two sides were knotted at five points apiece at the media timeout before a 7-0 run from the home team. The 12-5 advantage was tied for the largest of the first half for the Governors. APSU utilized the run to score 14 points in the opening frame, their second highest mark of the game. Elsewhere, Fanta Gassama scored her first Division I points towards the end of the period. NM State sank just four of their first 14 field goals, and didn't make it to the free throw line for the entire first half. The Aggies were down 14-9 heading into the first break.

Second Quarter

APSU regained their seven-point lead at 16-9 before an 8-0 Aggie run gave them their first lead of the afternoon. On the other end of the floor, NM State put forward their best defensive 10 minutes of the season. Jody Adams' squad produced nine steals and a pair of blocks in the second quarter, holding the Governors to four points, the lowest by an opponent in any quarter this season. NM State took a 21-18 lead into the locker room. 

Third Quarter

Both teams picked up the pace in the second half, outscoring the first half 55-39. Austin Peay took a 30-29 lead before NM State responded with a 7-0 run across four minutes to go up 36-30. The Aggies hit six of their 11 shots, led by Molly Kaiser with six points. The senior guard hit both of her field goal attempts, sank both free throws and drew two fouls to top off the stanza in which she scored six of her team-high 13 points. Coming out of halftime, the road team put together their highest-scoring frame of the afternoon, scoring 15 to APSU's 12 to take a six point lead into the final 10 minutes of regulation.

Fourth Quarter

Fanta Gassama continued her impressive Aggie debut into the fourth quarter, dropping six points on 3-of-4 shooting and hustling for an offensive rebound and a foul drawn. The Govs' offense continued to click and reached its peak form in the most important stretches of the fourth quarter. APSU took just 10 shots in the last minutes of regulation, but hit seven of them, including two of three 3-point attempts. With less than 10 seconds remaining, Sandra Lin sank a layup to tie the game at 47 apiece. 

Overtime

An opening possession Loes Rozing bucket kickstarted the extra period, but APSU quickly responded with another 7-0 run to pull ahead 54-49 with 1:46 remaining. After the aforementioned initial Rozing sequence, NM State went without a field goal for over four minutes, sinking just three free throws. Eventually, down by three with time winding down, the ball found its way to the birthday girl - Sylena Peterson. The junior guard hit a tightly contested 3-pointer from the top of the key, tying the game at 55 all with 6.4 seconds remaining. APSU's Abby Cater went coast-to-coast off the inbound pass and put up a game-winning floater from the right elbow as time expired. Austin Peay took the final lead of the game at 57-55. 

Head Coach Jody Adams, on the loss: "I think at the end of the day, we had some easy shots that we left at the basket. You couldn't ask for a better execution of running things, with the play at the end of the game in overtime. Sylena [Peterson] stepped up and knocked it down, but after that goes down, there's still six seconds on the clock. You don't have time to celebrate, because you have to get back to business. A loss like this in overtime teaches us what six seconds can do."

Head Coach Jody Adams, on the impact of junior forward Fanta Gassama in her debut: "It was nice to have Fanta out there. That was the bright side. You could see there was more help in the paint and at the rim. It was great to see what she could do in the 24 minutes she played. Fanta can play with her back to the basket, she finishes at the rim and she's a strong body. Now, it's just about getting her in the flow of things and her continuing to get in better shape. That'll just take time, but she's going to get better and better each game."

Numbers of Note

• NM State's woes when trailing after 10 minutes continued. The squad entered today 6-0 when leading after the first quarter, and are now 0-5 in games when not ahead at the first break.

• For the first time this season, NM State lost a game in which it had a lead after three quarters (previously 6-0)

• The rebounding trend continued on Wednesday, as the Govs grabbed 35 to the Aggies' 24. The winner of the battle of the boards has won every game this season, as NM State is now 0-5 when being out-rebounded.

• This was just NM State's second loss outside the borders of New Mexico, and the first since the first game outside the Land of Enchantment, against UTSA on Nov. 10.

• Two Aggies recorded four steals apiece (Peterson and Sabou Gueye). The team combined for a season-high 15 steals. The last time the program recorded 15 or more steals in a game was March 5, 2021 against Chicago State (17).

• NM State recorded five blocks in the loss. The team's previous high in 2023-24 was two, and the squad had just nine blocks in the first 10 games of the season. 

Up Next

In the second and final day of the APSU Christmas Tournament, the Aggies will return to F&M Bank Arena to take on Troy in a neutral-site showdown. The Trojans improved to 2-7 after beating Stephen F. Austin 98-78 in the tournament's other half of the first day of action. The game will not be streamed live, but will be available to follow via StatBroadcast. 

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