LAS CRUCES, N.M. - There's nothing better than a quick turnaround to wash away Saturday's disappointing outing. Even greater for the Aggies, they'll make their return to the Pan American Center for three straight games at home. NM State is looking to bounce back after a rivalry weekend loss at UNM in Albuquerque dropped the Aggies to 4-3 on the season. Their first item on the homestand agenda; UC Irvine. The Anteaters roll into Las Cruces having won four of their last five contests to improve to 5-3.

 

How to Follow

Who: UC Irvine at NM State

Where: Pan American Center - Las Cruces, N.M.

When: Dec. 5, 2023 at 6:00 PM MT

Live Stream: ESPN+

Live Statistics: NM State StatBroadcast

 

Scouting the Anteaters

UC Irvine is led by eighth-year head coach Tamara Inoue, who has a career record of 122-100. Inoue has spent her entire head coaching career with the Anteaters, where she led them to the 2023 Big West regular-season championship and was named 2020-21 Big West co-Coach of the Year. The program made back-to-back trips to the WNIT in 2022 and 2023, and advanced to the second round a year ago. 

 

Déja Lee is a do-it-all guard that has a team-high 99 points (12.4 per game). Averaging 29.1 minutes per game, Lee is top-three on the team with 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Earlier this season, the junior poured in 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal in a win over St. Thomas. 

 

UCI's other 5-foot-9 junior guard is Nikki Tom, a defensive-minded California native that leads the team with 35.0 minutes per game. Tom has gotten a steal in every game this season, and had three or more steals in five of eight appearances. She paces the Anteaters with 3.0 takeaways per game, as the focal point of a stout defense that is 36th in the country with 11.1 steals per game. 

 

Senior center Nevaeh Parkinson leads the team averaging 6.8 rebounds per game. At 6-foot-3, Parkinson is the tallest Anteater, and she averages nearly a block per game. The Dallas native is the most efficient member from the floor, nailing 58.2% of her shots and averaging 9.5 points per game.

 

Graduate guard Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba is the team's leading scorer, averaging 13.0 points per game. The Sweden native played 82 games in four years at Miami before transferring to UCI in the offseason. Sidi Baba missed the first four games of the 2023-24 campaign with an injury, but has been one of the more productive members of the offense in her appearances. In just 56 minutes played, she has hit 14 of her 29 shots and 11 of 12 free throws. 

 

Where the Aggies Stand

After building a four-game winning streak, NM State renewed their rivalry with New Mexico, but suffered a 15-point loss in The Pit. Lucía Yenes dropped a game-high 20 points and added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. The rest of the squad combined to shoot 13-41 from the field en route to the team's worst shooting performance of the season. 

 

The Aggies only made it to the free throw line seven times in Saturday's loss, their fewest since Jan. 2023. Their 52 points were also a season-low. One positive from the game, however, was the turnover battle. The two sides were even, each losing the ball 13 times. For NM State, that marked their fewest turnovers in a game this season. 

 

Defensively, NM State is still the class of Conference USA. The Aggies are allowing just 55.6 points per game, which is 3.3 points fewer than reigning conference champion MTSU, who are second. Jody Adams' defense is locking opponents down on the perimeter, allowing just 23.6% of three-point attempts to fall. That mark also leads the conference, and is 28th-best in the nation. The Aggies will look to continue that elite defensive trend against the Anteaters, who are only knocking down 24.5% of their deep balls so far this season. 

 

For complete coverage of NM State Women's Basketball, follow us on Twitter (@NMStateWBB), Instagram (@NMStateWBB) and like us on Facebook (NM State Women's Basketball). You can also follow along with Aggie Women's Basketball via NMStateSports.com.

 

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