LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Winning on Senior Night is always special, and NM State (14-14, 9-7 WAC) did just that, taking down the UTA Lady Mavs (13-15, 7-9 WAC) 69-60 Thursday night at the Pan American Center.
Molly Kaiser willed the team to victory behind a career-high 27 points (8-16) including an astounding 11-11 from the free throw line, while
Ene Adams added in a career-high 12 points (5-6) along with eight rebounds to round out the double-digit scorers.
The Aggies dominated most of the game, though UT Arlington made it a tense contest behind 28 fourth-quarter points and 26 points from their leading scorer, Starr Jacobs. NM State scored a season-best 20 points from the free-throw line, while shooting 46% from the field.
FIRST HALF
UT Arlington won the opening tip but knocked it right into the hands of
Tayelin Grays. 15 seconds later,
Molly Kaiser connected on a mid-range jumper on the right side of the court to give NM State a quick 2-0 advantage. The Crimson & White began the game firing on all cylinders, building up an 8-0 lead and forcing the Lady Mavs to call a timeout with 7:15 to go in the first quarter. A floater in the post represented UTA's first points of the game, making it a 8-2 affair with 5:59 remaining in the opening stanza.
Ene Adams was called to action off the bench and scored six straight points for the Aggies, helping the team maintain a lead while the Lady Mavs offense started to heat up (14-6 NM State). UT Arlington went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter and make it a 14-12 ballgame after one.
Molly Kaiser and
Ene Adams scored 12 of NM State's 14 points in the quarter,
Ashlee Strawbridge providing the other basket. The Aggies held the Lady Mavs to 4-12 (33%) shooting in the first, while forcing five turnovers.
Ene Adams opened the second quarter scoring, tying her season-high in points after just six minutes of gametime and putting the Aggies on top 16-12. A few plays later, Adams secured an offensive rebound and found
Ashlee Strawbridge open in the paint to knock down a jumper and give NM State a 20-12 edge with 6:50 to go in the half. The Aggies locked up UT Arlington defensively in the second, holding them scoreless until the 4:01 mark when they made it 24-13. Shot clock winding down and nursing a ten-point lead,
Sylena Peterson closed out the first half with a three-pointer from the left wing to make it 30-17 NM State as time expired.
The Aggies held UT Arlington to five points scored in the second quarter, tied for the fewest points allowed with last Thursdays fourth quarter against Seattle (2/16). At the break, the Lady Mavs shot 5-19 (26%) from the field, while NM State went 13-28 (46%).
Molly Kaiser paced the team with ten points at the break, with
Ene Adams scoring eight points and adding five rebounds. The Crimson & White controlled the action in the post, holding advantages in paint points (16-10), second chance points (8-2) and rebounds (20-12; 7-2 offensive).
SECOND HALF
A designed play out of the break led a cutting
Tayelin Grays into the heart of the UTA defense, giving her an easy bucket and drawing a foul to open the second half (32-17). A
Molly Kaiser midrange jumper gave the Aggies a 20-point lead (37-17), their largest of the night with 8:14 left to go in the third. Refusing to go quietly the Lady Mavs made it a 44-30 game with 2:14 remaining, but that is the closest they would get in the quarter. Like she did at the start of the third, Grays found herself with the ball in her hands as the clock approached zero, throwing up a high arcing shot that banked in off the glass to make it 49-32 at the end of the third quarter.
The Aggies outscored UTA for the third straight quarter (19-15), doing so behind seven apiece from Kaiser and Grays, shooting 45% from the field as a team.
UTA came out swinging in the final frame, using an 8-3 run to make it a ten-point game (52-42) with 6:54 left in the game. On the ensuing possession,
Ene Adams collected an offensive rebound and put it in the hoop to give her 11 points on the night, a new career high. Five straight points by the Lady Mavs made it a single-digit game (56-49) for the first time since the late second quarter, but NM State answered right back with a play for
Molly Kaiser who drew and made a pair of free throws. Those two points would give Kaiser 21 on the night, a new career-high for the junior from Watauga, Texas. Employing a 'bend don't break' approach on defense paired with timely free-throw shooting (14-15 in the fourth), the Aggies were able to come away victorious with a 69-60 decision.
NOTES
- Molly Kaiser set a new career-high with 27 points; her 19th game with 10+ points this season and sixth in the last seven games.
- Molly Kaiser and Starr Jacobs combined for 53 of the 129 points scored in the game.
- Ene Adams tallied a career-high with 12 points, her first game in double-digits on the season and first during her time at NM State; she also added eight rebounds.
- The Aggies set a new season-high with 20 points from the free-throw line, shooting 77% from the field.
- Both teams lived in the paint, scoring 34 points in the area and making a single three.
- NM State capitalized on it's second chance opportunities, converting for 19 second chance points to go with their eleven offensive rebounds.
- The Lady Mavs were only able to produce five points in the second quarter tying a single quarter low for the Aggies defense this season.
UP NEXT
The Aggies will close out the regular season with a pair of road games in Texas, playing Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday, Feb. 28
th and Sam Houston on Thursday, March 2
nd. NM State has already clinched a spot in the 2023 Hercules Tires WAC Tournament, which begins Monday, Mar. 6th at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and continues Wednesday, Mar. 8th through Saturday, Mar. 11th at the Orleans Arena.
