LEXINGTON, Ky – In 49 years of NM State women's basketball, there has never been a team to win a game in the postseason. That all changes today as the Aggies extinguished the Flames, 51-41, in the first round of the WBI, sending them to the semifinal round against East Tennessee State tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.
The game didn't see very much scoring by either team. Both sides combined to score less than 100 points in the game and only made a combined 32 shots. Despite this, Jody Adams' team was able to hold a double-digit lead for most of the contest after shooting a 42% clip for the game, 38% from behind the arc.
Sylena Peterson led all scorers with 19 points for the game after erupting for 14 points in the second half.
Once Again, it was the Aggies defense that shined on the hardwood tonight. The team forced 20 turnovers for the 14th time this season and held the Flames to just two made threes in the game for an 18% clip.
First Half
The Flames opened up the game with a made basket from the low post by Jaida McCord. The Aggies answered that basket immediately with a driving layup by
Taylor Donaldson, evening the score at two. Back-to-back buckets by
Molly Kaiser and
Sylena Peterson gave the Aggies an early 6-2 lead before the Flames brought the game back to one with a triple at the other end.
With 3:11 left in the first,
Taylor Donaldson made a jumper from the right side to extend the Aggies lead to four. Donaldson pulled up again from the corner in the next possession, draining a triple to put the Aggies up by seven. After one, NM State led UIC, 14-9.
Illinois-Chicago opened the second period with a layup bringing them back to within three of the Aggies.
Tayelin Grays nailed a three from the wing to ignite a 7-0 run by the Aggies over the next minute and a half. With 3:48 left in the half,
Soufia Inoussa knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Aggies their first double-digit lead of the game. The Flames brought the Aggie lead back to within eight, but another triple by Donaldson put the Aggies back up 11 making her a perfect 4-4 for the game with ten first-half points. NM State carried a 30-19 lead over UIC at the half.
Second Half
UIC opened the second half of play with back-to-back jumpers to put them back within seven. With just under six minutes in the third quarter, the flames cut the Aggie lead down to five with a fastbreak score following an Aggie turnover. NM State finally made their first basket from the floor with a made jumper by
Sylena Peterson with 4:52 to go in the third. Peterson would go on to make the next two Aggie baskets, giving her seven in the quarter and 12 for the game. Heading into the final frame, the Aggies led the Flames by ten
A second-half jumper by UIC brought their deficit back to within single digits, but another
Sylena Peterson layup ended that to make the score 41-31 with just under 7:30 to play. Having scored the previous 11 points for the Aggies,
Sylena Peterson pulled up from deep three-point range and buried another shot to give her 19 points for the game.
Leading by five,
Molly Kaiser decided to drive the lane but dished a pass out to the corner on her way to the basket, finding
Soufia Inoussa open in the corner, where she knocked down a three with 37 seconds left in the game. This would prove to be the dagger in the Flames comeback hopes as NM State leaves day one with a 51-41 victory over Illinois-Chicago, sending them to the semifinal round tomorrow against East Tennessee State.
Notes
- This marks NM States first ever win in the postseason.
- Sylena Peterson's game-high 19 points is the second most points scored by the second-year guard this season.
- Peterson accounted for 19 of the Aggies 25 bench points today.
- The Aggies forced the Flames to commit 20 turnovers in the game – the 14th time this season they have forced an opponent to 20 or more turnovers in a game.
- Jody Adams improves her record in the postseason to 7-10 overall, 3-7 as a head coach and 2-1 in the WBI.
- The Aggies led the flames for 38:22
- The largest lead (12) came with 2:27 left in the third quarter.
Up Next
NM State now moves into the winners bracket and will face Eastern Tennessee State tomorrow at 12:30 MDT for a chance to go to the WBI Championship.
