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Las Cruces, NM – Playing in the third straight doubleheader between men’s and women’s basketball at the Pan American Center, the NM State women’s basketball team (9-9, 4-2 WAC) played an impressive nail-biter, falling to Utah Tech (12-5, 4 – 2 WAC), 67-65 on Saturday afternoon.
Utah Tech won the opening kickoff, throwing three balls through the air on their first possession to give the ball right back to the Aggies. Tylin Grace After a, he broke the seal in the mail Molly Keizer He missed three times. Following the opening basket by the Crimson and White, the Trailblazers rallied to take a 7-4 lead with five minutes left in the opening period. Back-to-back color points at Taylor Donaldson And Shania Harper It gave the Aggies a one-point advantage (8-7), but NM State, the second-best scoring team in the WAC, led 19-12 at quartertime and proved too much to let go.
Playing a Utah Tech team that played a zone defense, the Aggies uncharacteristically started three threes, attempting six in the first quarter, failing to convert any of them into points. A stout NM State defense from beyond the arc held the Trailblazers to a 2-11 shooting clip, just under 33% from three on the season.
Utah Tech’s lead changed to nine twenty seconds into the second quarter, however Tylin Grace Buried NM State’s first triple of the night and fifth of the season to make it a six-point game (21-15) and start a 9-3 NM State run, turning it into a 24-21 game with 5:01 to go in the half. A pair of triples by the Trailblazers essentially canceled out the Aggie run, but the Crimson and White defense turned on late in the quarter, holding Utah Tech scoreless the rest of the way and forcing a trio of turnovers.
The Aggies shot 25%, 1-13 from deep in the first half, while Utah Tech shot 40% overall and 26% from three-point range. NM State forced eight Trailblazer turnovers.
Soufia Inoussa She inserted herself into the Trailblazer passing lane and scored a layup to open the second half, making it a one-possession game to give Utah Tech a twelve-point lead (39-27) with 6:07 left in the third. Tylin Grace And Molly Keizer They put NM State on their backs, scoring 15 of the last 19 Aggie points in the quarter. With 3:56 left, Kaiser caught him on the left wing, driving to the baseline and pulling up midrange for a knockdown and drawing a foul. Keyser scored her 500th career point and 10th with that basket.
Down 51-46 heading into the final frame. Soufia Inoussa He collected his second triple of the night to make it a two-point game (51-49). The next Aggie bucket came a few possessions after several offensive rebounds by the Aggies. Tylin Grace was able to drive the lane on the defender and connect with a beautiful hook shot from the paint, a mark she broke a few weeks ago when she scored 18 at Utah Valley.
6:11 left in the game Selena Peterson He tripled at the top of the key to make it a one-out game.The Aggies’ defense took it to another level midway through the fourth quarter, diving for loose balls and contesting everything. The Aggies outscored the Trailblazers by three in the final frame
NM State went on a 5-0 run to take the game by all five points from Kaiser. The guard connected on a layup and drew the foul before connecting for a three-point play from the charity stripe. On Utah Tech’s next possession, Keyser recorded a steal before fouling out while driving to the rim. With the line tied at 2-2, Kaiser ended the game with a 65 tie.
With six seconds left in the game, Utah Tech knocked down Brew and Gillen’s jumper in the paint to put the Trailblazers up by two. Down to their last chance, Peterson got a great look from three for the Aggies, but his shot hit the iron and fell to the floor, allowing Utah Tech to escape with a road win.
Notes
· Molly Keizer He reached 500 career points in the third quarter, finishing the night with 15 points while posting career highs in rebounds (8) and steals (5).
· Tylin Grace She finished with 22 points, a new career-high and third double-digit scorer of the season, becoming just the second Aggie to surpass 20 points in a game this season.
· The Grays finished with nine rebounds, just one plate shy of a double-double.
· Mo Shida She scored a season-high (5) and had her second triple-double of the season.
· The Aggies shot a game-high 30 three-point attempts on the night, but only connected on five.
· This is 13Th Game limited to single digits for the Eagles this season. The Aggies are now 5-8 in single-digit games.
· NM State had a slight rebounding advantage over Utah Tech (38-33).
Despite losing the game 50.1% to 30.3%, the Aggies were able to hang with Bison.
· The team had one of their best shooting performances at the charity stripe, shooting an efficient 82.4% (14-17).
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