New Mexico State women advance in WAC Tournament

Staff reports
·1 min read
The New Mexico State women's basketball team beat Texas Rio Grande Valley in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Monday in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The New Mexico State women's basketball team beat Texas Rio Grande Valley in the first round of the WAC Tournament on Monday in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Molly Kaiser scored 25 points to lead the New Mexico State women's basketball team to a 65-49 Western Athletic Conference Tournament victory over Texas Rio Grande Valley on Monday in Las Vegas, Nev.

"She just does a great job manipulating the ball screen and making the second or third read," Aggies coach Jody Adams said in her postgame interview.

The No. 7 Aggies will play No. 2 seed Southern Utah in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m., on Wednesday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Aggies lost both regular season meetings to Southern Utah.

Kaiser scored 16 points in the first half to lead NM State (16-15) to a 36-25 halftime lead with the Aggies shooting 46 percent and UTRGV shooting 26 percent. Kaiser was 11 for 19 from the field for the game as the Aggies finished shooting 49 percent.

UTRGV closed to within six points early in the third quarter, but the Aggies ended up extending the lead to 52-40 entering the fourth quarter.

Aggies forward Tayelin Grays (13 points, seven rebounds) scored from inside to give the Aggies a 13-point lead at one point in the third.

Ene Adams hit from inside early in the fourth to give NM State a 54-40 lead. Taylor Donaldson hit a turn around jumper for a 58-44 lead and Kaiser drained a long 3-pointer to push the lead to 63-47 as the Aggies controlled the second half to advance.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico State women's basketball advances in WAC Tournament