New Mexico State women's basketball opens WAC play with road win
EDINBURG, TEXAS – New Mexico State women’s basketball (6-7, 1-0 WAC) kicked off conference play on Thursday with a 67-59 win over UTRGV (6-6, 0-1 WAC) in Edinberg, Texas.
The Aggies play Southern Utah at 1 p.m., on Saturday at the Pan American Center.
Shania Harper led all Aggies in scoring (14 points) after she set a season high in points and came one point shy of her career high. After only scoring one basket in the first half, Molly Kaiser had herself another double digit second half performance scoring ten points on four of six shooting, including one made three. Sylena Peterson had herself a nice performance scoring 11 points, going seven of 12 from the charity stripe.
UTRGV kicked off the game by scoring four straight points off the bat after two shotting fouls by the Aggies. At the 8:39 mark, The Aggies finally got on the board with a Sylena Peterson layup coming off an Ene Adams assist This ignited a 15-2 run by the Aggies giving them a 15-6 lead with 4:42 left in the quarter. NM State would not record another basket until the 1:27 point after Ene Adams fought her way through two Vaquero defenders for a tough layup in the post. This would be the final field goal for the Aggies as they ended the quarter with a 17-11 lead.
Shania Harper got the scoring started in the second period receiving a pass from Molly Kaiser for her third bucket of the night. A Taylor Donaldson jumper and Shania Harper hook shot put the Aggies up 23-17 with 6:47 left in the half. NM State would not make another basket for over three minutes giving UTRGV life at the end of the period. Lucia Yenes ended the Aggies scoring doubt with just over two minutes left after she connected on a jump shot from midrange. The Aggies were able to hold onto an eight-point lead (32-24) heading to the locker rooms.
Soufia Inoussa gave the Aggies their first three pointer of the game after going 0-2 in the first half. The Aggies connected on another three pointer, this time from Taylor Donaldson, the very next possession. After some made layups, free-throws, and midrange jump shots, 45-38 lead with 50 seconds left. With about 30 second left, Tayelin Grays gave the Aggies their third three pointer of the game putting the Aggies up 10 (48-38) headed into the final frame.
UTRGV came out the break firing after hitting three free-throws and a layup putting them back within five. A Molly Kaiser free-throw and another Shania Harper hook shot gave the Aggies a 51-45 lead with 7:32 left in the game. UTRGV cut the Aggies lead down to one at the 5:28 mark after a string of made free-throws. However, this would not be enough to take the lead as NM State went on a 10-3 run to close out the game securing their first conference win of the season.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico State women's basketball opens WAC play with road win
