Soto and Sanchez Post Career Highs but Aggies Fall
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Jan. 19) – The New Mexico State women’s basketball senior duo of Kaitlyn Soto and Erica Sanchez combined for 43 points with career high point totals but the Aggies fell short to San Jose State 67-62 inside the Spartans’ Event Center Thursday evening.
NM State led at the break by four but San Jose State posted 42 in the second half after the Aggies held the home team to 25 in the first. The Aggies posted 33 in the second half behind a game-high 23 from Soto and 20 by Sanchez after draining six three-pointers.
NM State falls to 4-14 overall and 1-2 in the WAC after the loss. San Jose State improved to 7-10 overall and remained undefeated in conference play at 2-0.
“We had two people who really came out and competed tonight,” said head coach Mark Trakh. “We just need to have more people come to play every game. Soto and Sanchez were sensational tonight but you cannot win with only two scorers.”
The Aggies shot 36 percent (23-63) in the game while SJSU made 43 percent (25-58) from the field. The Aggies won the battle of the boards 44-32. NM State made a season-high nine three-point baskets behind six treys from Sanchez and three long-range buckets from Soto. SJSU went 3-of-15 from beyond the arc. But SJSU doubled up the Aggies from the free throw line making 14-of-18 to 7-of-8 for NM State. The Aggies made 19 turnovers while SJSU turned it over a dozen times on the night.
San Jose State opened the game with a 6-0 run before Wampler and Soto started the scoring for the Aggies. Wampler put one in from underneath just inside of three minutes, a layup from Soto cut the SJSU lead to 6-4 at 16:39. After a Spartan bucket, a three from Soto capped a 7-2 Aggie run and brought the visitors to within one, 8-7, at the first media timeout.
SJSU scored five straight out of the timeout but Wampler and sophomore guard Jasmine Rutledge drained two baskets to get the Aggies within two, 13-11, at the 11:43 mark.
NM State took its first lead of the game, 17-15, at the 9:43 mark thanks to back-to-back threes from senior guard Erica Sanchez. The teams traded the lead over the next four scoring possessions. A third trey from Sanchez put the Aggies up 22-20 with 7:11 to go in the half.
The Aggies edged the Spartans 7-5 through the end of the half to lead 29-25 at intermission.
The Aggies took command of the boards in the first half, doubling up SJSU 28-14. Wampler led with a game-high nine caroms at the half. The Aggies shot 33 percent (12-36) in the first half and held the Spartans to 37 percent (11-30) from the field. The Aggies drained five three-point shots in the first 20 minutes while SJSU made a pair. NM State committed eight turnovers and forced five SJSU miscues in the half. NM State led 15-7 in second chance points while SJSU outscored the Aggies 14-8 in the first.
Sanchez continued her barrage of threes early in the second half to put NM State up 37-29 for its largest lead of the game. The Spartans responded with a 9-0 run over the next 2:25 to take back the lead, 38-37, with 16:14 remaining.
Soto and Sanchez both reached career high point totals prior to the midway point of the second to help NM State retake the lead 43-42 with less than 14 minutes remaining. But the Spartans put together an 8-2 run before a bucket underneath from Aggie junior Chrissy Fletcher at the 8:51 mark to make it 50-47 in favor of SJSU.
NM State used a 10-3 run to tie the game at 57-57 with four minutes remaining. Rutledge and Fletcher picked up the pace on offense late in the game, scoring six of the Aggies’ points during the rally. A late three from Sanchez cut the SJSU lead to 63-62 but NM State could not take the lead as San Jose State earned its fourth win of the series.
Senior Sara Plavjanin led four Spartans in double figures tonight with 16 points. SJSU leading scorer Brittany Johnson posted 14. Freshman guard Ta’Rea Cunnigan tallied 13 while Myesha Broaden added 12.
NM State continues its WAC road schedule at Hawai’i on Saturday at 8 p.m. MT. The game against the Rainbow Wahine will serve as the opener to a doubleheader with the schools’ men’s teams. The game can be heard on KSNM 570 AM with play-by-play from Kyle Doperalski.
Source: NMSU Athletics
