Aggies sweep Rio Grande Rivalry with 52-47 victory
The NM State women’s basketball team stormed back late in the second quarter with a 22-0 run that spanned into the third to sweep the Rio Grande Rivalry with a 52-47 victory over New Mexico on Sunday at WisePies Arena.
The win made it three-straight for the Aggies (9-2) against their neighbors to the north. The last time NM State won three-straight against the Lobos was during a five year stretch (1992-96) when NM State won 10-straight. Sunday’s game was the first time the Aggies held an opponent under 50 points since its 60-48 road win at Missouri-Kansas City.
“I’m so proud of the kids, they played great against a big hostile crowd of about 4,000 people,” head coach Mark Trakh said. “It’s a big win for us. We haven’t beaten them twice since 95-96. I really was proud of the kids. They really defended, rebounded, played hard, they were scrappy and were all over the place.”
The second quarter proved a bit better for the Aggies thanks to Sasha Weber, who scored nine of the team’s 15 points in the quarter. The Lacey, Wash., product brought NM State within 28-21 at the half thanks to a deep three. She would finish with a game-high 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting.
“Sasha did a great job, she picked up the offense,” Trakh said when asked about Weber’s performance. He also mentioned that the defense really got after it and played great defense.
NM State went on a roll to start the second half. The Aggies outscored New Mexico 18-3 in the third frame, including a 22-0 run that last 10:27 minutes before Jayda Bovero knocked down a pair of free-throws to give the Lobos their first points since the 2:23 mark in the second quarter when Cherise Beynon made 1-of-2 from the line.
During that blitzkrieg by the Aggies, UNM was held without a field-goal for a whopping 14:06 minutes.
New Mexico (7-4) opened the final quarter of play with a 5-0 run, behind Nunn’s five points before Moriah Mack’s jumper in the middle of the key made it 41-36.
Alex Laperolerie gave New Mexico some life when she cut the NM State lead to 49-44 with 1:11 left on the clock, but buckets from Ellis and Shanice Davis put the game out of reach.
The Aggies now head home to get some rest before they depart for New York for the Fordham Holiday Classic (Dec. 29-30).
