“We are all very proud of Sasha,” Aggie head coach Mark Trakh said. “She is a great student, person and basketball player. She will go down as one of the all-time great NM State players and she still has a long way to go to add to her impressive stats.”
The Aggies (16-6, 9-0 WAC) have now tied their second-longest winning streak in program history and are only three wins from tying the longest streak in NM State women’s basketball history of 15.
NM State remains perfect in Western Athletic Conference play and, coupled with Texas-Pan American’s loss on Thursday at Bakersfield, now holds a three-game advantage over both the Broncs and ‘Runners with five conference games remaining, meaning the Aggies have a firm grasp on the WAC’s top spot.
NM State outshot the Redhawks (7-17, 4-5 WAC) from both the field and from 3-point range, but the Aggies struggled at the line, finishing the first half shooting only 47.1 percent from the line (8-17) and sinking only 60 percent (24-40) of their total free throws. Seattle U, on the other hand, remained in the game by sinking 88.5 percent of its free throws (23-26).
But the Aggies escaped with a win after having at least four players finish in double-figures for the third-consecutive game as Thursday saw five NM State players finish in double-digits, including sophomore guard Tamera William who finished in double figures for the first time in her career after posting a career-high 15 points.
Fellow sophomore guard Moriah Mack led the charge with 17 total points. Point guard Shanice Davis was right behind with 16 points and Freeman made it five with 11 points. Mack and Freeman also finished with a team-high six rebounds apiece.
“Tamera and Moriah were big tonight, it seems it’s somebody different every day,” Trakh said. “I’m proud of the kids, but we didn’t play well at all. I think we really could have lost tonight. We were outplayed for the most part, but the kids always find a way and I’m very proud of them.”
The Redhawks marked the first two points of the game, but NM State answered with five-straight points. Seattle U scored another bucket, so the Aggies answered with another five-straight to take a 10-4 lead with just under 15 minutes left in the opening half. The 2-0 lead for Seattle U would be the only lead it would have in the entire game.
A Freeman inside bucket gave NM State a 15-9 lead, but the Redhawks answered with a five-point run of their own to cut the Aggie lead to one at 15-14 with 9:41 left in the half.
NM State answered Seattle U’s five points, however, with an 8-0 run as Weber’s first two points of the game were sandwiched in between two Davis’ 3-pointers. With just under seven minutes left in the first half, the Aggies had opened up their biggest lead of the half at 23-14.
Three-straight Mack free throws and a William bucket kept the lead at nine with 4:19 to play. But a couple of minutes later the Redhawks, who sank 9-of-11 first-half free throws, made six-consecutive from the charity stripe to get within two of the visitors at 29-27 with 1:41 left in the opening frame.
Weber would stop the run with a driving bucket and William would add a 3-pointer late to extend the NM State lead to 35-31 at the half. William already had tied her career high in the first half after finishing with eight first-half points.
The Aggies immediately extended their lead at the start of the second half, as the visitors scored the first five points of the half and nine of the first 11 points to take their first double-digit lead of the game at 44-33 with 17:14 left, forcing a Seattle U timeout.
After an 8-0 run, the NM State lead had grown to a game-high 17 points with 13:41 left in the game as it seemed the Aggies would cruise to their 12th-straight win. But NM State could not deliver the final knockout blow, as missed free throws hampered its momentum.
The Aggies would see the Redhawks answer with a run of their own, a 12-0 run over four minutes that clipped the 17-point lead down to five with under 10 minutes remaining.
Mack finally stopped the bleeding with four-straight points for NM State, including two on free throws after grabbing a critical offensive rebound and being fouled. The Aggies’ seventh-consecutive point came on Weber’s 3-pointer for her 1,000-career point as the lead once again grew to double-digits at 59-47.
William sank a free throw and a 3-pointer to extend the Aggie lead to 65-52 with 6:20 left, but Seattle U would not go away quietly and after four-consecutive free throws by the home team the lead was down to seven at 67-60 with under three minutes left.
But seven was as close as the Redhawks would get as Davis and Mack sank two free throws each in the final minute to ensure the NM State victory.
The Aggies now head to Bakersfield on Saturday for a 2 p.m. (MT) game against the ‘Runners. A win by NM State on Saturday would not only be the 13th-straight for the Aggies, but would eliminate Bakersfield from any WAC regular-season title hopes.
Saturday’s game can be heard live on Las Cruces radio on KRUX 91.5 FM with Adam Young and can also be heard live online via a live stream.
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