New Mexico State (7-5) snapped its two-game losing streak and finished the week with a 77-46 victory over Eastern New Mexico (10-1) at home on Friday afternoon.
Previously this week, the Aggies lost to Tarleton State 65-55 and Kansas State 83-39 on Wednesday, with both games coming on the road. Kansas State is currently ranked No. 12 in the USA TODAY/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Coaches Poll.
The Aggies got off to a flying start, nailing 11 of their 16 first-quarter shots while holding the Greyhounds to just 2-for-11 shooting to take a 29-8 lead into the second quarter. ENMU, an NAIA team, failed to make a basket in the final 6:45 of the opening quarter. Senior guard Molly Kaiser got off to a strong start with 10 points.
Kaiser played only one minute in the second quarter, but NM State was still able to build maintain a large lead before halftime. Senior guard Jaila Harding reached eight points in the first half and entered the second half going 2-for-2 from 3-point range as the Aggies led 43-22 at the break.
Like the first half, NM State started fast in the second half. The Aggies outscored ENMU 25-14 and let it fly with nine 3-point attempts, the most in any quarter for the Aggies during the contest. NM State drained four of them and senior guard Tylie Jones made half of them.
Kaiser added 10 more points and finished the game with a team-high 21 in total. NM State coach Jody Adams praised her efforts across the season afterward, a campaign that’s seen Kaiser score 240 in total. No other NM State player has reached 100 points so far.
“I think she’s resilient,” Adams said. “I think she understands when something’s taken away from you, that she should find another way to do something special for the team. She’s been just an outstanding leader.”
The fourth quarter was NM State’s least productive quarter, with the Greyhounds outscoring the Aggies 10-9. Adams attempted to give her players equal playing time after NM State entered the final frame with a 68-36 lead, with 12 Aggies seeing the floor and none exceeding over five fourth-quarter minutes. 13 NM State players saw playing time in total against ENMU, with 10 going over 10 minutes. Eleven of those players scored points and 10 made at least one field goal.
Adams said she wanted the Aggies to play “very aggressive” against the Greyhounds and believes her team did just that.
“We wanted to get back to playing how we normally play,” Adams said “Obviously when we play these (NAIA) programs, you’re doing different things than you normally would. You’re taking different shots, stuff like that. We wanted to do as much as we could.”
Harding and Jones were the two other Aggies in double figures, with the latter scoring 14 points and the former recording 13 points. Each made five field goals.
NM State has one last non-conference game left on the road against red-hot Oklahoma (10-1) on Dec. 29 at 3 p.m. The Sooners are ranked No. 11 in the latest USA TODAY/WBCA Coaches poll.
“We just need to look at us,” Adams said about playing OU. “How are we coming off a break? How did we handle it? Do we keep working out? Do we take a break from just the rigors of basketball? We need to continue to get in great shape and do what we need to do individually for the mental part that everybody needs.”
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico State overpowers Eastern New Mexico
