DENVER - NM State women's basketball dropped their second straight game to Denver U. Saturday afternoon after being outscored 60-51. 

The Aggies led the pioneers from the 3:54 mark in the first quarter all the way until the third quarter with just 4:46 left on the clock. 

NM State struggled to slow down the Denver offense, especially in the second half, allowing the Pioneers to shoot an even 50% from the field and 37.5% from behind the arc in the final two quarters. 

Ashlee Strawbridge led the Aggies in scoring with 11 points, which set a new career high for the New Zealand native. Sabou Gueye nearly had a double-double, scoring eight points and securing 11 rebounds, though, all eight of her points came in the first half. Selena Peterson and Tayelin Grays also had their hands in this game. Peterson scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds, and forced one turnover with a steal. Grays scored seven points, secured three rebounds, and had two steels of her own. 

Things were looking good for the Aggies in the first quarter, despite it taking them over three minutes to score a basket. Sylena Peterson got the scoring started after hitting a triple from the top of the key coming off an assist from Sabou Gueye. 

NM State took its first lead just under four minutes in the first quarter after an Ashlee Strawbridge turnaround jumper in the paint. From there, the Aggies dominated the rest of the first quarter, allowing no buckets the final five minutes of the period. NM State closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run capped off by a Molly Kaiser fast break score. 

Sabou Gueye gave the Aggies their largest lead of the game (9) in the second period when she grabbed a rebound on the defensive end and scored a layup on the other end of the floor, giving the Aggies a 16-7 lead with 8:13 left to play in the half. 

Shania Harper closed out the half making a pair of free throws, sending the Aggies into the locker room with a five-point lead. Gueye led the Aggies at the break with eight points and eleven rebounds. NM State out rebounded Denver 22-17 up to this point. A lot of the points for the Aggies were coming on the fast break, cashing in nine of their 27 points in transition. 

Ashley Strawbridge made the first two baskets for the Aggies out of the break. She hit a jumper in the paint and later knocked down a three giving the Aggies a two-point lead with 4:06 left in the third. This is where things started to go south for NM State. 

Denver answered the Strawbridge triple with a 9-0 run giving them a seven-point lead with just two minutes remaining in the period. They then closed out the quarter with a buzzer beater in the paint making the score 41-35 headed into the final ten minutes of play. 

The largest lead for the Pioneers came with 6:24 left after layup in the paint gave them a 14-point advantage. The Aggies had a couple chances in the final minutes to chip away at the lead but couldn't knock down the triple or prevent the pioneers from getting to the line.  

Denver would wind up taking this one 60-51

Stats of Note

• Ashley Strawbridge set a new career high in scoring (11) and blocks (2).
• Sabou Gueye set a new career high in rebounding (11) surpassing her previous high (7), which came just a few weeks ago against New Mexico. 
• The Aggies shot 30.6% from the field as a team. 
• 18 of the Aggies points came on second chance opportunities. 
• The Aggie bench produced 20 points. 
• Nearly half of NM States points were scored in the paint (47%)

Next Up

The Aggies return to the border region Wednesday to take on UTEP at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso. From there, the Aggies must make a quick turnaround before they hit the road again for a pair of games in San Diego next weekend.