USD Winter Classic
Game #7
NM State (2-4, 0-0 WAC) at San Diego (4-3, 0-0 Big West)
Saturday, December 3, 2022 | 3 p.m. MT | San Diego, Calif.
Watch | Live Stats | Digital Program | NM State Game Notes
Game #8
NM State (2-4, 0-0 WAC) vs. Idaho (1-3, 0-0 Big Sky)
Sunday, December 4, 2022 | 3 p.m. MT | San Diego, Calif.
Watch | Live Stats | Digital Program | NM State Game Notes
Opening Tip
Coming off a narrow loss to UTEP on Wednesday, NM State takes flight again, this time to San Diego for the USD Winter Classic where they will play a pair of game against San Diego and Idaho.
The Toreros are coming off a loss of their own to #15 ranked Arizona last Saturday (86-60).
The Vandals are fresh off a six-point victory against Navy on Sunday (90-84).
News and Notes
Scouting the Toreros: San Diego dropped their recent outing to #15 Arizona last Saturday 86-60. The Toreros are led by fifth year graduate guard, Myah Pace who is averaging 11.3 points a game, 5 rebounds and 2.7 assists. 6-3 guard, Amanda Olinger is the Toreros lengthy forward responsible for locking up the middle. She is averaging 1.1 blocks a game and has four steals to her credit this season.
Southing the Vandals: Idaho comes to San Diego fresh off defeating Navy last Sunday in a high scoring affair (90-84). Beyonce Bea is the Vandals leading scorer averaging an impressive 22.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest. Against Navy, Bea dropped a double-double scoring 34 points on 11 for 16 shooting (68.8%) while grabbing 13 rebounds, three steals and one block.
The Adams Family
Jody Adams enters her first season as the head coach of NM State. Adams has a history of success throughout Division I basketball, including 185 career wins.
Most notably, Adams led Wichita State for the nine most successful seasons in program history. Before Adams was hired, the Shockers had only one 20-win season in school history and had never made the NCAA Tournament, won a Missouri Valley title, or won the Missouri Valley Tournament tile. Under Adams, Wichita State posted four-straight 20-win seasons and made six-straight postseason appearances from 2009-15.
Mama Fama
Swiftly dropping the hits, Fama Thiam leads NM State in scoring with 10.8 points per game. Thiam has scored in double figures in four of the six contests she's playing in this season. Against UTEP, she dropped 16 points on 7-12 shooting (58.3%) including two triples and grabbed eight rebounds.
Coaching Staff
The entire NM State coaching staff is new for the 2022-23 season. Adams brought in Patrick Harrison, Chynna Turner, and Zach Banks as assistant coaches for her first staff in Las Cruces.
Harrison comes to NM State from Kansas City, where he spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach under now Oklahoma State head coach Jacie Hoyt.
Turner played for Adams at Wichita State prior to entering the world of coaching. Before coming to NM State, Turner spent four seasons at Gardner-Webb, leading the Bulldogs to 61 wins.
Banks joins the Aggies after serving as an assistant at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Fla. Banks' time in Florida was capped off with a 2021 NJCCA National Championship and a career record of 128-22 (.853).
Tournament Tested Tilts
The test with Colorado won't be the last time NM State faces an opponent from the 2022 NCAA Tournament this season. The Aggies will also square off with Stephen. F. Austin (12 seed; Lost to North Carolina) on February 28 and will host WAC newcomer UT Arlington (14 seed; Lost to Iowa State) on February 23.
Conference Variety
The Aggies will square off with teams from ten different conferences throughout the 2022-23 season.
⁃- Pac-12 (Colorado)
⁃- Ivy League (Yale)
⁃- Summit (Denver)
⁃- Mountain West (New Mexico)
⁃- Conference USA (UTEP)
⁃- West Coast (San Diego)
⁃- Big Sky (Idaho, Portland State)
⁃- Rocky Mountain Athletic - NCAA Division II (New Mexico Highlands)
⁃- Continental Athletic - NAIA (Northern New Mexico)
⁃- WAC (UTRGV, Southern Utah, Utah Valley, Tarleton, Sam Houston, Utah Tech, Grand Canyon, Seattle U, Abilene Christian, California Baptist, UT Arlington, Stephen F. Austin.)
Ms. Worldwide
The Aggies have seven international players on the roster throughout 2022-23. Sabou Gueye and Fama Thiam both hail from Senegal while Nigeria (Ene Adams), Sweden (SoufiaInoussa), Japan (Moe Shida), New Zealand (Ashlee Strawbridge), and Spain (Lucia Yenes) are all represented as well.
Frequent Fliers
NM State will also hit the road for games in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, California, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, and Washington during the 22-23 campaign. In addition, the WAC Tournament is held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada - Adding a ninth state to the list.
Road Warriors
The San Diego Classic will mark the fourth and fifth straight game the Aggies play away from home. After their games with San Diego and Idaho, NM State will return to New Mexico to take on the Lobos (UNM) in Albuquerque (Dec. 11) before returning home to play UTEP again (Dec. 13) after nearly a month of traveling - NM States last home game was against the Lobos on Nov. 15.
Last Time Out
NM State (2-4, 0-0 WAC) traveled down I-10 to El Paso Wednesday to take on UTEP at the Don Haskins Center. The Aggies battled the Miners down to the final seconds but couldn't catch a break and wound up falling 65-61.
Fama Thiam managed 16 points and eight rebounds in the game versus UTEP to lead the team in scoring, while Texas native Molly Kaiser paced the Aggies with 15 points and four steal against the Miners. Kaiser was one of the driving forces that helped the Aggies climb out of a double-digit deficit in the second half, giving them the opportunity to steal the game in the final minutes.
Up Next
After the Aggies conclude their time in Sothern California, they will return to New Mexico to take on the Lobos in Albuquerque for the second and final meeting this season. The last time the Lobos and Aggies met, it was in Las Cruces where NM State rallied to a 73-64 OT victory in the Pan Am.
