LAS CRUCES, N.M. - After ending 2022 winners of four of their last five matchups, NM State (8-8, 3-1 WAC) kept the momentum going into 2023, picking up a 61-43 win against Tarleton (6-8, 0-3) Saturday afternoon at the Pan American Center. Molly Kaiser led the Aggies in scoring for the fourth time this season with 13 points, while Taylor Donaldson added in 11 points with four helpers and Shania Harper recorded her first double-double of the season. The Aggies never trailed, leading for all but 15 seconds throughout the game. The defense also showed out, holding the Texans leading scorer (Teresa De Silva) to two points on 1-7 shooting while holding the team to 33% shooting from the field and 20% from beyond the arc.
 
The Aggies got out to a 6-0 lead, led by their stifling defense, forcing two quick turnovers and holding Tarleton without a bucket until 6:08 remained in the quarter. After the Texans pulled within two (6-4), both teams went on an extended scoring drought of over four minutes until a Harper layup with 1:51 gave NM State an 8-4 edge. Molly Kaiser's first bucket of the afternoon put a period on the first quarter, with the Aggies holding a 10-6 lead.
 
In the second quarter the two teams essentially traded buckets, with the NM State lead never growing more than six points or shrinking below three. High-low action between Taylor Donaldson and the freshly checked in Lucia Yenes led to an easy paint bucket for Yenes, giving the Aggies a 16-10 lead with 5:56 left to go in the quarter. With 3:02 left until halftime, Mayra Caicedo drilled a three-pointer from the right side of the court to make it a one score game (19-17), prompting a Jody Adams timeout. Back-to-back jumpers by Donaldson and Ashlee Strawbridge with a buzzer beating layup by Molly Kaiser gave NM State a seven-point edge heading into halftime, 26-19.
 
Following a back-and-forth first half, the Aggies turned up the pressure in the third quarter. A staunch NM State defense held the Texans to 28% shooting, with seven turnovers and just six total points in the quarter. On the other half of the court, the Aggies used a balance attack to steadily grow their lead. Seven different players scored in the third, including Soufia Inoussa, who banked in a triple from the left corner for her first bucket of the night, growing the lead to 20 (40-20). Sylena Peterson also joined in on the scoring for the first time in half number two, pouring in six of the last eight Aggie points for a 48-25 lead heading into quarter four.
 
Carrying a 22-point lead into the final frame, elected to get some of their reserves off the bench and into the game. Despite this, the Aggies still shot an even 40% from the field in the quarter and continued to outrebound the Texas. One player who was having her way with the glass was Shania Harper. Harper recorded the Aggies second double-double of the season with her 11-point, 10-rebound performance. The last Aggie to record a double-double was Sylena Peterson. She amassed 22 points and 11 assists at the San Diego Winter Classic on Dec. 3, 2022. The Texans were able to outscore the Aggies 18-13 in the final period of play, but this was not enough as the Aggies finished off Tarleton, 61-43.
 
Notes

• Best start to conference play since 2018-2019 season, when the Aggies led by Brooke Salas and Gia Pack went 15-1 in WAC competition and earned an NCAA tournament berth
• Molly Kaiser finished with 13 points, her tenth double-digit output of the season and ninth in the past twelve games.
• Points off turnover margin heavily in Aggies favor (19-6)
• Shania Harper made her second straight start, recording a double-double of ten points and 11 rebounds in 21 minutes of action.
• The Aggies dominated Tarleton on the glass (34-20), especially on the offensive glass (12-4)
• Taylor Donaldson scored 11 points on the night, her sixth double-digit scoring performance of the season
• Paint points advantage aggies (32-16)
• NM State held Tarleton to 33% shooting, 27% from three.

 
Up Next
The Aggies are back at the Pan Am next Thursday (Jan. 7) at 4 p.m. MST where they will play Sam Houston. This will be the second game of this three game homestand before they close out with Utah Tech next Saturday (Jan. 14), also at 4 p.m. MST.