Opening Tip
• After a dominating performance over UTRGV Monday night in Las Vegas, the Aggies will look to make some major noise in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday night when they take on the #2 seed in the tournament, Southern Utah.
• The WAC Regular Season Champs come into Las Vegas with the best record in the conference at 16-2, having only lost to UT Arlington (60-58) and Abilene Christian (89-83) in the regular season.
• The Aggies lead the all-time series with the Thunderbirds 4-3 but lost both of their meetings with Southern Utah this season by a combined score of 124-114.
 
Last Time Out
• NM State took care of business in the opening round of the WAC tournament on Monday having defeated UTRGV 65-49 to advance to the quarterfinal round Wednesday night.
• This marks the first time the Aggies move on in the tournament since 2019 when the crimson and white brought home their fourth WAC title in five seasons.
• Molly Kaiser  was dominate Monday night. The third year guard led all scoreers with 25 points and also added four rebounds and an assists to her stat line. She has now scored 20 or more points in three of her last four outings, averaging 23.5 points a game over that stretch.
• The Aggies shot 49% as a team.
• NM State held UTRGV under their season scoring average (62.7) and shooting percentage (34.8%)
• UTRGV could only connect on six of their 26 three-point attempts for a 23% clip.
• NM State owned the paint scoring 24 of their 65 points down low.
• The Aggies had ten more assists (18) than the Vaqueros (8)
• 37:24 was how long the Aggies led the Vaqueros in the game.
 
 
Aggies in the WAC Tournament
• NM State is 22-11 in the WAC Tournament all-time and 14-9 since the tournament moved to Las Vegas in 2011.
• The Aggies have brought home the WAC Tournament Trophy four times in its history (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019) with the last one coming in 2019 after they beat Chicago State (90-54), UMKC (91-80) and UTRGV (76-73).
• Since their last championship team, NM State is 2-2 in the tournament, including a loss in the first round of last year's tournament to #7 Lamar (65-54).
• Monday's win is just the second time in three seasons the Aggies have advanced in the tournament.
 
Defense. Defense. Defense
• NM State is allowing just 60.4 points a game this season to opponents, the second-best scoring defense in the WAC this season.
• The Aggies possess one of the best turnover margins in the country, tallying the 32nd best turnover margin nationally (+4.16) and second-best margin in the WAC.
• As a team, NM State forces 18.5 turnovers a contest, which is 46th best in the nation and third best in the WAC.
 
Agent 0
• With 22 double-digit performances on the season, including 16 in conference play, Molly Kaiser has been a consistent force for the Aggies on the scoring front, especially over the last four games. The third-year guard is averaging 23.5 points a game over her last four outings with 27, 18, 24 and 25 points performances.
• Kaiser was dominate in Mondays win over UTRGV, leading all scorers with 25 points on 11-19 shooting, including a made three.
• Kaiser currently paces the team in scoring averaging 13.1 points per game on the season with that number jumping up to 13.9 points a contest since the start of WAC play. Kaiser also leads the team in field goal percentage (.431) and free throw percentage (.810).
• On January 14th, 2023, Kaiser eclipsed the 500-career point mark after dropping 15 points against Utah Tech – also setting a career high in rebounds (8) and steals (5).
 
 
Scouting the Thunderbirds
• Southern Utah possesses one of the best rotations in the league as five of their eleven players are averaging double-figures this season.  
• Cherrita Daugherty paces the team in scoring, averaging 15.0 points a contest while also leading her squad in free-throw percentage (.830) and steals (1.1)
• Standing at 6'5", Lizzy Williamson has been one of the best rebounders in the WAC this year, averaging just over ten rebounds a game (10.2).
• The T-Birds are one of the best rebounding teams in the WAC this season with an average 42.3 boards a game and +8.2 rebounding margin over their opponents.  
 
Up Next
The winner of Wednesday's contest will move on to the Semifinal round to play either #11 Seattle U, or #3 Grand Canyon for a chance to advance to Saturdays championship game.