Streak buster: Hot-shooting Aggie women knock off Lobos in the Pit

New Mexico State players, in black, celebrate an 81-71 victory over UNM in the Pit on Friday.

New Mexico State’s Sylena Peterson attempts a layup over UNM defenders on Friday in the Pit.

UNM’s Destinee Hooks makes a move past New Mexico State’s Sylena Peterson during Friday’s game in the Pit.

Ken Sickenger Ken Sickenger Ken Sickenger Journal Staff Writer

Published December 6, 2024 - 9:58 p.m. Modified December 6, 2024 - 10:38 p.m.

Sunday

Women: New Mexico at New Mexico State, 2 p.m., 610 AM/95.9 FM, ESPN+ (streaming)

The New Mexico State Aggies had waited a long time for a women’s basketball win in the Pit. The wait ended Friday.

Molly Kaiser scored 25 points, Loes Rozing and Sylena Peterson added 17 apiece and the Aggies shot a red-hot 55.8% from the field on their way to an 81-71 victory over rival New Mexico.

NMSU took control in the third quarter, hitting 9-for-15 including three 3-pointers while the Lobos hit just 4-for-10 and missed several open opportunities around the basket. The Aggies (5-3) outscored UNM 25-16 in the quarter to grab a 61-51 lead.

The Lobos turned to full-court pressure in the fourth quarter and trimmed a 13-point deficit to 74-69. But Kaiser hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch and UNM could not hit a key 3-pointer to make things closer.

The Aggies secured their first win in the Pit since 2015 and celebrated by racing up the ramp with coach Jody Adams.

“We’re pretty happy right now,” Adams said. “It’s a good rivalry, a fun environment here, a great program and a great coach. Coming out of here with a win is a great feeling. It’s not easy to do.”

Lobos coach Mike Bradbury was on the other side of the emotional coin after suffering his first home loss to NMSU after eight wins.

“I did a poor job having our team ready to play,” he said. “I don’t think we were very motivated and (the Aggies) did something that hadn’t been done in a decade.”

Viané Cumber scored 18 points — 11 in the fourth quarter — to lead the Lobos (5-4). Destinee Hooks added 15 points, and Alyssa Hargrove scored 12, but UNM’s 42% shooting simply wasn’t enough to keep pace with the hot-shooting visitors.

“I thought our energy was great,” Adams said, “and we moved the ball. When we got open shots, our guards took advantage of it.”

The game went back and forth for the first 25 minutes with five ties and 13 lead changes. UNM hit six of its first 10 3-pointers and led 32-27 midway through the second quarter. NMSU finished the first half with back-to-back 3-pointers by Peterson and Kaiser to take a 36-35 lead.

The Lobos went back in front 42-40 on a Hooks 3-pointer, but the Aggies began to assert themselves midway through the third quarter. NMSU steadily dumped the ball inside to 6-1 post Fanta Gassama, who drew double teams or worked her way around UNM’s post players.

Gassama finished with nine points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, consistently finding open teammates for jumpers they rarely seemed to miss,

“We knew she’d get doubled,” Adams said. “We worked on that, and Fanta does a great job finding open shooters.”

Bradbury said the double-teams against Gassama were not part of the game plan.

“We weren’t really supposed to double her,” he said, “and we really didn’t. We just had defenders halfway between her and the guards, leaving people open — and they can hit shots.”

The Lobos made things interesting with full-court pressure, forcing the Aggies into several turnovers and making a late run to get an announced crowd of 4,880 energized. But NMSU began getting the ball into Kaiser’s hands, and the fifth-year senior went 9-for-11 from the foul line to seal the win.

The teams will see each other again Sunday in Las Cruces, playing a rematch at 2 p.m. at the Pan Am Center.

“We’ll watch the film (Saturday), see the mistakes we made and correct them,” Hooks said. “We gave up a lot of shots on defense and let them get to the basket too easy. We have to do a better job Sunday. We’ll be ready to play.”