by LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State women’s basketball team erased a 20-point deficit with 10:29 left in the game to defeat Western Athletic Conference favorite Bakersfield, 90-78, in overtime on Thursday night inside the Pan American Center.
Sophomore Brianna Freeman capped off a 13-1 Aggie run to finish the second half with a bucket inside the lane with 2.5 seconds remaining that tied the game at 74-74 and sent the game into overtime. With momentum on its side, NM State (9-6, 2-0 WAC) would outscore the Roadrunners (12-5, 1-1 WAC) 16-4 in the extra period to begin WAC play 2-0 for the first time since 2011.
“Our kids did a great job, they never quit,” Aggie head coach Mark Trakh said. “They kept fighting and kept fighting, and I told the kids, ‘After we win this game I’m going to come over and talk to you and tell you, it’s a great night to be an Aggie.”
The Aggies have now won a season-high five games in a row and are winners of nine of their last 10 games.
Junior guard Shanice Davis finished with a career-high 32 points, becoming only the 18th player in program history to hit the 30-point mark at least once. It is also the most points scored by any Aggie this season.
NM State also had three players finish with a double-double. Freeman also marked a career high after netting 25 points, the second-consecutive game she has surpassed her career high. Freeman also added 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Junior guard Sasha Weber added 14 points and 12 rebounds to corral her second double-double of the season and fifth of her career. Fellow sophomore Moriah Mack, meanwhile, finished with 10 points and a team-high 13 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.
“Shanice and Moriah were outstanding tonight,” Trakh said. “And Sasha as always just made some big shots down the stretch.”
The Aggies got off to a hot start to begin the matchup as the home team hit five of its first seven shots. Freeman hit her first four and scored eight of NM State’s first 10 points to give the Aggies a 10-5 lead heading into the under-16 media timeout.
Davis would hit a jumper and a free throw to keep NM State in front, but after a 3-pointer by ‘Runner Shaquita Smith the visitors had tied the game at 15-15 with 13:53 left in the opening half. After an Aggie bucket, WAC Preseason Player of the Year Tyonna Outland would hand Bakersfield its first lead after an old-fashion 3-point play.
Freeman would mark the next four points for NM State to try and keep her team even with the ‘Runners. But the Aggies just could not find their mark from 3-point range, missing their first 11 shots from beyond the arc.
With NM State trailing 19-20, Bakersfield embarked on a 16-2 run midway through the half, including 14 points in a row, that gave the ‘Runners a 15-point lead at 36-21 with 6:37 left in the half. Davis finally broke the run with the Aggies’ first 3-pointer of the game with 6:15 left in the first half.
The Bakersfield lead would grow to as many as 16, but NM State finished the half on a 10-4 run and after Weber marked the final points of the half on a shot from beyond the arc the Aggies had cut the lead to 10, 46-36 at halftime.
Davis would sink a bucket early in the second frame that cut the Bakersfield lead to single digits at 49-40. In fact, Davis would mark the next seven NM State points to keep the deficit at or around 10 points.
With 12:40 left in the game, an Abby Scott (Warm Springs Tribe) 3-pointer would pull the Aggies to within 11 at 53-44, but the ‘Runners answered with a 9-0 run that built their 20-point lead midway through the final half.
With defeat seemingly in hand, NM State began one of the greatest comebacks in program history. The Aggies answered the 9-0 run by scoring the next 13 points of the game. Bakersfield would be held scoreless by the NM State defense for over five minutes.
Weber began the run with four-straight points. Freeman then joined in by marking five-straight, including an old-fashion 3-point play. And after Davis scored on consecutive buckets, the lead had been trimmed down to seven at 68-61 with 5:35 left.
The ‘Runners would finally break the run with five-straight points to once again extend the lead to double-digits at 73-61, but the Aggies would once again answer with a run, this time an 11-0 run that cut the deficit down to one at 73-72 with 1:25 left.
A Bakersfield free throw with 12.7 seconds left set up Freeman’s layup that tied the game and sent it into overtime. Over the final 10 minutes of regulation time, NM State outscored the ‘Runners an incredible 26-6 to pull even and force extra time.
After the teams traded buckets to begin that extra time, the final three minutes were dominated by the home team as the Aggies sank shot after shot and pulled away from the conference favorites for an exciting overtime victory.
“This is a big win,” Trakh said, “we’re 2-0 in conference and have a chance to go 3-0 on Saturday at home. I’m extremely proud of these kids and extremely excited for them.”
NM State will now try to go 3-0 in the WAC and extend its winning streak to six as it meets Seattle U on Saturday inside the Pan American Center beginning at 2 p.m. The game will be produced for television by AggieVision and will also be streamed live by ESPN3 and the WAC Digital Network.
