by By John Vu
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Solid shooting night from Shanice Davis, Sasha Weberand Moriah Mack helped NM State weather a second-half charge by Missouri-Kansas City as the Aggie hung on for the 68-62 win Thursday night at the Swinney Recreation Center.
Davis finished with a season-high in points with 17, while Weber had a game-high 18 to go with Mack’s 16 points.
Davis finished the night 6-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-6 from beyond the arc with three steals, two blocks and two assists. As a team, the Aggies shot .472 from the floor, their third-best shooting night on of the year.
“I was proud of the girls for grinding out this win,” head coach Mark Trakh said. “UMKC has vastly improved. We had great games from Moriah, Sasha and Shanice. They did a great job defensively and we’re looking forward to the game on Saturday.”
The last time NM State started the year off 14-3 was during the 1993-94 season. That team finished the season 24-8 and 14-4 in Big West play.
NM State (14-3, 3-0 WAC) had its best start to a game in a while, torching Missouri-Kansas City (6-10, 1-2 WAC) for 18 of its 22 points from three-point land. Davis played an integral role in that run, knocking down three of the Aggies’ six 3-pointers.
The ‘Roos got as close as 22-18 in the first half after an 8-0 run, but a short jumper from Brooke Salas followed by another Davis 3-pointer pushed the Aggie lead back to 27-18 with 4:42 on the clock.
Kiana Law kept UMKC in within striking distance in the first half, scoring 11 points as NM State took the 32-25 lead into the intermission. Law finished with a team-high 17 points and 14 boards.
The third frame was a bit different for the Aggies as Brianna Freeman and Tamera William were relegated to the bench due to foul trouble. NM State committed nine fouls in that quarter alone, which allowed UMKC to hit 14-of-14 shots from the line to tie things up at 46 heading into the final quarter of play.
Tyler Ellis was huge for the Aggies during that stretch, pulling down a season-high 10 boards to go with her six points. It was the second time in four games where Ellis has tallied double-digit rebounds.
The Aggies built their lead up to nine points, 59-50, with 4:51 left in the game after Davis swished in her fifth trey of the night.
From that point on the Kangaroos got as close as five points twice, once after a pair of free-throws from Samantha Waldron with 45 seconds left on the clock.Abby Scott (Warm Springs Tribe) pushed the Aggie lead back up to nine, 58-67, after a pair of free-throws, but a triple from Waldron cut the lead down to 67-62 with 26 seconds remaining.
However, that was as close as UMKC got as the clocked ran out after Mack pulled down the rebound from a missed jumper by Aries Washington.
NM State was able to hang on to the win over UMKC thanks to its defense, which forced 23 turnovers to give the Aggies a 27-9 edge in points off turnovers.
WAC play continues to NM State this weekend with a 1 p.m. (MT) tilt against Chicago State in the Windy City.
