by By John Vu, NMStateSports
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The NM State Aggies needed a quarter to shake off the cob webs, as Tyesha Taylor paced the women’s basketball team with a career-high 15 points in the 76-61 victory over Eastern New Mexico at the Pan Am Center on Monday night.
The last time NM State (7-2) followed a home loss with a win against Eastern New Mexico (4-4), it went on to win 22 of its final 25 games (2014-15).
After a sluggish start for the second-straight game, the Aggies used a 21-11 run in the second frame behind 10-of-19 shooting to take the 33-25 lead into the break.
Shanice Davis led the charge for NM State, scoring all seven of her points in the second quarter. The senior guard was 3-for-3 from the field during that stretch, including a 3-pointer at the 3:20 mark to give the Aggies their largest lead in the first half, 27-18.
The Greyhounds did not back down as they came out of the intermission with a 9-2 run capped off by a layup from Sarah Stinnett, who finished with a team-high 12 points for ENMU, to cut the NM State lead to 35-34 with 5:53 on the clock in the third quarter.
From that point on, it was back-and-forth as both teams recorded 21 points apiece. Taylor kept Eastern New Mexico from chipping away at the lead in the final two minutes of the third, knocking down all four of her free throws.
The Aggies got things going in the final 10 minutes of play when Moriah Mack, who finished with eight points and seven boards in her 2015-16 debut, scored on rebound and then seconds later on a pass from Emily Hardin off a steal on the press.
Brooke Salas gave NM State its largest lead of the night, 69-47, when she pulled down a defensive board and took it coast-to-coast.
ENMU would exchange buckets with the Aggies and slowly chipped away at the lead, but it was too little too late as NM State came away with the 76-61 win.
Jasmine Cooper was effective off the bench for head coach Mark Trakh, recording a career-high six points on 3-of-5 shooting in just eight minutes of action.
Abby Scott (Warm Springs Tribe) and Salas both finished the night with eight points, while Sasha Weber chipped in with seven. Tyler Ellis, who started tonight, tallied six points on seven boards – six of which were on the offensive end – to go with her career-high four assists.
The Aggies now finish out the remaining two weeks of 2015 on the road. NM State will first take on San José State at 8 p.m. (MT) on Thursday before playing the second game of the Rio Grande Rivalry against New Mexico in Albuquerque at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 20.
