SAN LOUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The New Mexico State women's basketball team scored more points against Cal Poly than it did all of last season, but dropped a hard fought game 90-86 in San Louis Obispo, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 15.
Five players posted double-digit figures in Mott Gym with junior Madison Spence (Las Cruces, N.M.) leading the way dropping 19 on the Mustangs. Junior Danisha Corbett (San Diego, Calif.) scored 16 points hitting four three pointers, while she was also the teams high-rebounder with nine.
Both teams made 17 free throws while NM State shot 26 and Cal Poly went to the line 31 times. Each team also put in seven shots from beyond the arc but Cal Poly made just two more field goals. The Aggies did have a better field goal percentage at 47 percent while Cal Poly wasn't too far behind going 45 percent from the field.
"We learned a lot about ourselves in this game," head coach Darrin Spence said. "We just need to continue to work on some things and execute a little better. I was proud with our play this weekend."
Although senior transfer Crystal Boyd (Little Rock, Ark.) was one of three players to foul out, she gave a valiant effort scoring 16 points while grabbing three offensive boards and four defensive boards. Guard Kaitlyn Soto (Santa Ana, Calif.) posted 14 points going 4-of-5 from the field while hitting 5-of-8 shots from the free throw stripe. Junior guard Jasmine Lowe (San Francisco, Calif.) was the fifth player to score at least 10 points while she made five free throws.
"They blew the whistle a lot on both teams," coach Spence said.
The Aggies had 23 turnovers in the game but scored 26 points off 15 Cal Poly turnovers. The Mustangs made NM State work inside the key scoring 32 points in the paint.
NM State stayed in the game early on in a game that saw 12 ties. Cal Poly pulled away after a Mustang three to go up 16-10 with 13:17 left in the first half. The Aggies fell behind by eight with 7:13 on the clock but tied it up at 30 all on a Madison Spence three at the 3:24 mark. That was followed by a Corbett trey giving NM State its first lead of the game. After two free throws by Spence with six seconds left in the first half, NM State went into the locker room with a 41-38 lead.
The Mustangs came out in the second half scoring the first five points before Boyd tied the game up for the Aggies at 45 all. Cal Poly went on 9-1 run to take an eight point lead with 14:50 left in the game.
NM State went on a 10-2 run of its own that was topped off by a Boyd jumper, which tied the game at 56. The Aggie took a six point lead with 9:35 on the clock. Cal Poly then had a 10-2 scoring rally to go ahead 70-68. The Aggies tied it up two more times but would not regain the lead to fall to 1-1 on the season.
The Aggies look forward to hosting Long Beach State Nov. 20 in Pan American Center. For more information on the 2009-10 NM State women's basketball team go to www.NMStateSports.com.
Courtesy: Tim Barnett-Queen
