Box Score

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The New Mexico State women's basketball team took its record to 3-2 after defeating Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 73-64 in the first day of play of the Hotel Encanto Thanksgiving Classic, Friday, Nov. 27.

NM State was led by junior guard Madison Spence as she scored 16 points going 5-for-8 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free throw line.  She was one of four players to score double-digit figures as Kaitlyn Soto, Tabytha Wampler and Jasmine Lowe all scored 13 points.

Spence scored 12 of her 16 points in the first half as the Aggies went into the locker room with a 39-24 lead.  NM State took the 15 point lead by shooting 52 percent from the field, while holding its opponent to 33 percent from the field.

The Aggies went on a 15-0 run that was topped off with a pair of Tabytha Wampler free throws to go up by 20 with 8:02 left in the half.  The Aggies took a 37-21 advantage when Cindy Ekweozor hit a jumper scoring two of her four points.

SIU-Edawardsville kept chipping away at the Aggie lead and eventually pulled to within eight at the 8:02 mark in the second half.  Soto gave the Aggies another double-digit lead with 4:32 on the clock when she tossed in a nice floater from about five feet away from the basket.

"We are a still a young team and we are learning how to finish games," head coach Darin Spence said.  "We got the win and we came out learning some things about ourselves, so overall it was a good night."

The Cougars pulled to within eight again with 1:36 left in the game when their guard took the ball down the lane for an easy lay-up, but that was immediately answered when Aggie sharpshooter Danisha Corbett fired a three to put NM State up 67-58 with 1:10 left in the competition.

After another layup by the Cougars with 37 seconds on the clock, the game turned into a strategic finish as NM State shot six free throws making only four of them to end the game 73-64.

NM State faces Michigan, who defeated Stephen F. Austin 85-61 in the first game of the tournament, Saturday, Nov. 28 in the Pan American Center.  Tip-off is scheduled for a 7 p.m. (MT) and will be aired on the radio at KSNM AM 570.