LAS CRUCES - Senior forward Anikia Jawara scored 16 points and classmate Sherell Neal pulled down 15 rebounds to the lead the New Mexico State women’s basketball team to a 71-60 victory over San Jose State Saturday, Feb. 2, in the Pan American Center.
NMSU improves to 16-5 on the year and 6-2 in WAC play with the win while the Spartans fall to 2-19 and 1-7.
Neal also scored nine points, had two assists and one blocked shot. She tied Ann McReynolds’ 30 year-old school record for career blocked shots with 120.
Head coach Darin Spence said that even though we are doing a lot better this year, we need to learn to be locked in and focused for 40 minutes.
“San Jose State is an athletic team and they are trying to find their way with a new coach,” Spence said. “They are really quick and created some problems for us tonight. We have to fight through stretches where we loose our focus.”
Freshman guard Madison Spence scored 12 points and distributed two assists, while senior Irma Kmitaite-Smith and sophomore Hannah Spanich evenly combined for 22 points. Senior forward Carla Denning recorded seven rebounds in the win.
The Aggies jumped out to a 9-2 run to begin the second half, with Jawara scoring seven of those points to increase the Aggies lead to 48-29.
At the 12:30 minute mark, the Aggies had increased their lead to 20 points, after a Jawara jumper and two free throws from Kmitaite-Smith, NMSU found itself up, 53-33.
The Spartans would hang strong scoring two layups as they chipped away at the score to make it 58-42 with 11:12 to play.
Kmitaite-Smith knocked down two technical foul free throws after she was fouled by SJSU’s Alisha Hicks, who was then ejected from the game with 9:44 to play.
The Aggies continued to attack the basket and shot a solid 7-of-9 from the free-throw line in the last four minutes of the game. Leading the charge was Spanich shooting a perfect 3-of-3.
The first half started slow as both teams remained scoreless for the first 2:15 of the game until the Spartans went on a 6-0 run. At the 15:40 mark the Aggies finally answered with a 9-2 run of their own, fueled by a Spanich short jumper.
NMSU eventually found its flow and became alive from all points of the floor as both Spence and Bribiescas drained treys and Jawara and Neal cleaned the glass, recording a layup a piece while the score accelerated 24-15.
Kmitaite-Smith continued to be a spark off the Aggie bench, converting a four-point play after being fouled when she made her 3-pointer with 6:44 remaining in the first half.
SJSU continued to chip away at the eight point deficit after a deep three from the top of the key to make it 36-27 with 1:28 remaining.
The Aggies ended the first half with a nice back door cut by Spence, converting two point supplied by a Bribiescas pass to end the half at 39-27.
Leading the Aggies in points at the half was Spence with nine and Neal led the way on the boards pulling down 10.
2,184 fans showed up for tonight’s contest where the Aggies were trying to break the attendance record in the Pan American Center as part of the NCAA’s Pack the House Challenge. NMSU did fall shot of its goal, but the Aggies did have the most fans in attendance for a game this season.
The Aggies are back on the hardwood Thursday, Feb. 7 in Moscow, Idaho, as they go head-to-head with the Vandals.
Courtesy: Lindi S. Wilkinson
