LAS CRUCES- For a half, it appeared that New Mexico State was sleep walking through their Saturday matinee matchup against Western Athletic Conference foe Cal State Bakersfield.
The Aggies lacked energy and looked extremely sluggish offensively in the first 20 minutes, tallying up 12 turnovers and shooting a lowly 36.4 percent from the floor. But a dominant effort defensively in the second half helped NMSU overcome the seven-point halftime deficit to beat the Roadrunners 56-48 in the Pan American Center.
The Aggies (9-8, 3-0 WAC) put the clamps down on a ‘Runner offense that leaned on the size of forwards Vanessa Austin and Jazmyne Barbee to accrue an 18-4 advantage in points in the paint in the first half. The ‘Runners were in the lead for the first three quarters with their biggest lead being 11 in the second quarter.
NMSU held CSUB (8-9, 2-1 WAC) to a dismal 6 of 35 showing from the field in the second half, only surrendering 16 total points after the halftime break.
“We had to guard the basketball better, but part of our plan too was to allow them (CSU Bakersfield) to get the ball into their bigs,” NMSU coach Brooke Atkinson said. “One of them was only averaging six points and the other one three, so in that sense, I’m OK with getting the ball out of those other good players’ hands.”
Junior forward Brooke Salas led the Aggies with 18 points on the day, including a pull-up jumper that gave NMSU their biggest lead of the game at seven with 6:34 left in the game. The ‘Runners responded with an 8-0 run that was culminated with an Aja Williams lay-up to push CSUB back into the lead at 48-47, but that would be the last time they would score, going the final 3:58 scoreless while NMSU scored the game’s final nine points.
“We are just continuing to trust the process whether it goes good or bad – just staying the course and I think this team a month ago after those first five minutes (of the game) would’ve struggled,” Atkinson said. “Our leadership has been really good and our buy in on that defensive end is just making a big difference.”
Tonishia Childress was the only other Aggies player to finish in double-digits, scoring 11, but Jasmine Cooper’s nine and Monique Mills’ eight points gave NMSU just enough offense to complete the comeback.
The team was afforded the luxury of playing their first three conference games within the friendly confines of the Pan American Center, but now the Aggies will head out on the road, beginning their trek in the Pacific Northwest against Seattle on Thursday. Atkinson was happy that NMSU was able to jump out to a 3-0 conference start but knows that putting together a complete 40 minutes of basketball will be key going forward.
“The first three (conference games), each was different and each challenge gets harder," Atkinson said. "Now, going on the road, we can’t half 21 turnovers and we can’t give up 21 offensive rebounds, so there are a few things we need to tighten up.
“It’s going to take toughness but I think these three at home were crucial for us to fix some things and continue to get better.”