In the second home game of the season, the New Mexico State women’s basketball team shined after defeating the Portland State Vikings 57-38 with an impactful 17 points coming from senior guard Molly Kaiser.
Going into the first quarter, both sides saw a fair share of scoring opportunities, but missed almost every single attempt. As soon as the ball was passed to Kaiser, she was able to put NMSU on a run after scoring the Aggies’ first seven points of the game with two jumpers and a three-point shot. After being down by four, Kaiser was able to lift her team to take the lead.
Although the plan for PSU was to defend Kaiser’s early dominant performance, the Vikings failed to capitalize on rebounds unlike NMSU junior guard Sabou Gueye who had four rebounds. By the end of the first quarter, the tone was set and NMSU’s defense prevented the Vikings from scoring to keep PSU at six points.
To start the second quarter, NMSU was on a solid scoring run to extend the lead, but PSU’s Esmeralda Morales said otherwise. Morales pushed herself in the second quarter to narrow PSU’s deficit with multiple assists along with a few jump shots of her own. With nearly two minutes remaining in the game, PSU’s Mia Uhila found Morales again as she took the ball to the net to tie the game at 21 apiece. As minutes remained, the game appeared to take a different tone after NMSU sunk into a four-minute scoring drought, but junior Jaila Harding found the open shot for three to put NMSU back on top. With a minute left in the half, NMSU capitalized on a rebound and turnover to pull a 28-21 lead heading into half time.
NMSU maintained the upper hand heading into the third quarter with outstanding scoring but desperately needed to clamp down on defense after Morales’s play in the first half. After a foul from junior guard Loes Rozing, Morales reclaimed the ball and drained it. Nearly halfway through the quarter, Molly Kaiser woke up the crowd after stealing the ball off Mia Uhila to put it up in the paint for a layup. After a Morales missed shot, Kaiser again dribbled the ball down court for an easy layup along with another steal for the next NMSU possession to extend the lead by 14. At the end of the third, NMSU rose to 41-28 with Kaiser alone putting up eight points.
In the final quarter of play, NMSU remained strong after two quick scores from juniors Tylie Jones and Sabou Gueye. Trying to climb the ladder on the scoreboard, Morales added an additional eight points, but it proved to be insufficient as NMSU scored on multiple following shot attempts and turnovers. By the end of the game, NMSU emerged victorious with a final score of 57-38. Despite the loss, PSU’s Morales ended her night with 19 points and two rebounds. As for Molly Kaiser, she finished the game with 17 points, four rebounds, and three steals.
Now that the game against PSU is in the books, NMSU now prepares for the Long Island University Classic in Brooklyn, New York. On Friday, Nov. 24, the Aggies will face Hampton University for a 12 p.m. matchup followed by CSU Bakersfield at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The Aggies will remain on the road and travel to Albuquerque to face I-25 rival, the University of New Mexico on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 1 p.m. Coverage will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
