NM State Earns First Win in Gulf Coast Tournament over Santa Clara

Harding’s Deep Stroke Secures Win Early for the Aggies

Source: NMSU Athletics
By Louis Bolander
Photo: Courtesy

Fort Myers, FLA – The New Mexico State Women’s Basketball team were scheduled to take on the Santa Clara Broncos today in the consolation semifinals after the loss last night to #4 ranked Texas. The Aggies took the victory with ease as they ended the match 61-49.

After gaining the lead fairly early in the first Quarter, the Broncos fought hard in the 2nd to flip the possession of the score. However, the moment changed in the remainder of the game as NMSU extended their lead.

Leading the Aggies to their overall victory was player Jaila Harding who finished with five FGs from deep with just one of the attempts sunk in the first half (17 pts total). Her three pt percentage was 45% which helped carry the Aggies on top this afternoon. Both Harding and Loes Rozing went perfect from the charity stripe with two made FTs from both of them.

Aggies produced two other players in double figures against the Broncos. The first player was Fanta Gassama (finished with 12 pts), who also picked up 8 boards and a fastbreak steal on her own. The second was Lucía Yenes who came off the court with 13 pts.

Though she was unable to score for the Aggies, Sianny Sanchez-Oliver contributed highly to the team’s success as she led in NMSU assists (7).

From the start, New Mexico State found the flow of their offense with a pair of layups shared from both Gassama and Yenes to take an advantage over Santa Clara.

Even with a 10 pt lead going into the 2nd Quarter, the Aggies allowed the trailing Broncos to earn their way back into the game as they would lose the lead before the buzzer at the half. But even with that, the Aggies came out strong in the 2nd half to give the team a comfortable margin over their opponent.

Up Next:

The Aggies will continue tomorrow in Fort Myers, FLA as they meet Illinois State in the consolation finals at 1:30PM MST in Hertz Arena

For complete coverage of NM State Women’s Basketball, follow us on Twitter (@NMStateWBB), Instagram (@NMStateWBB) and like us on Facebook (NM State Women’s Basketball). You can also follow along with Aggie Women’s Basketball via NMStateSports.com

Article posted by:

Levi Gwaltney

Levi Gwaltney is the Editor In Chief of Las Cruces Digest. The Editor makes editorial and posting decisions regarding content published on this site. In most cases, the Editor makes little if any contribution to content published, and takes no credit for the content of republished posts. If available, the source or author of posts is provided at the top of the article.