Aggie women's late surge falls short against host Stephen F. Austin

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – After trailing by 12 entering the fourth quarter, the Aggies battled all the way back to take the lead and nearly pull off the upset bid on Thursday night. However, a late 10-point run from Stephen F. Austin allowed the Ladyjacks to claim a 64-56 victory over NM State.
 
Individually, the Aggies were led by Bigue Sarr who posted 15 points and 13 boards to collect her 11^th double-double on the season. Molly Kaiser also reached double figures as she poured in 14 points on just 10 shots to post at least 10 points for the ninth time this season and fourth time in the last five outings. After posting her highest point total on Saturday, Adrianna Henderson had another effective night as she scored eight points to go along with five assists in her fourth straight start.
 
As a unit, the Aggies shot 44 percent from the field to mark the second-straight tilt in which they shot at least 40 percent. The Aggies also dominated the glass once again as they outrebounded SFA 33-26. NM State also limited the Ladyjacks' bench to just six points while the Aggie bench accounted for 25 points.
 
SFA was led by Stephanie Visscher who scored 19 points after posting just five points when the two teams met in Las Cruces, N.M. A pair of other Ladyjacks also reached double-digits as Zya Nugent record 16 points and Aiyana Johnson posted 11 points despite being held to 25 percent from the field.
 
FIRST QUARTER
· Fama Thiam was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time all season and the Dakar, Senegal, native made an immediate impact as she earned the Aggies' first assist when she found Bigue Sarr down low to get the Aggies on the board.
· After going 10-for-10 from the free-throw line in Saturday's win over Chicago State, Adrianna Henderson carried her hot streak over to the first quarter in Texas – going 4-4 in the opening period.
· A pair of those free throws also came amid a 6-0 run stretching from the 2:21 mark to the 1:08 mark as Henderson also hit a driving layup from the left-hand side and Thiam scored a basket of her own. The final two points in the run came from Henderson at the charity stripe as she gave the Aggies their first lead of the evening at 14-12.
· Visscher would then hit two free throws to even the score with just under a minute to play before Soufia Inoussa came up with a steal in the backcourt and converted a layup to help the Aggies carry a two-point advantage into the second quarter.
 
SECOND QUARTER
· Stephen F. Austin came out swinging to open the second as they rattled off five-straight points before Sarr and Molly Kaiser combined to go on a 7-0 run that would help the Aggies retake the lead with 5:36 to play in the first half.
· The Ladyjack answer came in the form of three-straight triples in less than two minutes from the hands of Stephanie Visscher.
· When the SFA foot appeared to be stepping on the gas the hardest, Fama Thiam silenced the crowd with a shot from downtown to mark her fourth-straight game with at least one triple and cut the lead to just five points with 1:03 remaining.
· The Aggies then got a lift from Sarr who put a layup off the glass and in just before the first-half buzzer sounded – sending the Aggies into the locker room with their chins up and trailing by just one possession at 29-26.
 
THIRD QUARTER
· Stephen F. Austin came out the break and attempted to show why they are undefeated in conference play as they opened the third quarter on an 6-0 run to jump out to a 35-26 lead while allowing zero Aggie points in the first 3:36 of the quarter.
· Molly Kaiser then scored her eighth and ninth points of the evening to end the NM State drought and reduce the lead to seven points.
· The next Aggie points came from Deja Terrell who used a smooth up and under move to score and cut the lead to seven points with 5:49 to play in the third period.
· After a bit of back-and-forth, Soufia Inoussa would hit a three-pointer later in the quarter to cut the lead back to seven once again. However, SFA's Zya Nugent would hit a three of her own to close out the quarter and give the Ladyjacks their largest lead of the night at 50-38 entering the fourth quarter.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
· If you've followed Aggie basketball all year, you would not be surprised to find out that the Aggies made a push in the fourth to turn the night into another tight battle.
· Behind the play of Bigue Sarr, Grace Colavailu and Molly Kaiser, the Aggies would open the final period on a 10-0 run to shrink the lead down to just two points with 6:19 to play. During the stretch, the trio of Aggies went 5-for-5 while the Aggie defense came up with three steals to come surging back.
· SFA finally ended the run as Tasharian Robinson made a layup, however, Sylena Peterson quickly turned the tide back in the Aggies' favor when she drained a triple off a cross-court pass from Adrianna Henderson – putting the Aggies to within one point of the WAC-leading Ladyjacks with under five minutes to play.
· The next Aggie possession also resulted in points and another Henderson assist as she found Sarr in transition and the graduate transfer scored through contact to earn an "and-one" opportunity which she converted to give NM State its first lead since the 5:36 mark in the second quarter.
· After the Aggies went up 54-52 with 4:04 to play, Stephen F. Austin scored the next 10 points to regain control of the bout and eventually earn an eight-point victory. This does mark the first time all season that a WAC opponent has played the Ladyjacks to within single digits as they entered Thursday night with an average scoring margin of plus-21.4 points.
 
UP NEXT
· The Aggies will put a bow on the 2021-22 regular season in Orem, Utah, when they take on Utah Valley on Saturday afternoon.
· Tip between the Aggies and Wolverines is set for noon MT.