NMSU women to face Lamar in opening round of WAC tournament

WAC Tournament - First Round
No. 10 NM State (10-18, 6-12 WAC) vs. No. 7 Lamar (13-14, 8-10 WAC)
Tuesday, March 8 | 2:30 p.m. MT | Michelob ULTRA Arena (12,000) | Las Vegas, Nev.
Game will be streamed on ESPN+.

Opening Tip
• NM State now gets ready to take to Las Vegas for the 2022 WAC Tournament where have been crowned tournament champions four times since 2015.
• Despite their recent success, this year's tournament will be the steepest climb as they will need to win five games in five days beginning with Tuesday's contest versus No. 7 Lamar.
• The Aggies most recently earned the title of WAC Tournament Champions in 2019 when they defeated UT Rio Grande Valley, 76-73, in double overtime.
• Although, the Cardinals enter Tuesday with the higher seed, the Aggies might be considered the favorites as they knocked off Lamar, 57-53, on Jan. 10 when it visited the Pan American Center.
• Lamar will likely have a sense of needing to prove something in Las Vegas as they are immediately coming off their worst loss of the WAC season, falling 101-76 to California Baptist on Saturday, March 5.
• The first time these two programs met was indicitave of how the season would turn out for the Aggies as narrow results have been the theme this season with 10 contests in the 2021-22 season being decided by four or less points. This marks the most for any Aggie team since the 2011-12 team that also had 10 decisions within four points.
• This will be the ninth WAC Tournament contest in which Brooke Atkinson will be at the helm as the Aggies' bench boss has led them to two one WAC Tournament title (2019) and two WAC Tournament Championship games (2017, 2019).
 
The Nitty Gritty
• Head Coach Brooke Atkinson leads one of the WAC's top rebounding teams as the Aggies rank second in the conference in rebounding margin, out-rebounding opponents by 4.8 boards per game. That mark is also good for the 65th-best in the nation.
• The Aggies also rank second in rebound margin in league contests as, on average, they collect 5.3 more rebounds than their opponents in WAC games. In WAC play, the Aggies are second in offensive rebounds per game (14.1) and fourth in total rebounds per game (37.7).
• The Aggies also rank in the top five among WAC teams in free throws made per game (5th, 12.0) and turnovers forced per game (4th, 17.21).
• A point of emphasis for the Aggies will be limiting three-point efficiency as the Cardinals rank first in the WAC in three-point percentage - knocking down triples at a 35.8 percent clip. Meanwhile the Aggies rank 11th in the conference in opponent three-point percentage as teams have combined to shoot 32.2 percent from deep against NM State.
• Individually, NM State is led in scoring by graduate transfer Bigue Sarr who ranks 17th in the WAC in points per game (12.7) and tied for second in rebounds per game (8.6). Sarr also posts a field goal percentage of 52.5 percent to rank seventh in the league. Sarr's ability to create second-chance opportunities for the Aggies is also among the league's best as she ranks tied for second in the WAC in offensive rebounds per game, pulling down 3.3 per contest.
• The Dakar, Senegal, native's nack to score and clean the glass has also helped her record 11 double-doubles on the season to rank second in the WAC and make her one of only three Aggies in at least the last 10 seasons to post 10 or more double-doubles in one season.
• The Aggies bench production has also been a strength all season and that charge is led by a pair of sophomores in Molly Kaiser and Taylor Donaldson. The duo ranks second and third on the Aggies in points per game and are two of only five players in the WAC to rank inside the top 45 in scoring and post less than 20 minutes of action per game.
• Depth will be an area in which the Aggies will have the advantage on Saturday as four of Lamar's top five scorers appear in the starting lineup on a regular basis. The Aggies also bring in 11 players that average at least 10 minutes per game while Lamar has eight players that average double-digit minutes this season.
 
Scouting the Cardinals
• Lamar will enter Tuesday's matchup as winners of two of their last three, however, are coming off a game in which they fell by 25 points to California Baptist. Lamar suffered only one loss with a greater margin all season long - falling to Ole Miss, 71-37, on Nov. 16.
• The Cardinals are led by WAC Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-WAC member, Akasha Davis, who leads their program in points per game - scoring 12.7 points per contest. Davis also lead the Cardinals in rebounds per game as she averages 6.5 boards per game.
• Sabria Dean will also be a heavy hitter for Lamar as she averages just a hair behind Davis - posting 12.2 points per game.
• Unlike their run-ins with some of the other WAC schools, the Aggies have only clashed with Lamar once and that came in their WAC opener. In their previous matchup, the Aggies prevailed, 57-53, as they were led by point guard Mel Isbell who went three-for-four from beyond the arc on her way to finishing with 13 points, three steals and three assists.
• Bigue Sarr also reached double figures in the initial meeting as she posted 10 points and eight rebounds.
• As a team, the Aggies dominated the glass in round one versus Lamar as they outrebounded the Cardinals 38-26.
• The first game was also very much a game of runs as the Aggies' largest lead was eight points while Lamar held a 10-point advantage late in the first half.
• Head Coach Aqua Franklin is in her third year with the Cardinals and has generated a record of 33-47 to this point in her career at the helm in Beaumont, Texas.
 
Last Time Out | NM State 51, at Utah Valley 60 | Saturday, March 5, 2022
• NM State dueled Utah Valley to a much closer result the second time around, however, the Aggies dropped their final regular-season contest, 51-60, to the Wolverines.
• The Crimson and White were once again led by the bench scoring of Molly Kaiser as the sophomore scored 12 points on seven shots.
• Kaiser was the only Aggie to reach double figures, but Bigue Sarr was the second-leading scorer with nine points to go along with five boards.
• Deja Terrell was also effective off the bench – scoring nine points and pulling down five rebounds.
• Even with the Wolverines' dominant post player Josie Williams scoring 17 points, the Aggies still held the advantage in paint scoring as they posted 26 points in the paint compared to UVU's 22.
• Williams' 17 was good for a game-high while a trio of other Wolverines also scored at least 10 points as Madison Grange score 14 points, Eleyana Tafisi posted 12 and Abby Conlee scored 10 off the bench.
• Meanwhile, Williams collected her 22nd double-double on the season as she yanked down 11 missed shots.
 
Up Next
• With a victory on Tuesday afternoon, the Aggies would then find themselves across from sixth-seeded Sam Houston on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. MT in the Orleans Arena.