Written by: NMSU Athletic Dept.
BOISE, ID - Senior guard Irma Kmitaite-Smith and sophomore guard Hannah Spanich fueled a 15-point second half comeback for the New Mexico State women's basketball team against Boise State Saturday to send it into overtime, where the Aggies fell 83-82 at the Taco Bell Arena.
The Aggies used a 27-8 run from 9:42 to 3:25 left in the second half to erase the 15-point deficit and it gave NMSU a 69-66 lead. NMSU was down by two with 17 seconds to go when Spanich nailed a three to put the Aggies up by one. Boise State's Tasha Harris drove down and was fouled attempting a layup, but she only made one free throw to send it into overtime.
There the Aggies jumped out to an early five point lead, but the Broncos came back and with eight seconds to go Sierra Moeller made one free throw to give the Broncos the one-point victory.
New Mexico State falls to 17-6 on the year and 7-3 in WAC play. Boise State remains in second place in the conference and improve to 17-6 and 9-2 in the league.
Head coach Darin Spence said that he is very proud of his team to fight hard and comeback to give themselves a chance to win the game.
"We regrouped and pulled back together after halftime and found a way to make plays," Spence said. "Boise State came out very intense in the first half and we had some early lapses, but are girls did everything to give us a chance to win and we just came up short."
Spanich finished with a career-high 19 points to lead the Aggies on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and she was 9-for-10 at the free-throw line. Kmitaite-Smith added 12 points, 10 of which came in the second half when she made two big 3-pointers.
Senior forward Sherell Neal's blocked shot on Boise State's Jenna Galassi in the opening minutes of the game gave her 121 career blocked shots, breaking Ann McReynolds 30-year old school record. She finished with a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds.
NMSU shot only 33.3 percent in the first half and turned the ball over 10 times. In the second half the Aggies shot 60.0 percent and only had seven turnovers in the second and in overtime.
Boise State had six players score in double figures and they made eight 3-pointers. Harris led BSU with 16 points and the Broncos shot 42.6 percent from the floor Saturday.
The Aggies had a tough start as they turned the ball over seven times and allowed three 3-pointers in the first 11 minutes. Boise State used a 16-3 run over five minutes to pull out to a 30-17 lead.
Junior guard Tyshae Walton hit her third jumper of the game at 6:11, ending a four and a half minute stretch where the Aggies did not make a field goal. It also started a quick 6-0 run that cut the Broncos lead down to seven at 4:37.
Boise State then outscored NMSU 6-4 in the final minutes of the half to take a 36-27 lead into the locker room. The Broncos shot 46.9 percent in the half and caused the Aggies to turn the ball over 10 times. BSU's Jamia Malone had 11 points at the half and guard Jenna Galassi added 10.
The Aggies made their first two shots to open up the second half, but Boise State continued to outwork NMSU and after three minutes the Broncos had extended their lead to 15.
After the Broncos initial outburst the Aggies held the Broncos scoreless for nearly three minutes and were able to cut BSU's lead down to 10. However Jackie Lee hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Broncos to extend to 14 at 13:39.
Freshman guards Brittany Palmer and Danisha Corbett entered the game and provided a spark for the Aggies. Palmer hit a short jumper on the fast break and Corbett had two buckets, as New Mexico State used a 11-3 run to get back into the game and cut Boise State's lead down to six with 7:39 to play.
Spanich who made four free throws in the Aggies first real run of the game, made a 3-pointer and then two more free throws after that 11-3 run to make it a 64-60 game.
A Spanich layup and then four-straight points from Kmitaite-Smith completed the Aggies comeback and tied the game up at 66 with 4:03 to play. Then Kmitaite-Smith nailed a three from the left elbow to give the Aggies its first lead since it was 3-0, 46 seconds into the game.
Senior forward Anikia Jawara put the Aggies up three with her baseline jumper at 2:18, but Jessica Thompson answered with an old-fashion three point play to tie the game at 71 with under two minutes to play.
Neal swished 20-foot jumper putting NMSU back up by two, but then Harris made three free throws on two possessions to give the Broncos a one-point lead with a minute to go.
With 18.1 seconds to go the freshman guard Madison Spence grabbed a rebound on the floor, but the Broncos tied her up for the jump ball and they retained possession. NMSU fouled Thompson right away and she made one free throw.
Spanich came down and nailed a three with 10 seconds to go, but Harris drove down and was fouled on a layup with 4.3 seconds left. She only made one free throw and the game was then sent into overtime.
NMSU forced two turnovers on the first three Bronco possessions and senior guard Monique Bribiescas hit a three on the Aggies second possession. Neal then made two free throws to put the Aggies up five with 3:14 to go.
The Aggies were up 82-80 with 1:25 to play when Thompson tied the game with her jumper at the free-throw line. The score remained the same until there was eight seconds left and BSU's Sierra Moeller made one free throw to put the Broncos up one.
After a timeout the Aggies in-bounded the ball and Jawara's jumper fell shot, but the ball went out of bounds off the Broncos with 0.8 seconds left. There Spanich got the ball in the paint, but her jumper came up short and the Aggies fell, 83-82.
New Mexico State now heads back to Las Cruces as they face Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7:05 p.m. in the Pan American Center.
