CHICAGO — The Chicago State women's basketball team (0-13, 0-10 WAC) dropped a 71-47 contest to the New Mexico State Aggies (8-11, 6-6 WAC) Saturday afternoon at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago. The game served as the final regular season game for both teams before the Western Athletic Conference Tournament set to begin next Wednesday. Senior
Leilani Moncrease was honored before the game for her senior recognition then scored five of the first seven Cougars points.
The Aggies jumped out in front early with a bucket and a pair of free throws before Moncrease got the Cougars on the board, hitting a jumper to cut the lead in half, 4-2. Following a Moncrease free throw,
Christina Britter made a layup and the New Mexico State lead was just one, 6-5. NMSU extended the lead to four before a Britter free throw and a layup by
Precious Adediran again cut the lead to a single point, 11-10. CSU failed to score over the final 2:17 of the quarter, and the Aggies took advantage, ending the first quarter with an 8-0 run and a 19-10 lead.
The Aggies converted a pair of free throws to begin the scoring in the second quarter to extend their lead to 11, 21-10. CSU countered with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes on buckets by Britter and
Nadia Thorman-McKey, who scored seven of those nine, and the deficit was back to just two, 21-19. The teams exchanged baskets the rest of the way with the Cougars pulling to within two on two occasions following a pair of Britter hoops, but the Aggies scored five of the final seven points and led, 30-25, at the half.
New Mexico State increased the lead to 10 with a 5-0 run to start the third, and the Cougars would not get closer than eight for the remainder of the game. Thorman-McKey scored four in the quarter, Britter three and
Ana Haklicka registered her first points, but the Aggies closed the quarter with a 15-4 run and ballooned their lead to the largest of the game.
For the second game in a row, Britter led all players with 16 points and added five rebounds, which tied for the team lead. Thorman-McKey added 11 and Moncrease, playing in her last home game as a Cougar, added seven.
Today's game was the final regular season contest for the Cougars who now set sail to compete in the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas, March 10-13. Chicago State is the No. 7 seed and will face the No. 2 seed, Utah Valley. The two teams played on February 5 and 6 in Orem, Utah, with the Wolverines pulling out tight contests, winning 61-53 and 56-46, respectively.
Next:
- Who? WAC Tournament vs. Utah Valley
- Where? Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, NV
- When? Wednesday, March 10, 2021, 6:30 p.m. CDT
