Preview: Women's Basketball Heads to New Mexico State

Chicago State women's basketball travels to Las Cruces, New Mexico to face New Mexico State in the Cougars' final road conference matchup of the regular season, on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Here's how to watch, follow and attend.

WHAT'S HAPPENING Chicago State women's basketball faces New Mexico State at 1:00 p.m. Saturday in the teams' second meeting of the 2021-22 season.

ALL-TIME New Mexico State leads all-time, 18-1, but the Cougars earned their first win over the Aggies this season on Jan. 25. Down 16 points with nine minutes left, CSU rallied back to win, 67-64, in a comeback bolstered by Jazmine Covington and Allysah Boothe's outside shooting. The Cougars out scored the Aggies, 24-9, in the fourth quarter of the win.

LAST TIME OUT Chicago State fell to Grand Canyon, 73-55, Thursday evening at the GCU Arena. Three Cougars scored in double figures, including Quentarra Mitchell, with 17 points, Allysah Boothe, with 14, and Janiah Newell, who scored 13. Aaliyah Collins logged seven points with three assists. On the evening, Grand Canyon forced 20 turnovers, taking down the Cougars for the second time this season.

SIZING UP THE AGGIES Coach Brooke Atkinson's Aggies enter on a four-game skid at 9-16, with a 5-10 conference record. In a defensive slugfest, they fell to GCU last Saturday, 46-43. With 12.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, Bigue Sarr, an Oklahoma State transfer, guides the NM State attack.

CLIMBING THE RANKS As just a freshman, former Washington State Player of the Year Aaliyah Collins has taken the conference — and nation — by storm. She leads the Cougars (and ranks seventh in the WAC) with 14.3 points per game, and her 2.5 steals per game rank fourth in the league, an average that ranks 19th in NCAA Division I. On Tuesday, Jan. 18, Collins earned the first USBWA Freshman of the Week honor for a WAC student-athlete and the first for a mid-major player since Nov. 2019. Collins has also been named WAC Freshman of the Week five times this season, the most ever for a Chicago State basketball player, men's or women's.

About Chicago State

Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title and made an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).  The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet. 

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