LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's basketball team battled back from down as many as 15 points but fell 71-63 to New Mexico State University on Saturday at the Pan American Center.
 
Senior Idil Türk led UTRGV (9-10, 3-3 WAC) with 19 points by going 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Redshirt senior Madison Northcutt posted her seventh double-double of the season by scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds and senior Nichele Hymanadded 10 points and five rebounds.
 
New Mexico State (13-6, 5-1 WAC) had three players in double-figures as Gia Pack led all scorers with 22 points. Brooke Salas added a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Dominique Mills also scored 19 points with five rebounds.
 
UTRGV fell behind early in the first quarter as New Mexico State opened the game with a 12-0 before a layup by junior Megan Johnson got UTRGV on the board. Türk made back-to-back three-pointers to close out the first as UTRGV trailed 16-8.
 
Northcutt converted on a couple of free throws to open the second quarter to get UTRGV within 16-10 but New Mexico State answered with a 10-1 run to give them their biggest lead of the first half at 26-11. After a basket by Mills that gave New Mexico State the 32-17 lead with 4:11 left in the half. 
 
UTRGV got a pair of free throws and a three-pointer from Türk and a couple of free throws and a layup from junior Makaela Mosely to get with 32-26. Mills dropped in a layup for the final basket of the half as New Mexico State took the 34-26 lead into halftime.
 
UTRGV made its run in the third quarter. After a basket by Salas, UTRGV went on a 9-3 run that was capped by a couple of free throws from Hyman, which got them within 37-35. That would be as close as UTRGV would get as Salas made a layup to get New Mexico State's lead to 45-39 with 3:15 left in the third.
 
In the fourth, Mosely converted on a three-point play with 8:01 left to play to make it 53-47 but New Mexico State pushed its lead to 65-50 after a three-point play from Pack. UTRGV had one final push as Hyman and Türk combined to go on a 9-0 run to get them within 67-61 but New Mexico State kept them at bay.
 
UTRGV will be back in action on January 31 when it faces Chicago State on the road at 7 p.m. 

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