Aggies’ offense stalls late in loss to Lopes
Iowa State snaps No. 6 Baylor’s 61-game home winning streak
PHOENIX — New Mexico State dropped a 61-52 decision to Grand Canyon at GCU Arena on Saturday night for a split of their two-game series.
On Friday night, also at Grand Canyon, the Aggies (3-6, 1-1 WAC) prevailed 61-53 in OT. Grand Canyon is 9-2, 1-1.
NMSU’s Rodrea Echols scored a career-high 21 points in Saturday’s loss.
The Aggies held the Lopes to well below their season-scoring average (85.0 ppg) for the second game in a row. NM State led for most of the way, taking leads of 26-21 into intermission and 41-40 into the fourth quarter.
However, the Aggie offense sputtered down the stretch, scoring just 11 points in the fourth and Grand Canyon pulled away.
The Aggies are scheduled to return to action against Rio Grande Valley on Jan. 22 and 23 in Edinburg, Texas.
Among Saturday’s other games:
IOWA STATE 75, No. 6 BAYLOR 71: In Waco, Texas, Ashley Joens scored 14 of her 27 points in the fourth quarter as Iowa State beat Baylor, ending the Lady Bears’ 61-game home-court winning streak.
Baylor (8-2, 3-1 Big 12) played for the first time in two weeks because of a pause in the program after coach Kim Mulkey tested positive for COVID-19. The Lady Bears overcame an early 13-point deficit, but couldn’t avoid a second consecutive streak snapping loss to the Cyclones.
Iowa State’s 57-56 home win in the final game last season, when Joens made a free throw with 0.1 seconds left, ended the Lady Bears’ 58-game conference winning streak.
Lexi Donarski finished with 17 points for the Cyclones (9-4, 5-1) and Emily Ryan had 15.
The Lady Bears hadn’t lost at home since Feb. 6, 2017, against Texas. Their home winning streak was the 10th longest in NCAA history.
NEBRASKA 63, No. 15 OHIO STATE 55: In Lincoln, Neb., Kate Cain brushed up against a rare tripledouble and short-handed Nebraska bumped off Ohio State, halting the Buckeyes’ seven-game win streak and dropping them from the undefeated ranks.
Cain scored 22 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked nine shots to lead Nebraska (7-4, 5-3 Big Ten) to its third win over a ranked opponent in its last five games. The Huskers, with second-leading scorer Isabelle Bourne out with an ankle injury, were down to seven players. Six scored Saturday.
Ohio State (7-1, 3-1) was just 22 of 81 shooting on Saturday (27%).
No. 19 DEPAUL 78, GEORGETOWN 54: In Washington, Sonya Morris scored 18 of her 26 points in the first half as DePaul (8-3, 5-1 Big East) beat Georgetown.
Kelsey Ransom led the Hoyas (1-3, 1-3) with 13 points.
No. 20 GONZAGA 76, SAN FRANCISCO 52: In San Francisco, Kayleigh Truong scored 17 points and Gonzaga rolled to its 11th straight win over San Francisco.
Yvonne Ejim added a career-high 10 points for the Bulldogs (12-2, 7-0 WCC), USF is 5-8, 1-6.