LAS CRUCES, N.M.--Despite senior Sam Loggins' second consecutive double-double, the Utah Valley University women's basketball team fell to WAC favorite New Mexico State 73-68 in the conference play opener.
 
Loggins scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on the night, while teammate Deijah Blanks paced the Wolverines with 17 points and eight rebounds. Mariah Seals was the third Wolverine to score in double digits with 11 points. Behind Loggins' 11 rebounds, Rebecca MaWhinney pulled down nine boards. Taylor Gordon had eight points and five rebounds on the night, including a career high two three-pointers made in a contest. Quynne Huggins and MaWhinney each had five points, while Karlee Norris and Patrice Toston each had three points.
 
"I think we were great on the boards, we outrebounded them by 11, which is a great effort from us," head coach Cathy Nixon said. "I also think we were great defensively, we let Mack get a little crazy on us, but I liked our balance. The third quarter hurt us a lot. We missed some good looks in that quarter, particularly lay-ups, but sometimes the shots just don't fall. I thought Deijah had a great game tonight with 17 points, eight rebounds and no turnovers. Sam Loggins was great and earned some confidence and she had another double-double and I just want to see more of that from Sam." 

Utah Valley and NM State went back and forth in the first quarter and a Mack three-pointer propelled the Aggies to a 16-12 advantage, but Mariah Seals hit a three-pointer with one second remaining to close the period at 16-15.
 
With just under two minutes before the break, Deijah Blanks ran off jumpers on back-to-back possessions, broken up by an NMSU jumper. Blanks responded with a three-pointer to pull within one at 33-32. Sasha Weber hit a jumper just before the break to keep the Aggie lead at 35-32.
 
A low scoring nine-point Wolverine third period enabled the Aggies into a 50-41 lead going into the fourth quarter.
 
Midway through the fourth quarter, NMSU's Moriah Mack hit a trey to kick off a string of three three-pointers on back-to-back possessions and lead 62-49. Freshman Quynne Huggins responded with a three of her own, and Blanks hit a jumper and a three to break up the Aggies' three's and get within eight at 65-57. 
 
With just under one minute remaining, six Aggie free throws furthered the lead to nine at 63-72. A three-point play by senior Sam Loggins pulled Utah Valley within six at 72-66 with eight seconds remaining, but another Aggie free throw and a last-second layup by Loggins sealed the 73-68 defeat.
 
Utah Valley will continue their road trip in Edinburg, Texas to face the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT.