OREM, Utah—The Utah Valley University women's basketball team fell short in an upset bid of unbeaten, WAC-leading New Mexico State on Saturday, falling 59-53.
 
The Wolverines led 47-38 after three quarters, but the Aggies turned up defensive pressure and ran for eight unanswered points to steal the victory.
 
"The girls put themselves in a great position to defeat the conference leader tonight, but with a disappointing outcome. We lost our composure and handed them the game with 28 points off of turnovers, all we can do is learn from it and move on," head coach Cathy Nixon said.
 
Sam Loggins paced the Wolverines with 20 points, six rebounds, six blocks and one steal. Rebecca MaWhinney also had eight points and seven rebounds, and Mariah Seals had seven points, two assists and two steals.
 
NM State led 14-13 going into the second quarter, and Mariah Seals laid it in for the first Utah Valley lead of the game. NMSU's Abby Scott sank a three-pointer before Taylor Gordon tied things up with a jumper at 17-17. The Wolverines led by as many as five at 25-20, with just under four minutes before the break, but an 8-2 run gave NM State a 28-27 advantage going into the third quarter.
 
Utah Valley regained the lead when Seals opened the third quarter on a three, but NM State responded with a free throw and a trey from Brooke Salas to take an Aggie lead. Toston tied things up at 32-32 with a layup, and kicked off a 12-2 run and Utah Valley led 42-34 with 2:15 to play in the third period. NM State's Tyler Ellis cut into the deficit with a layup and a jumper, but was broken up by a Blanks jumper. Rebecca MaWhinney sank a last-minute three-pointer for a 47-38 lead going into the fourth quarter.
 
NM State cut the deficit with an 8-0 run to open the fourth quarter to get within one at 47-46. After nearly three scoreless minutes, Blanks stole the ball and hit a fast-break layup and a pair of free throws from Loggins extended the lead to five.
 
NM State responded with seven straight points, including a big three, from Mack gave the Aggies a 53-51 lead with 1:08 left to play. Freeman knocked down two shots from the charity stripe and the Wolverines found themselves stranded, down four at 55-51 with thirty seconds to play, and could not recover.
 
Utah Valley will remain home to host CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 13 at 3 p.m. in the PE Building.