EL PASO – Tarleton came up short in its bid to secure its second straight WAC weekend sweep and fifth consecutive win on Saturday, falling to New Mexico State 67-43 at Eastwood High School. 

The Texans split the weekend twin bill with Aggies, having defeated the hosts 62-53 on Friday, and are now 8-13 overall and 3-7 in conference play. 

Kandyn Faurie scored in double figures for the second time this season with a team-high 11 points on 5-11 shooting. Fellow guard Iyana Dorsey and Marissa Escamilla added 10 points apiece while Escamilla, 5-9, led all players with eight rebounds. 

Ultimately though, Tarleton never threatened the Aggies throughout the afternoon. New Mexico State (6-11, 4-6 WAC) opened the game with an 18-4 scoring run and led 21-9 after the first quarter. The Aggies lead then swelled to 21 points at 31-10 less than three minutes into the second quarter.  

The Aggies' hot start was a far cry from Friday's result. Tarleton held New Mexico State to a season-worst 25 percent (18-72) shooting clip one day prior. The Aggies shot 46 percent from the field and went 12-13 at the line for the game. 

New Mexico State took advantage of early Tarleton foul trouble. Starters Kaitlyn Guillory and Lucy Benson each picked up two fouls less than seven minutes into the affair and the Aggies pounded the rock inside against Tarleton's zone defense. New Mexico State went 7-7 at the foul line and had three buckets inside the paint to build its early edge on the scoreboard. 

Tarleton attempted to trim the deficit to single digits midway through the second quarter. Consecutive 3-pointers from Dorsey followed by a coast-to-coast layup by Hailey Ibarra off a steal fueled an 8-0 run that brought the score to 31-18 near the midway point of the frame and prompted Aggies head coach Booke Atkinson to burn a timeout. Dorsey has now posted double-digit scoring figures in 18 of Tarleton's 21 ballgames. 

The Texans then extended their scoring run to 15-6 behind a finish on the low block by Escamilla, a 3-pointer on the left baseline by Jayci Morton and midrange jumper from Faurie to get within 12 points at 37-25 with 2:13 to go.  

New Mexico State had an answer at the offensive end whenever Tarleton attempted to get within single digits. The Aggies closed the half on a 9-3 scoring spurt of their own on the strength of a 3-point shot and trio of layups to lead 44-26 at the intermission. Tarleton began the third quarter with five straight points before New Mexico State countered with three consecutive buckets. 

The two teams were nearly even on the scoreboard in the third quarter before New Mexico State scored seven of the contest's final nine points to seal the final margin of victory.  

Tarleton finished with 21 turnovers and struggled with the Aggies' full-court press throughout the afternoon. The Texans also got to the foul line just six times one day after knocking down 36-46 attempts at the charity stripe in a game the Aggies set the WAC single-game record for most fouls (38). 

Escamilla punctuated her near-double-double with two blocks. The junior swatted four shots for the weekend and continues to lead Tarleton in scoring (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (7 rpg). Faurie's 11-point effort marked the second time in four games the Liberty Hill, Texas native has eclipsed the 10-point threshold. 

Tarleton now returns to Stephenville for four home games in a five-day window to conclude its first of four transition seasons to Division I basketball. The Texans host Utah Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday before facing UTRGV on March 5-6 in Wisdom Gym.  

Tuesday's game against the Wolverines is Tarleton's first conference home game since a Jan. 16 loss to conference-leader California Baptist. Both games vs. UVU tip off at 6 p.m. while Tarleton's contests opposite the Vaqueros are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.