LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — It was one of those days where players had trouble figuring out which way was up.
Or which basket was theirs.
Players from New Mexico State and Northwestern State each sank layups on the wrong end of the floor Friday — a pair of point-blank blunders in women's basketball that put their teams on the highlight reels for all the wrong reasons.
One came with New Mexico State trailing by a point with 20 seconds to go against Southern Utah. Emma Christiano of the Aggies stole an inbounds pass and coasted in for the easy score.
“Aggies lead!” the play-by-play announcer screamed after Christiano's layup went through.
Well, no.
Southern Utah led by three.
The good news: NM State's Stacy Chovino scored the game's final two baskets, including a layup into the correct basket with 2 seconds to go, to help the Aggies pull out a 64-63 win.
Another sigh of relief for Christiano: On this mixed-up day, she was not alone.
About an hour earlier, Northwestern State was trying to break the press in the first quarter of its game against Arkansas, when Karma Wynn took a bounce pass from a teammate under her own basket.
She was wide open. For good reason.
Wynn's layup into the wrong hoop put the Lady Demons behind by six in what turned out to be an 89-59 loss.
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FILE - The basketball court of the Pan American Center at New Mexico State University is seen Feb. 15, 2023, in Las Cruces, N.M. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton, File)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — With more than 95% of the votes counted, New Zealand's election produced no definitive victory for the right or the left on Saturday but the incumbent conservative government hovered on the brink of a wafer-thin majority that could allow it to eke out a precarious return to power.
Christopher Luxon’s National party and its minor party coalition partners, libertarian ACT and populist NZ First, were getting close to the slimmest possible return — by just one seat. It suggested that securing a second term could take lengthy negotiations and would rely on votes counted after election day, which have historically skewed left.
The leftwing bloc, led by the Labour party and Chris Hipkins, appeared to have fallen short of a majority. However, as New Zealand’s Electoral Commission unveiled the counts, it became clear the night would end without certainty about who would form the next government, a process likely to take weeks.
Luxon did not claim victory in a speech to supporters at National's headquarters in Auckland after midnight.
“National is once again the largest party in Parliament and we have a pathway to forming the next government,” Luxon said. “But I have to tell you right now it is too close to call.”
Earlier, at the Labour headquarters in Upper Hutt, outside of Wellington, a smiling Hipkins did not concede defeat.
“Tonight, New Zealand has spoken,” Hipkins told supporters. “It may take us a little bit longer to figure out exactly what it is that you’ve said.”
Still, the unclear outcome was punishing for both National and Labour, the major political parties that have long dominated New Zealand politics. Both got under 30% of the vote, underscoring opinion polls before election day that showed little public enthusiasm for either party.
Voters instead bolstered power for minor parties on the ideological flanks and propelled to office a centrist political newcomer, Qiulae Wong of the Opportunity party, who has pledged a non-partisan and pragmatic agenda that draws from socially liberal, technocratic and pro-environment ideals.
It was too soon to know whether the support of 38-year-old Wong, whose party appeared set to enter Parliament for the first time, would be required for any leader seeking to form a governing majority.
New Zealanders don’t elect prime ministers. Instead they cast two votes, one for their preferred party and one to select a local representative.
Parties must either win a constituency seat, or win 5% of the preferred party vote, to enter Parliament. New entrant parties are rare and Opportunity, on current results, would be the first in more than a decade.
The magnitude of Wong’s success was still undecided, with the count Saturday showing Opportunity had just crossed the 5% threshold, allowing the party seven seats.
Wong has said that if she held the tiebreaker power, she was open to negotiating with either a conservative or a leftwing government and would deal first with whichever major party won the most votes.
The rightwing bloc might not need her, and Luxon has ruled out governing with Opportunity. Analysts say, however, that both major party leaders would likely answer the phone if Wong held the only path to power.
To govern, a coalition of parties must hold more than half of parliament’s seats. The total number of seats is determined by official calculations on election night based on quirks of the country’s vote.
Saturday figures showed there could be a 130-seat Parliament, with 66 seats needed for a majority. However, parties negotiating shared governing arrangements would prefer a more comfortable margin. Results suggested a coalition of National, ACT and NZ First would hold 67 seats, a number that fluctuated as the night continued.
The 67 included 42 for National, 13 for ACT and 12 for NZ First — a drop for National and a gain for the two minor parties. The result will likely cause headaches for Luxon, whose detractors criticized his political inexperience during his tenure in a power-sharing deal with two veteran and canny politicians, David Seymour of ACT and Winston Peters of NZ First.
Both will want greater influence in any coalition on Saturday's results, and Luxon's woes won't end there.
Lawmakers from the conservative parties who spoke to news outlets Saturday night avoided declaring victory. So-called special votes cast by New Zealanders who live abroad or are travelling on election day are counted later, and historically favor the left.
In the past four elections, National lost one or two seats when the special votes were counted, while leftwing parties won between one and three additional seats.
Saturday's emerging results also suggested a shocking exit from parliament for a few of National's most senior figures, including the incumbent government's Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee, Defense and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, and Attorney-General and Transport Minister Chris Bishop.
Meanwhile, the left bloc, led by Hipkins and Labour, held a combined 56 seats, though numbers there also fluctuated. The environmentally-focused Greens were celebrating a best-ever result of an apparent 16 seats in Parliament, with Labour sitting on 35 and Te Pāti Māori, an Indigenous rights group, securing five.
The disparity between Labour's 35 seats and National's 42 — despite winning similar percentages of the vote — stems from how seat allocations are calculated in New Zealand's electoral system.
Hipkins was seeking a second chance at power after a resounding defeat three years ago, but he hadn't benefited much from Luxon's slumping popularity in pre-election opinion polling.
The results showed minor parties on both the left and right winning more seats than at the 2023 election, which propelled Luxon to power.
Analysts had suggested that economic woes, including inflation, living costs and unemployment — and apathy about the premierships of either Luxon or Hipkins — would see minor parties grow in popularity, granting them greater bargaining power in forming a governing coalition and forcing the major parties to enact more of their agendas.
Voting began on Oct. 26 and ended on Saturday, with nearly 3.8 million people eligible to participate. New Zealand is a South Pacific nation that's home to 5.6 million people.
Results from 95% of ballots cast are expected by the end of Saturday night. A final, verified tally is due on Nov. 27, including the special votes.
After the final count, coalition negotiations between presumptive governing parties often take weeks, even when their majority is clear.
New Zealand Finance Minister, Nicola Willis speaks to the media in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov.7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Robertson) Corrects to remove the Deputy Prime Minister title.
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins addresses party faithful in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Tantrum)
New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Nicola Willis speaks to the media in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov.7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Robertson)
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins arrives at party event in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Tantrum)
The Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong poses for a portrait outside Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins reacts as he visits a steel framing business while campaigning for election in Paraparaumu, New Zealand, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
People arrive at a voting place on election day in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov.7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Robertson)
Election workers prepare ballot papers for voters at a voting place on election day in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
People queue to enter a voting place on election day in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
People walk past a sign outside a voting place on election day in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
A person casts their ballot at a voting place on election day in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
A dog sits outside a voting place on election day in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
A person places their voting papers in a ballot box at a voting place in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
A man enters a voting place in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
A Māori warden reacts as a man leaves a voting place at a marae in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
An election worker hands voting papers to a person at a voting booth in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
People leave a voting place in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)
