LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State will head on the road this week on a two-game trip to take on both Kennesaw State and Jax State. The first matchup will take place in the KSU Convocation Center as the Aggies look to bounce back from their home loss against Liberty last Saturday.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Who: NM State (10-8, 3-2 CUSA) vs Kennesaw State(6-10, 1-4 CUSA)
Where: KSU Convocation Center – Kennesaw, Ga.
When: Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, at 5:00 PM MT
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Statistics: StatBroadcast
All-Time Series Record: Tied 0-0
Last Meeting: Never met
THE PRODIGY
The Watauga, Texas, native has spent all five seasons with the Crimson & White, making her the longest-tenured Aggie on the 2024-25 roster. Kaiser has over 1,600 points across her career and is now eighth all-time in scoring for the Aggies in program history and is just 37 points shy of moving into seventh all-time.
Last week, Kaiser was named Conference USA Player of the Week for the fourth time this season after dropping 31 points against Liberty. With the standout performance, Kaiser now ranks eighth in the nation in points per game (22.1) and 10th in total points (397). Including her 28-point outing against FIU last Thursday, Kaiser is also responsible for the four highest scoring performances in league play this season.
FANTA-STIC
Gassama holds the only four double-doubles by an Aggie so far this season. She currently ranks 42nd in Division I with 9.5 rebounds per game and third in Conference USA. Gassama produced a notable game against I-25 rival New Mexico, tallying a season high of 13 rebounds while also scoring nine points.
CONFERENCE NUMBERS
The Aggies currently sit in third within CUSA in both points per game (68.5) and 47.6 field goals per game, led by senior Molly Kaiser who is first with her 22.1 points per game mark. She has also helped contribute to the team's steal per game mark as the Aggies also rank third in the conference as they average 10.5 steals per game.
D-UP
At the moment, NM State ranks third in the conference in steals per game (10.7), which has led the team to force 45 total turnovers during league play to rank third in the conference in turnovers per game.
At the moment, the Aggies are tied for second in the conference in team defense in CUSA play, allowing 61.8 points per game. On the contrary, Kennesaw State ranks dead last and is allowing conference opponents to score an average of 71.0 points per game.
DEFENDING THE PERIMETER
Earlier this season, The Aggies held UTEP to just two buckets from the perimeter which marks the lowest percentage (18%) by an Aggie opponent since facing Santa Clara in the Gulf Coast Showcase on Nov. 30. Prior to Saturday's game against Liberty, NM State had only allowed nine 3-pointers across its first four CUSA games. The Aggies will look to return to form after the Flames cracked the code to knock down 11 3-pointers which marks the most by an Aggie opponent this season.
HOT IN HUNTSVILLE
NM State shot 5-of-9 from the perimeter against Sam Houston on Jan. 2 which marks the highest 3-point percentage (.556) by any CUSA team in conference play this season. Molly Kaiser led the charge by going a perfect 2-for-2 on her way to scoring a game-high 28 points.
FRESH FISH
Picking up her first Conference USA Freshman of the Week award, Madi Gewirtz now sits as the first and only player in Aggie program history to earn the honor. In the rivalry bout against the Lobos, she tallied 17 points, six steals, three rebounds and one assist. She produced four steals over the week as she set the team's high in steals in a single game this season.
ON THE RISE
Diarrah Sissoko logged her best performance of the season against UTEP as she put up 11 points agaisnt the Miners while going 4-of-8 from the floor. Coach Adams has increased playing time for Sissoko since conference play has started - going up from 8.9 minutes per game to 16.1 minutes per game for her improving performance.
VETERAN LEADERSHIP
The Aggies are led by 11 upperclassmen, including nine seniors. Molly Kaiser and Diarrah Sissoko are each in their fifth season of collegiate basketball, headlining a 15-person roster that has 50 combined seasons of experience, including 32 at NM State. Four Aggies are on at least their third season in the program: Molly Kaiser (five), Sylena Peterson (four), Sianny Sanchez-Oliver (four) and Lucía Yenes (three).
INTERNATIONAL AGGIES
There are seven Aggies with international backgrounds on the 2024-25 roster. Four of those seven hail from Spain (Fanta Gassama, Noah Garcia, Marta Guilera, Lucía Yenes). Hungary (Anna Csenyi), Netherlands (Loes Rozing) and Mali (Diarrah Sissoko) are also represented on this year's squad. Four of six Aggie newcomers are form overseas, rounding out a roster that is 38.3% international. 398 of the Aggies' 851 points this season have come courtesy of international members, accounting for over 45% of the team's production thus far.
GUESS WHO'S BACK… BACK AGAIN
Nearly every rotational guard and wing has returned in action in 2024-25, with 75.66% of the 2023-24 point production still on the roster. Additionally, the returning Aggies accounted for 85.14% of all assists and 97.71% of 3-pointers made (128 of 131) a season ago.
ONE LAST RIDE
This iteration of the Aggies revolves around fifth-year legend Molly Kaiser. The Watauga, Texas, native exercised her extra year of eligibility that she earned from the NCAA's response to COVID-19, electing to spend her fifth and final campaign with the Crimson & White. In 2023-24, Kaiser led the Aggies in games played (31), games started (31), points (463), points per game (14.9), minutes per game (34.2), field goals made (165), free throws made (107) and free-throw percentage (86.3).
Last season, Kaiser drove and buried a patented elbow jumper shot to give her 1,000 career points, with every bucket coming as a member of the Crimson & White. She became the 25th member of the 1,000-point club, and the first since Gia Pack, who played for the Aggies from 2016-2020.
LAST WEEK...
Kaiser finished with a 28-point game to give the Aggies a 24-point win over FIU. The Aggies' 16 steals in the matchup are the team's second most this season and most against a Division I opponent. NM State held the Panthers to their second-lowest point total (50) of the season. Their one 3-point make was also the fewest this season for the Panthers while the Aggies also limited the Panthers to their lowest 3-point percentage of the season.
SCOUTING KENNESAW STATE
Leading the Owls in her fourth season at Kennesaw State as head coach is Octovia Blue. In her coaching career, Blue has notched 41 wins at the helm of the Kennesaw State program.
The Owls currently sit with a 1-4 record after their loss to LA Tech on Saturday.
Leading Kennesaw State in scoring this season is Prencis Harden who averages 16.3 points per game. She is also currently ranked eighth in the nation and first in the conference in rebounds per game (11.1).
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