LAS CRUCES, N.M. –  NM State returns to conference play at home as it hosts Middle Tennessee on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 6 p.m. MST. MTSU currently sits in second in the CUSA standings at the moment. The Aggies are seeking their sixth home victory in the last seven contests at the Pan American Center.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Who: NM State (10-10, 3-4 CUSA) vs MTSU (14-6, 6-1 CUSA)

Where: Pan American Center – Las Cruces, N.M.

When: Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. MST

Live Stream: ESPN+

Live Statistics: StatBroadcast

All-Time Series Record: MTSU leads 4-2

Last Meeting: February 15, 2024 (MTSU won 73-37)

 

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 seventh all-time in scoring for the Aggies in program history and is just nine points shy of moving into sole possession of sixth all-time and 15 points away from ranking fifth all-time. With 1,658 points, she's also currently the active leader in career points among CUSA players.

Two weeks ago, Kaiser was named Conference USA Player of the Week for the fourth time this season after dropping 31 points against Liberty. This marked the fourth CUSA weekly award for Kaiser, which equals the most by an Aggie in program history. This season, Kaiser has also hauled in two NCAA Starting Five accolades, which recognizes the nation's top five performers each week.

Kaiser now ranks seventh in the nation in points per game (21.8) and ninth in total points (436). Including her 28-point outing against FIU last week, Kaiser is also responsible for the four highest scoring performances in league play this season.

 

FANTA-STIC

The last time out, Fanta Gassama recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds to collect her fifth double-double of the season. This marks the first time that an Aggie has recorded five or more double-doubles in a single season since Bigue Sarr tallied 12 double-doubles in the 2021-22 season. She currently ranks 33rd in Division I with 9.6 rebounds per game and third in Conference USA. She currently sits at 12th in the nation and second in CUSA in defensive rebounds per game as well. Gassama produced a notable game against I-25 rival New Mexico, tallying a season high of 13 rebounds while also scoring nine points.

D-UP

At the moment, NM State ranks third in the conference in steals per game (10.8), which has led their opponents into 420 total turnovers. This has carried over in league play and currently ranks first in the conference in turnovers forced per game (24.3) against CUSA opponents.

FROM DOWNTOWN

Entering Thursday, the Aggies rank second in 3-point percentage in CUSA play, shooting 32.5%. This mark is led by Jaila Harding who is currently shooting an impressive 46.7% from the perimeter, flushing 19 of her 39 3-point attempts against league opponents. In its most recent outing , NM State was able to shoot 35.7% (5-14) from deep while facing the Gamecocks. Thus far, the Aggies have tallied at least five made threes in each of their seven CUSA games.

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.

ON THE RISE

Diarrah Sissoko logged her best performance of the season against UTEP as she put up 11 points against 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 14.2 minutes per game for her improving performance.

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.

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. 441 of the Aggies' 973 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 TIME OUT...

Kaiser and Gassama combined for 37 points against Jax State last Saturday in the Pete Mathews Coliseum. Finishing 11-for-12 at the Charity stripe, the Aggies were just one away from shooting perfect at the line. The team also kept Jax state from finishing above 25% on FG in the matchup. Gassama notched her fifth double-double in that game for the season.

SCOUTING MIDDLE TENNESSEE

Leading the Blue Raiders in his 20th season with MTSU as head coach is Rick Insell. In his coaching career at Middle Tennessee, Insell has notched 477 wins at the helm of the Blue Raider program.

MTSU currently sits with a 6-1 conference record (second in the standings) after its win against LA Tech on Saturday.

Leading MTSU in scoring this season is Ta'Mia Scott who averages 15.5 points per game. A huge contribute to the Blue Raiders successful season thus far is the team's ability to rebound, led by Anastasiia Boldyreva, who leads the conference with 10.3 per game and 21st nationally.


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