LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State continues conference play in the Pan American Center, hosting Western Kentucky tomorrow, Feb. 1, at 2 p.m. MST. WKU is currently seeded third in the CUSA standings as they pursue another victory this season. The Aggies are seeking to end their four-game losing slump in conference play.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Who: NM State (10-11, 3-5 CUSA) vs WKU (15-5, 6-2 CUSA)
Where: Pan American Center – Las Cruces, N.M.
When: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. MST
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Statistics: StatBroadcast
All-Time Series Record: WKU leads 6-3
Last Meeting: February 17, 2024 (NMSU won 64-61)
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 has moved into fifth all-time in scoring for the Aggies in program history. With 1,677 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 ranks eighth in the nation in points per game (21.7) and tenth in total points (455). 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 12 points and 10 rebounds to collect her sixth 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 9.8 rebounds per game and third in Conference USA. She currently sits at eighth 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 (10.4), which has led their opponents into 430 total turnovers. This has carried over in league play as the Aggies currently rank first 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 50.0% from the perimeter, flushing 18 of her 36 3-point attempts against league opponents. In its most recent outing , NM State was able to shoot 36.8% (7-19) from deep while facing the Blue Raiders. Thus far, the Aggies have tallied at least five made threes in each of their eight 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 12.5 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. 468 of the Aggies' 1,032 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.
LETS GO TO OT
For the first time this season, NM State has taken their opponent to overtime as Kaiser drove in for a layup finish with 5 seconds left on the clock against MSTU.
SQUEEKY CLEAN BOARDS
Sianny Sanchez-Oliver matched her career high in rebounds (eight) in a single game against Middle Tennessee. This is the most rebounds the 5'5" gaurd has had in an Aggie uniform since her first eight-rebound performance during her freshman campaign with Deleware State.
LAST TIME OUT...
Jaila Harding led the team from the perimeter, shooting 66.7% (4-for-6) from the arc to help take the Aggies to OT against MTSU. Kaiser shot perfect once again (2-for-2) at the line and finished with19 points over the Blue Raiders. Gassama picked up her sixth double-double against Middle Tennessee as she was able to grab 12 boards and flush 10 points.
SCOUTING WESTERN KENTUCKY
Leading the the Hilltoppers in his 7th consecutive season with WKU as head coach is Greg Collins. In six seasons on The Hill, Collins has amassed 101 wins and has a 70.4 percent winning percentage in Diddle Arena. Collins has also coached players to seven All-Conference USA honors, five being first teamers, and 18 overall conference postseason awards, including two Freshmen of the Year, five All-Freshmen Team and four All-Defensive Team honors.
WKU currently sits with a 6-2 conference record (third in the standings) after its win against UTEP last night.
Leading WKU in scoring this season is Alexis Mead who averages 13.4 points per game. She also currently leads the team in FT percentage, shooting 88.3% from the stripe. This puts her at 27th in the nation.
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