LAS CRUCES, N.M. – After more than a week off from play, NM State returns to the hardwood on Monday, Nov. 24, for a road contest with San Diego. This game kicks off a three-game road stretch for the Aggies, playing a pair of outings in the Big Easy Classic (New Orleans, La.) later this week.
 
This becomes the second game the Aggies will play in the state of California already this season after opening the year against No. 18 USC on Nov. 4. First tip for Monday's matchup is scheduled for Noon MT. The game will be streaming on ESPN+, with live statistics provided by San Diego athletics at this link.
 
The Aggies are 4-0 all-time against the Toreros, with the last meeting occurring on Dec. 3, 2022 – a 57-52 victory for NM State in Jody Adams' first year with the program.
 
OPENING TIP
 
Who: NM State (1-2, 0-0 CUSA) at San Diego (1-4, 0-0 WCC)
Where: Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100) San Diego, Calif.
When: Monday, Nov. 24 | 12 p.m. MT
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: Sidearm Sports
 
LAST TIME OUT

• NM State played host to rivals New Mexico in the lone matchup between the programs this season, falling by a score of 77-45.
• Lucía Yenes led the squad in scoring for the third consecutive game, posting 11 points along with a season-high eight rebounds.
• Junior guard Emma Christiano made her first start with the Crimson & White, finishing with ten points, three rebounds and three assists.
• Lucia Lara notched a new career high in points, finishing with eight while adding seven rebounds.
• The Aggies tallied 19 turnovers in the contest, a new season low.

 
LUCIA LA REINA

• Senior forward Lucía Yenes showed out in the Aggies' season-opening contest against No. 18 USC (Nov. 11), tallying her first collegiate start en route to pouring in a career-high 27 points.
• This became the most by an Aggie against power conference competition since NM State Hall of Famer and three-time All-American Anita Maxwell tallied 27 against No. 20 Ole Miss in 1996.
• Through the beginning of the 2025-26 season, she holds the highest single-game scoring output in Conference USA, while leading the conference in scoring (20.3 points per game). The Madrid, Spain, native also ranks second in the league in free-throw percentage (92.3%), eighth in total points (61), sixth in field goals made (23) and ninth in field goal percentage (.451).
• In the following contest against New Mexico Highlands, the senior from Madrid notched a game-high 23 points, adding five rebounds and a trio of steals.
• Tallying back-to-back 20-plus point scoring performances to open the season, Yenes became the first Aggie to do so since Aaliyah Prince in the 2019-20 campaign.

 
IF IT'S FREE

• This season, the Aggies have taken advantage of their trips to the free-throw line – converting at a 75.0% clip, the best in Conference USA and 67^th best percentage in the nation.
• Against New Mexico, NM State finished 9-for-12 from the charity stripe, with their best outing coming against New Mexico Highlands (17-for-20, 85.0%).
• Lucía Yenes ranks second in CUSA with a 92.3% clip (12-for-13), while ranking 17^th in makes.

 
2024-25 YEAR IN REVIEW

• In 2024-25, the Aggies amassed an 18-16 record, including a 10-8 mark in Conference USA action (their first winning record in conference play since joining CUSA). This secured a spot in the 2025 Conference USA Championships in Huntsville, Ala., where NM State played host to LA Tech as the No. 4 seed.
• Eighteen victories tied the most wins in the regular season, and ten wins in conference play tied the high-water mark for the Aggies under Jody Adams, with the 2022-23 team posting a similar 18-17 record and a 10-8 mark in conference play (then members of the Western Athletic Conference).
• Graduate guard Molly Kaiser put the nation on notice for her scoring prowess, finishing 17th in the nation in points per game (20.5, one of just 23 players to tally 20+ points per contest in 2024-25) and 17^th in total points (677) en route to earning Conference USA Player of the Year honors.
• Kaiser became the first Aggie to win conference player of the year honors since Brooke Salas recorded back-to-back honors in 2017-18 and 2018-19 in the Western Athletic Conference.
• Alongside a player of the year selection for Kaiser, the Watauga, Texas, native also collected First Team All-CUSA honors, posting averages of 21.2 points, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 46.5% from the field (seventh best in CUSA) and 83.5% from the charity stripe in conference play.
• Then-senior guard Loes Rozing played in all 34 contests for NM State, tallying 31 starts with 21 minutes per contest. In a pair of wins over rival New Mexico, the Heiloo, Netherlands, native notched averaged 12.5 points (17 in the first meeting in Albuquerque), 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals.
• Then-junior forward Lucia Yenes posted her best season in the Crimson & White, shooting 46.1% from the field (second-highest on the team), with per-40-minute averages of 15.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.9 steals.

 
FRESH FACES

• NM State returns just 16.6% of their offensive production (365/2,204 total points in 2024-25) and 14.6% of their 3-pointers made (28/192).
• Head Coach Jody Adams and her staff welcomed eight new student-athletes, with five collegiate transfers, and a trio of freshmen.
• At the forward positions are newcomers Morane Dossou (Independence CC/Dodge City CC), Iyana Beh (Snow College), Lucia Lara (Mississippi Valley State/Butler CC) and Senoj Jones (Tyler Legacy HS).
• Lara becomes not only the second Lucia on the NM State roster, (senior forward Lucia Yenes), but is also the third Spaniard on the squad, joining junior forward Marta Guilera and Yenes.
• New to the roster at the guard position are Keira Hudson (Barker College), DeAvion Wilson (C.E. King HS), Nikki Stanic (St. Petersburg CC) and Emma Christiano (New Mexico Highlands).
• Joining the Aggies serves as a homecoming for Christiano, a Las Cruces native who attended Las Cruces High School, where she earned district player of the year honors in 2022.

 
FRESH FACES (COACHING STAFF EDITION)

• As Head Coach Jody Adams marks her fourth season on the bench for the Crimson & White, the Cleveland, Tenn., native works alongside some new faces – with Associate Head Coach James Frey in his third season in his role.
• Joining the Aggies ahead of the 2024-25 season, Assistant Coach Preston Planells quickly impressed Adams, earning a promotion to assistant coach during the season. Planells recently began his first full season in the position at NM State.
• Assistant Coach Kayla Tucker began her first season with the Aggies, following a trio of seasons in the same role at Southern Nazarene, a DII member of the Great American Conference.
• During her time with the Crimson Storm, Tucker helped the team achieve three consecutive regular-season championships, a GAC Tournament title, and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
• Rounding out the assistant coaches is Myron Brown, who comes to the Aggies following a pair of seasons as the director of player development at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., near his hometown of Detroit.
• Prior to his time at Oakland, Brown also served as an assistant coach at North Florida, while also previously spending five seasons as the head coach at Thomas University (NAIA).

AUSSIE AUSSIE (AUSSIE!)

• The Aggies welcome a pair of student-athletes from Australia to the roster for the 2025-26 season in Keira Hudson and Nikki Stanic. The freshman Hudson joins from the mainland and Barker College, while the junior Stanic arrives from St. Petersburg Community College in Florida.
• Hudson brings experience from the semi-pro NBL1, playing three seasons with the Hornsby Ku-ring-Gai Spiders, while also helping Barker College to a pair of District ISA championships, one state championship and a bronze-medal finish at the national championships.
• Last season with the Titans, Stanic recorded 29 games played (25 starts), while averaging 8.8 points per game on 42.9% shooting from the field (39.5% from 3-point range). 

SCOUTING THE TOREROS

• The Toreros are led by Head Coach Blanche Alverson, in her first season at the helm following a three-year stint as the associate head coach for Georgia Tech. In 2017, Alverson was an assistant with the Aggies, coaching under former NM State bench boss Mark Trakh as the team advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.
• Last season, San Diego finished with a 7-24 record under longtime Head Coach Cindy Fisher, advancing to the second round of the WCC Championship.
• Through the young season, San Diego has tallied a 1-4 record, most recently playing Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colo., to a 71-44 defeat. Their lone win came against Bethesda (CA), a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAC) program.
• Utah transfer and sophomore guard Kylie Ray has been the Toreros' star early, pacing the team in points per game (16.8), rebounds (6.5), assists (3.0) and steals (2.3).   

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