LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Aggies will finish their conference regular season at home as they host Sam Houston State in the Pan American Center for Senior Day. NM State clinched a 4th seed for the CUSA tournament after the team's victory over LA Tech on Thursday.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Who: NM State (16-14, 9-8 CUSA) vs Sam Houston (12-15, 5-12 CUSA)
Where: Pan American Center – Las Cruces, NM
When: Saturday, March 8, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. MST
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Statistics: StatBroadcast
All-Time Series Record: NMSU leads 4-3
Last Meeting: NMSU won 79-61 (January 2, 2025)
LAST TIME AGAINST SAM HOUSTON
The Aggies finished 5-9 from beyond the arc to log their highest 3-point percentage of the season (55.6%) while attempting their fewest 3-pointers of the season. This was highlighted by Molly Kaiser who finished a perfect 2-2 from long range.
The Aggies equaled their season high in blocked shots with four – led by the effort of Lucia Yenes who finished with two blocks to match her career high.
Molly Kaiser continued her stellar season as she logged recorded her eighth 20-plus point effort of the season and third in a row as she finished with 29 points on an efficient 12-16 from the floor. This marked her third-highest point output of the year. Kaiser also created for her teammates as she equaled her career high in assists with five.
THE PRODIGY
Molly Kaiser has spent all five seasons with the Crimson & White, making her the longest-tenured Aggie on the 2024-25 roster. The Watauga, Texas, native has 1,845 points across her career and has moved into third all-time in scoring for the Aggies in program history. Scoring over 1,800 points, she's also currently the active leader in career points among CUSA players. She now sits just 86 points shy of moving into second on the Aggies all-time scoring list.
Last month, 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 sits at 14th in the nation in points per game (20.8) and 13th in total points (623). Including her 35-point outing against LA Tech last night, Kaiser is also responsible for the six of the nine highest scoring performances in league play this season.
FANTA-STIC
Fanta Gassama's eight double-doubles thus far 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.
Fanta tallied her second highest game in rebounds this season, snagging down 14 against the Gamecocks.
She currently sits at 22nd in the nation and second in CUSA in defensive rebounds per game (7.2).
Gassama has also shot completely perfect 18-for-18 at the charity stripe since January 11th.
D-UP
At the moment, NM State ranks third in the conference in steals per game (9.76), which has led their opponents into 566 total turnovers. This has carried over in league play as the Aggies currently rank second in turnovers forced per game (19.2) against CUSA opponents.
FROM DOWNTOWN
Entering Saturday, the Aggies rank third in 3-point percentage in CUSA play, shooting 30.7%. This mark is led by Jaila Harding who is currently shooting an impressive 38.5% from the perimeter against league opponents.
Last time the Aggies faced the Bearkats, NM State finished with an impressive 55.5% shooting from the perimeter.
FRESH FISH
Madi Gewirtz picked up her second Conference USA Freshman of the Week last month. Previously, Madi Gewirtz became the first and only player in Aggie program history to earn the honor. February 1st, she scored 17 points over Western Kentucky and picked up four defensive boards along with two assists to serve as a catalyst in the Aggies' win over the Hilltoppers.
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 from overseas. 618 of the Aggies' 1,959 points this season have come courtesy of international members, accounting for over 32.3% 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...
Molly Kaiser capped the Aggies' victory tying her career high in points, putting up 35 points on 14-20 shooting – while also recording four rebounds, four assists, and a block.
Finishing with 18 points on the night, Lucia Yenes recorded a new season-high, surpassing her previous best of 16 points set against WKU on March 1. Similarly, Yenes recorded three steals on Thursday, her second-most in a single game this season behind a career-high five steals in last Saturday's game against WKU. This becomes Yenes' first time scoring double-digits in back-to-back games this season.
This was the 16th recorded 20+ point game of the season for Molly Kaiser and the sixth 30+ point game this season. She also produced career-high in FT made and FT attempted, ties career-high FG made.
NM State forced the Lady Techsters into 20 turnovers, scoring 17 points off the giveaways. This is the 10th time the Aggie defense has forced an opponent into 20+ TO's.
SPOT DETERMINED
After a close victory over LA Tech on Thursday, the Aggies have clinched a 4th seed in the CUSA tournament next week.
Though their first round opponent is TBA at the moment, they will face either LA Tech or FIU depending upon both of those teams' performances in their final regular season games.
LA Tech faces UTEP while FIU will take on MTSU.
SCOUTING SAM HOUSTON
Leading the Bearkats in her third consecutive season is Ravon Justice. In two full years with the Kats, Justice has posted a 35-23 record, going 25-13 in Southland Conference play. That includes going 19-10 in the 2019-20 season and 14-6 against Southland competition. The 14 SLC victories and the 19 wins overall were both Division I records for the program
The leading scorer for this team is Deborah Ogayemi, who currently averages 12.0 points per game. She also leads the team in FG percentage and rebounds.
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