Basketball: Aggies Clip Owls in Thursday Night Clash

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Playing in its penultimate Pan Am contest of the season, NM State (9-18, 5-10 CUSA) played stifling defense down the stretch against the Kennesaw State Owls (12-15, 5-11 CUSA), holding the visitors to just 20 points over the final three quarters, prevailing 52-40. The Aggies improve to 42-7 under Head Coach Jody Adams when holding opponents below 59 points.

A slow start saw the Crimson & White trailing to begin the contest, facing a 15-2 deficit with just over four minutes in the opening stanza. However, the Aggies’ top scorers, Imani Warrenand Lucía Yenes, powered a 9-5 run to close the quarter with the home side behind 20-11.

From that point forward, it was all Aggies. A seven-point second quarter for the visiting Owls tied their highest scoring period throughout the rest of the contest. Freshman Senoj Jones and Yenes led NM State in the frame, scoring 15 of the 18 Aggie points in the second, with Anna Csenyi chipping in a 3-pointer – her team leading 28^th of the season. With 40 ticks remaining in the opening half, Yenes put in a layup to give NM State its first lead of the contest, which it would never relinquish.

At the halftime break, the Aggies lead 29-27, thanks to 15 forced turnovers, converted into 17 points.

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Senoj Jones would score the first NM State basket in the second half, tying her career-high with 11 points – her third double-digit scoring effort on the year. A balanced offense down the stretch in the third saw five Aggies tally made field goals, including Lucia Lara, who finished with a game-high 10 rebounds in 30 minutes of playing time. Heading into the fourth, the Crimson & White held a 43-33 lead, their largest since a Feb. 5 win over Sam Houston.

A pair of Lucía Yenes baskets including her second made 3-pointer of the night gave her 21 points on Thursday, her sixth 20-plus point performance and most since Jan. 8 against Western Kentucky (26 points). Iyana Beh closed the nights scoring with a trip to the free-throw line, converting for her first points since Dec. 14, against Western New Mexico.

As the final buzzer sounded, NM State prevailed 52-40, improving to 7-6 in Las Cruces.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

• Lucía Yenes finished with 21 points on Thursday night, her sixth game with 20 or more points this season, and her 18^thdouble-digit scoring performance. The Madrid, Spain, native added three rebounds, one assist and three steals (tied for the team high).
• Freshman post Senoj Jones tallied a new career best in points, finishing with 14 points, five rebounds and a block in 30 minutes of action off the bench.
• Lucia Lara played 30 minutes against the Owls, the most in a contest for the Spaniard since Nov. 24 (San Diego). Making the most of her minutes, Lara tallied 10 rebounds, a team high and tying her career best, set against New Mexico Highlands on Nov. 14. The sophomore added two points and a trio of steals, setting a new career high in swipes.
• Emma Christiano took control of her ’20 square feet’ against KSU, finishing with four points, while tying the team high in both assists (4) and steals (3) in her 15^th start of the season.
• With just 40 points allowed on the night, this was the fewest points allowed by the Crimson & White since Dec. 16, 2023, a 70-39 win over Utah Valley.
• Forcing 27 Owl turnovers, this became the most for the Aggies against Division-I competition this season, and most in 2025-26 since Dec. 29, against Eastern New Mexico (29).
• 14 steals for NM State became the most in a game since Jan. 4, against Delaware (16). With 10 assists on the night, this became the 10^th time this season the Aggies recorded double-digit steals and assists in the same contest.

QUOTABLES

Head Coach Jody Adams, on the defensive performance in the win: “I’m extremely proud of these guys, and my coaching staff. To start the game trailing and still stick with the game plan says a lot about our team, trusting the coaching staff and each other.

Going forward through the rest of the season, the word is trust. Going on this journey together, we’re just going to sell out for each other.”

Lucía Yenes, on the way she approached Thursday’s win: “We’ve been practicing well the whole week, so I just executed what we’ve worked on. It’s all thanks to my teammates, they did an amazing job being in the perfect spots to help us succeed, and I tried to build off of their efforts and reward them.”

Senoj Jones, on her career high 14 points, off the bench: “I just came in with the mentality of wanting to help my team. Wanting to contribute and give fire to my team. They helped me with the energy they gave back.”

NM State plays in its final home game of the 2025-26 season against Jacksonville State on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 2 p.m. MT. The game will be live streamed on ESPN+, and live stats will be available at nmstatesports.com/stats.

For complete coverage of NM State Women’s Basketball, visit NMStateSports.com – the official home of Aggie athletics – and follow us on Twitter (@NMStateWBB), Instagram (@NMStateWBB), and like us on Facebook (NM State Women’s Basketball).