NM State visits New Mexico for first half of two-game rivalry weekend.
Source: NMSU Athletics
By Louis Bolander
Photo: Courtesy
ALBUQUERQUE, NM. – The Aggies’ second-most tenured rivalry is set to be renewed twice this weekend. The Crimson & White will first head north on Friday to face New Mexico ahead of a rematch in Las Cruces on Sunday. For the first time since 2022, the Land of Enchantment’s two Division I institutions will clash twice in the same season; with each side at home once. Two days before the meeting in the Pan American Center, the Battle of I-25 will open in The Pit for the 86th all-time matchup.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Who: NM State (4-3, 0-0 CUSA) at New Mexico (5-3, 0-0 Mountain West)
Where: The Pit – Albuquerque, NM.
When: Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 at 7:00 PM MT
Live Stream: Mountain West Network
Live Statistics: StatBroadcast
All-Time Series Record: New Mexico leads 58-27
Last Meeting: NM State 52 at New Mexico 67 (Dec. 2, 2023)
WE GO WAY BACK…
NM State’s first game in program history was, in fact, against UNM. The Aggies took the victory in the first meeting 57-53. The matchup was followed up the next day for another win against by a score of 48-34. Both games were played in the first weekend of the inaugural 1973-74 season.
AGENT 007
Molly Kaiser is a certified legend in the history of NM State Women’s Basketball. 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 1,300 career points, highlighted by her single greatest performance to date earlier this month.
The 5-foot-8 guard notched 35 points on hyper-efficient shooting against Utah Tech on Nov. 7. She sank 14 of 21 field goals, three of five 3-pointers and four of five free throws en route to the highest individual output since Danesia Williamson on March 12, 2014. In addition to her offensive explosion, the Saginaw High School product raked in four steals for a career high. For the season, Kaiser ranks eighth in the nation with 25.0 points per game.
FANTA-STIC
Midway through last season, NM State bolstered its frontcourt with the addition of Fanta Gassama. The now-senior went on an impressive run at the end of 2023-24, averaging 9.0 rebounds and nearly 10.4 Pts per game over the final eight contests of the regular season. In the CUSA Quarterfinals, the Spain native was exceptional, collecting 20 points and 17 rebounds. Gassama was perfect from the floor, sinking all eight of her field goals and going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line as the Aggies prevailed 63-58 in an upset over No. 3 seed FIU.
This year, Gassama started off with a bang at UC Irvine. She paced both teams with 22 points as she hit eight of her 16 field goal attempts. Her presence was most felt down low, however, as the Mataró, Spain native hauled in 16 rebounds. Three days later against Utah Tech, Gassama tallied her second double-double of the young campaign, notching 14 points and as many rebounds. Her 9.0 rebounds per game currently rank 69th among all of NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball.
Gassama holds the only two double-doubles by an Aggie so far this season. Spanning back to last season, the second-year Aggie has four double-doubles; all of which have come in the past 10 games.
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 46.7% international.
180 of the Aggies’ 458 points this season have come courtesy of international members. Those seven student-athletes accumulated 104 of 173 rebounds (60.1%) and 70 of 154 made field goals (45.4%).
GUESS WHO’S BACK… BACK AGAIN
There are two notable absences in the paint as Honorable Mention All-CUSA selection Ene Adams was joined by 6-foot-5 Femme Sikuzani Masudi as the two key departures from last year. However, 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 Aggie 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.
SCOUTING THE LOBOS
The team is led by Mike Bradbury, who enters his ninth year with the program. He has coached 19 All-Mountain West performers, with pride of coaching six on the All-Defensive Team and three on the All-Newcomer/Freshman Team from last season. He is also noteworthy for tying the second-most wins in program history. The consecutive 20-plus win seasons under Bradbury in 2017-18 and 2018-19 were the first for the program since the 2007-08 – 2008-09 seasons.
This season, the team is currently led by scorer, Destinee Hooks, who averages 17.9 points per game (143 total). The Lobos’ second leading scorer is Vianè Cumber, who also averages in double figures at 15.4 points per game in roughly 250 minutes.
ABOUT THE PIT
The Pit has served as home for Lobo hoops since the first game was played Dec. 1, 1966, with New Mexico defeating Abilene Christian, 62-53. A total of 840 games have been played overall. The Lobos have averaged roughly 15,410 fans the past 49 years.
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