Aggies Face off Against No. 8 Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma

NORMAN, Oklahoma (KVIA) -- The New Mexico State Women’s Basketball team comes back from Christmas break to face off with No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, Oklahoma. The team looks to carry the momentum from their last matchup win after a decisive victory over Eastern New Mexico in Las Cruces. 

HOW TO FOLLOW
Who: NM State (6-4, 0-0 CUSA) vs Oklahoma(10-1, 5-0 LSC) 
Where: Lloyd Noble Center – Norman, Okla. 
When: Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024 at 3:00 PM MT 
Live Stream: ESPN+ 
Live Statistics: StatBroadcast 
All-Time Series Record: Oklahoma leads 3-0 
Last Meeting: L 82-77 (March 24, 1994) 
  
THE PRODIGY 

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 1,400 career points, highlighted by her single greatest performance to date earlier this season. 

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 22nd in the nation with 19.9 points per game. 

Two weeks ago, Kaiser was named Conference USA Player of the Week after an explosive two-game series against rival New Mexico. She was also selected to the NCAA’s Starting Lineup of the Week as she combined 55 points against the Lobos, including going 9-for-9 at the charity stripe in the second game of the weekend. 

  

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 week facing 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. 

  

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.  

Gassama holds the only five 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 12 games. This season, the senior ranks 30th in Division I with 9.9 rebounds per game.

  

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. 263 of the Aggies’ 715 points this season have come courtesy of international members, accounting for nearly 40% of the team’s production thus far. 

  

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 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 PANHANDLE STATE 

The Sooners are led by Jennie Baranczyk, who enters her fourth season as head coach.She has become very decordated in Norman, as she was a National Coach of the Year semifinalist three years in a row and was named the 2024 Big 12 coach of the year.  Her 74-26 (.740) record through three seasons is the best three-year start in program history.

Her teams have reached 20 wins in nine of the last 10 seasons, including three consecutive 23-plus wins at Oklahoma. She’s led her teams to six NCAA Tournaments and produced 34 all-conference honorees over the previous 12 seasons.

With her time at Oklahoma, Baranczyk witnessed Skylar Vann claim OU’s first Big 12 Player of the Year honor in 15 years, while Payton Verhulst was named the league’s Newcomer of the Year. Four Oklahoma players received All-Big 12 honors, with Vann and Verhulst making the first team and Nevaeh Tot and Sahara Williams receiving honorable mentions. Vann and Verhulst both earned All-America honors, pushing Baranczyk’s All-America total to five as the Oklahoma head coach.

Currently, Beers leads the team in FG% shooting (72.1%) as she sits with the programs highest made attempts in the first ten games in Sooner History. Following her footsteps is Payton Verhulst who also has finished with more than half of her FGs made, including the buzzer beater against Duke to send the game into overtime this season.

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