2024-25 Regular-Season Campaign Begins at UC Irvine
IRVINE, California (KVIA) -- The 234-day offseason has concluded. The roster has been finalized. The practices, media days and anticipation are all in the past. On Monday, NM State Women’s Basketball will commence its 51st season in program history from the Golden State. The Aggies will face UC Irvine in the conclusion of a home-and-home series that began last December. The Anteaters are coming off a 23-win campaign that culminated in a trip to the NCAA Tournament. NM State looks to avenge last year’s loss and start 1-0 for the first time since 2021-22.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Who: NM State (0-0, 0-0 CUSA) at UC Irvine (0-0, 0-0 Big West)
Where: Bren Events Center – Irvine, Calif.
When: Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 at 6:30 PM PT
Live Stream: ESPN+
Live Statistics: SIDEARM (UC Irvine)
All-Time Series Record: NM State leads 17-12
Last Meeting: UC Irvine 61 at NM State 55 (Dec. 5, 2023)
LAST TIME OUT
Last Sunday, NM State hosted Cameron for its only exhibition of the season. The Crimson & White easily prevailed by a score of 87-54 on the backs of a balanced offensive effort. All 13 Aggies that entered the game scored, while nine sank multiple field goals. Lucía Yenes was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field as she racked up nine points, three rebounds and an assist in less than seven minutes. As a team, NM State knocked down 23 of 27 free-throw attempts (85.2%), tallying more makes from the charity stripe than any contest last season.
2023-24 MATCHUP SUMMARY
These two squads faced off last season, meeting on Dec. 5, 2023, in the Pan American Center. A poor shooting performance from the home team was compounded by foul trouble across nearly the entire backcourt. Molly Kaiser led the way for the Aggies with 15 points, but the home unit only mustered 19 conversions on 61 field-goal attempts. Still, Jody Adams’ defensive-minded bunch kept each quarter a tightly-contested battle. NM State held a lead with just over three minutes remaining, but the Anteaters squeaked out a six-point win by a score of 61-55.
UC Irvine is one of four 2023-24 non-conference opponents that the Aggies will face again this season. UTSA, New Mexico and Western NM are all on this year’s pre-CUSA slate after taking on the Aggies in their prior campaign.
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).
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 will be back 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.
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.
43 of the Aggies’ 87 points in their exhibition win came courtesy of international members. Those seven student-athletes accumulated 20 of 32 rebounds (62.5%) and 15 of 28 made field goals (53.6%). Loes Rozing and Fanta Gassama each returned to the starting lineup in similar fashion to the regular first five at the conclusion of 2023-24.
SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine is led by eighth-year Head Coach Tamara Inoue, who touts a 140-106 record in her time with the program. Last season, the Anteaters finished 23-9 overall with a 16-4 mark in Big West play. Inoue was an assistant coach on the Aggie bench from 2011-16, earning two regular-season WAC titles and as many WAC Tournament championships. Inoue and then-Head Coach Mark Trakh led the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament in 2014-15 and 2015-16, earning all four WAC titles in the two-year span.
Last season, Déja Lee led the squad in scoring, averaging 13.9 points per night. The senior posted seven points, two rebounds and a pair of steals versus NM State. Shirel Nahum led the Anteaters in scoring that night, notching 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting to go with her three rebounds.
