Aggies Face NDSU In WNIT’s Round of 32

FARGO, North Dakota (KVIA) -- NM State who tallied NMSU’s first WNIT victory in program history on Thursday looks to grab another win against Summit League Opponent, North Dakota State, to qualify for the round of 16. 

HOW TO FOLLOW 

Who: NM State (18-15, 10-8 CUSA) at NDSU (19-11, 9-11 CUSA) 

Where: Scheels Center – Fargo, N.D. 

When: Monday March 24, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. MDT 

Live Stream: WDAY+ 

Live Statistics: StatBroadcast 

All-Time Series Record: Pacific leads 12-8

Last Time: NMSU lost 67-62 (Dec. 19, 2024)  

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 1,879 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 52 points shy of moving into second on the Aggies all-time scoring list.

This month, Kaiser was named Conference USA Player of the Week for the fifth time this season after dropping 35 points against LA Tech. This marked the fifth CUSA weekly award for Kaiser, which is 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. She has also recently been selected as the 2025 CUSA Player of the Year along with being selected for a spot on the CUSA’s All-Conference team.

Kaiser sits at 17th in the nation in points per game (20.5) and 14th in total points (657).

 

FANTA-STIC

Fanta Gassama’s nine 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 on February 20th. She currently sits at 19th in the nation and second in CUSA in defensive rebounds per game (7.3).

D-UP 

At the moment, NM State ranks third in the conference in steals per game (9.67), which has led their opponents into 584 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 30.8%. This mark is led by Jaila Harding who is currently shooting an impressive 38.0% from the perimeter against league opponents. Harding has also moved into third on CUSA league leaders in 3-point percentage.

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. 670 of the Aggies’ 2,132 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...

Then Aggies took down the Pacific Tigers in the first round of the WNIT. 

With just 54 points, this marked the Aggies’ fewest point total in a win this season. However, the NM State defense limited Pacific to just 49 points to mark the seventh time this season that an Aggie opponent failed to reach 50 points.

NM State leaned on its defensive pressure and forced the Tigers into 21 turnovers which marks the 12th time this year that the Aggies forced 20 or more turnovers.

Sylena Peterson produced her eighth double-digit scoring effort of the season and finished as the Aggies’ leading scorer for the first time this season, and Fanta Gassama logged her ninth double-double of the season and hauled in double-digit rebounds for the 14th this year.

SOME WNIT POSTSEASON HISTORY

This is just the Aggies’ third time competing in the WNIT tournament.

Their last appearance was in the 2017-18 season where they fell in the first round to Wyoming, 59-67.

The Aggies picked up their first WNIT win in NMSU program history, defeating Pacific, 54-49 in the first round.

UNDER ADAMS’ LEADERSHIP

Before finding her way to Las Cruces, Jody Adams had a successful career first at Murray State, then Wichita State.

While coaching the Racers, Adams was able to lead her team to an NCAA Tournament appearance in the 2007-08 season. 

After leaving Murray State, she was able to lead the Shockers to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in Wichita, Kansas from 2013-2016.

As a student-athlete, the Tennessee native competed in the NCAA tournament herself under Pat Summit and helped the Lady Vols win the NCAA National Championship in 1991.

SCOUTING NDSU

Jory Collins was named the head coach of the North Dakota State women’s basketball program on April 29, 2019 and is the 11th head coach of the Bison. He is in his 6th year with NDSU.

The NDSU Bison finished third in conference play this season.

The leading scorer for this team is Avery Koenen, who averages 13.9 points per game and also leads the team in three point percentage, assists, and steals.

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