HUNTSVILLE, Texas –  The New Mexico State women’s basketball team continues on the road as they take on Sam Houston for their conference season opener. SHSU finishes their non-conference play with a 7-3 record which is second among CUSA teams and behind only Western Kentucky who enters league play with a 9-3 overall record. 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 ranks18th in the nation with 20.3 points per game.  Last month, 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 three double-doubles by an Aggie so far this season. This season, the senior ranks 39th in Division I with 9.6 rebounds per game and 1st in Conference USA. 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. 278 of the Aggies’ 779 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 SAM HOUSTON  The Bearkats headcoach is Ravon Justice, who enters her seventh season as head coach. She has made a statement in Huntsville with a successful coaching career with the Kats in just a short term. In two years with the Kats, Justice has posted a 35-23 record, going 25-13 in Southland Conference play. That includes going 19-10 in the 2019-20 season and 14-6 against Southland competition. The 14 SLC victories and the 19 wins overall were both Division I records for the program. In addition to the team success in 2019-20, the Kats also received some individual accolades as well with sophomore Amber Leggett finding her way onto both the all-SLC first team and the SLC All-Defensive team. Jaylonn Walker was named to the all-SLC second team for the second straight year, while Faith Cook became the second straight Bearkat to be named the SLC Newcomer of the Year. The leading scorer for the Kats is Kaila Kelly, who averages 14.3 points per game and has finished with 143 points thus far this season. Then second leading scorer (11.1) and leading rebounder with 8.3 per game for the team is Deborah Ogayemi.