In the midst of a loosing streak, the New Mexico State University woman’s basketball team was once again unable to pull ahead of the competition, adding to the teams’ third straight loss in 2025.
The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, the current leader in Conference USA for women’s basketball won the matchup, 66-59, despite star guard Molly Kaiser averaging 23.3 points for the teams in the last three games. However, efforts from the Aggies showed they didn’t want to grow their losing streak to four.
The first half showed promise, even though the box score didn’t match the same energy as the Aggies were only shooting 32% from the court but they saved their best for last. Right before half time, the Aggies came up with a 7-2 scoring run to take a slim 22-21 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, the scoring run continued for the Aggies, this time putting up nine points to the Blue Raiders, four 4 before a timeout gave the Blue Raiders energy to start a comeback. Luckily, buckets from Fanta Gassama and Jaila Harding kept the Aggies ahead as the crucial fourth quarter started with a 39-31 advantage for the Aggies. But that’s when things started to swing out of favors for the Aggies.
(Photo courtesy of NMSU Athletics)
As the Aggies gave up the ball, the Blue Raiders were able to capitalize off the hands of offensive duo of Anastasiia Boldyreva and Ta’Mia Scott. The game eventually tied before a timeout had to be called to stop the bleeding. NMSU’s Molly Kaiser did what she could, getting the lead back with a step back mid range shot but Boldyreva tied the game, helping her achieve 27 dominant points on the night.
Kaiser put on her superwoman cape to get the game to overtime with a three pointer and layup to answer every score from Middle Tennessee with one of her own, getting to 19 for the entire game.
However, it still wasn’t enough for the Aggies, as Boldyreva and Scott had an extra level of energy in overtime to keep scoring and eventually win the game 66-59. With blowing a comfortable lead over the Blue Raiders being something head coach Jody Adams commented on after the game.
“There’s something that I feel like my team’s got to figure out. I take responsibility for the x’s and o’s, having them ready and things like that,” coach Adams said. “It’s just unacceptable. It’s unacceptable to come off the bench and make turnovers…they got to take this game more serious and match the intensity of their leader, honestly, which is Molly.”
Kaiser, the leading scorer of the night, shared similar frustration toward the loss.
“Obviously it’s disappointing, it hurts like if you don’t have a burning in your chest right now, and if you’re able to just go home and forget about what just happened, then obviously this doesn’t really matter to you,” she said.
She also commented on the responsibility lying with the players to perform the coaches game plan.
“[Coaches] are giving us the recipe to everything, it’s about us now,” Kaiser said. “They can’t go out there and play for us, like there’s nothing they can say or do that can help us win games right now, I think it’s us…the mindset of like ‘hey, they’re in our house, we have them, we’re not just playing to play the game, we’re playing to win.”
This is a message that the leader seemed to have gotten through to the rest of her team, as the third seeded Western Kentucky Hilltoppers came to the Pan American Center and seemingly buried the Aggies with a 30-19 lead. But the efforts of Kaiser, freshman Madi Gewirtz, and Lucia Yenes combining for 44 points and winning the game 64-59.
Up next for the lady Aggies is the Battle of I-10 in El Paso Saturday, February 8, at 2 pm that can be seen by fans on ESPN+.
