New Mexico State opened Conference USA play by trouncing Sam Houston 79-61 on the road Thursday evening.
Senior guard Molly Kaiser’s team-high 29 points helped her reach 1,515 points in her NMSU career, passing Sasha Weber to rank eighth all-time for points in NMSU women’s basketball history. Kaiser’s fiery offensive presence against the Bearkats continued a monster scoring run for her this season, coming into Thursday averaging a CUSA-high 20.3 points with 264 total points.
Kaiser was the driving force behind an Aggies (8-6, 1-0 CUSA) offense that made 30 of its 47 shots against the Bearkats (7-4, 0-1), good for a 63.8% mark. Senior forward Fanta Gassama produced as well, recording a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Fifth-year guard Diarrah Sissoko was NM State’s main contributor off the bench, recording 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting.
The first quarter was tight, as NM State only held a 16-15 lead. However, the Aggies ran away in the second and third quarters. NM State outscored Sam Houston 20-12 in the second quarter and 29-16 in the third quarter, thanks in part to 14 Kaiser points in the latter quarter. The third quarter was when the Aggies played their best basketball, missing only three shots and draining 10 for a 76.9% mark right after halftime.
NM State played stout defense throughout the contest. The Aggies recorded 12 steals, four blocks and held the Bearkats to just a 32.6 shooting percentage for the night. NM State made double the shots as Sam Houston, with the Bearkats only making 15 field goals in the game.
The Aggies will stay on the road for their next game against Louisiana Tech (8-4, 1-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday. NM State plays its first CUSA home game against rival UTEP on Jan. 11 at 2 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Molly Kaiser passes 1,500 career points in dominant NMSU win
