HUNTSVILLE, Texas – And just like that, the 2023-2023 regular season has come to an end. NM State concluded their regular season in Texas this evening with a 70-64 victory over Sam Houston after Molly Kaiser (24) and Soufia Inoussa (16) led the Aggies to second half-comeback.
 
The Aggies trailed the Bearkats by seven after the first 20-minutes after the Bearkats shot 13-31 (41.9%) with five made threes in the first half. The Aggies had a better shooting percentage than the Kats (45.8%) at the halfway point, but were being out rebounded (19-13), especially on the offensive glass (7-2). The Bearkats were able to turn their seven offensive rebounds into nine second chance points, giving them the 32-25 advantage headed into the locker rooms.
 
Molly Kaiser went to work on Sam Houston's defense in the second half, scoring 22 points in the final two quarters of play after only producing two points in the first half. Soufia Inoussa also had a solid second half performance, scoring all 14 of her 16 points in the final 20-minutes of regulation, including two makes from behind the three-point line. NM State was able to turn their -7 rebound margin from the first half into a -3 margin and converted 14 more second chance points than they did in the first half (4).
 
First Half
NM State won the opening tip but was unable to convert a shot until their third attempt of the game which came nearly two-minutes into the first quarter. Tayelin Grays was the one responsible for getting the Aggies on the board, in fact, she was responsible for the Aggies first three Aggie baskets after making a pair of layups and a jumper inside the first four-minutes. Soufia Inoussa followed by making the next two buckets for the crimson and white with a pair of layups of her own making the score 10-7 in favor of the Aggies. The Bearkats were able to take the lead with just over a minute and a half remaining in the quarter after Mikayla Woods knocked down a three. They would maintain this lead the rest of the quarter and led the Aggies 14-13 after the first buzzer sounded.
 
Molly Kasier retook the lead with a made jumper in front of the charity strip after some shifty dribbling and screen gave her an open look. A second chance bucket by Madelyn Batista and another three by Malika Woods pushed the Bearkat lead to two with 5:46 to go in the half. An 8-0 run by the Bearkats game them their largest lead of the half (9) pushing the score to 30-21 with just over three minutes left. Back-to-back makes in the paint by Ene Adams cut the Bearkat lead down to five, but a last second attempt by Kaylee Jefferson pushed the Sam Houston lead back to seven as they led the Aggies at the break, 32-25.
 
Second Half
Sydnee Kemp kicked off the second half by draining a three-point shot to extend the Bearkat lead to ten - their largest lead of the game. Molly Kaiser got the scored started for the Aggies in the third with a second chance make from the baseline after missing a three-point attempt off the front iron. Both teams traded blows in the third period, going back-and-forth until the final minute of the quarter when Molly Kaiser put the Aggies within two possessions of the Kats after making another jumper and knocking down a pair of free-throws. Sam Houston still held a 53-49 advantage as the two teams headed into the final ten minutes of the regular season.

Ashlee Strawbridge put the first points of the fourth quarter on the board with a spinning jump shot off the glass putting the Aggies back within two. After the Bearkats were able to knock down a pair of chances from the free-throw line, Molly Kaiser raced down the court and scored a fast break chance from the baseline to keep the Aggies within a possession. With 6:09 left in the game, Sam Houston pushed their lead back to four with a couple of makes from the charity stripe, but Taylor Donaldson kept the Aggies within striking distance with a jump shot just inside the arc putting the score at 57-55. Soufia Inoussa brought the Aggies within one after she swished her second three of the game from the wing – she wound up finishing the game going 2-3 from behind the arc. Inoussa later gave the Aggies their first lead since the opening frame with a second chance bucket she banked off the glass as the shot clock expired. With 2:29 remaining, Tayelin Grays rolled in a second chance layup to extend the Aggie lead to three points as the two teams battled hard down the final stretch. This lead would hold true until the final buzzer sounded as the Aggies were able to complete the second half comeback, taking down the Bearkats 70-64 in the final regular season matchup.
 
Notes

• NM State finishes the regular season with an even 15-15 overall record, going 10-8 in conference in Jody Adams first season at the helm.
• This season marks the first time the Aggies are .500 or better since the 2018-2019 season when the team finished 27-6 overall, going 15-1 in conference play.
• The Aggies are now 3-0 on the season when they score 70 or more points on an opponent.
• Molly Kaiser's 24 points is the second highest scoring output on the season for the Texas native. She's now averaging 20.7 points a game over her last four outings.
• Soufia Inoussa's 16 points is also the second highest scoring game this season for the senior from Sweden.
• NM State finished the game with a 53.8 shooting percentage – just the sixth time this season they have eclipsed the 50% mark in a game.
• Over half of the Aggies points (38) came inside the paint. Only nine of their points were scored via the three ball.
• The Aggies go 2-0 against the Bearkats on the season and have improved to 3-0 all time against their future C-USA foes.  
• Sam Houston led NM State for over 25 minutes of action with the Aggies only holding a lead for about 11 minutes of play.

 
Up Next
This game concludes the 2022-2023 regular season as teams now shift their attention to the WAC Tournament with games starting on Monday (March 6) in Las Vegas. As of now, the Aggies are slotted in the seventh spot and would play UTRGV – a team the Aggies beat to open conference play – but will not know for sure until Friday when the final WAC resume seeding results are released.