NM State’s women’s basketball team faced Louisiana Tech in Ruston on Thursday, concluding its last road game of the regular season. The Aggies were defeated 88-47 by the Lady Techsters at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Lucía Yenes scored the opening points for NM State, with Yenes and Imani Warren combining for 11 of the team’s 15 first-quarter points. After ten minutes, NM State trailed 21-15.
Louisiana Tech opened the second quarter with a 13-0 run. Imani Warren reached double-digit scoring for the twentieth time this season, marking her second such performance off the bench. Freshman Senoj Jones and Keira Hudson contributed six points during that period.
At halftime, NM State was behind 42-28 but led in field goal percentage (58% to LA Tech’s 54%), bench points (18-17), and blocks (1-0). Louisiana Tech led in points off turnovers (16-5) and fast break points (8-0).
Anna Csenyi hit her first three-pointer of the night in the third quarter—her thirty-first of the season and twentieth game with at least one made three-pointer. Keira Hudson added her first three-pointer since February 21 and finished with nine points.
In the fourth quarter, Lucía Yenes made another shot from beyond the arc while Senoj Jones tallied her fourth basket to finish with eight points. Marta Guilera scored her first field goal late in the game, which was also NM State’s final basket.
Imani Warren ended as NM State’s top scorer with twelve points, reaching double figures for a team-leading twentieth time this season. She also made two three-pointers, all such multi-make games coming during conference play.
Morane Dossou collected seven rebounds along with an assist, block, and steal over twelve minutes on court. Emma Christiano had five assists—her third such performance in four games—in her seventeenth start of the year. The Aggies totaled fourteen assists on Thursday, their highest since February 5 against Sam Houston when they recorded seventeen assists.
Freshmen Keira Hudson and Senoj Jones combined for seventeen points and eight rebounds. The eighty-eight points allowed matched a season-high conceded by NM State during conference play; meanwhile, twenty-eight turnovers tied their second-most in a single game this year—with ten occurring in just seven minutes late in regulation.
Head Coach Jody Adams commented: “There is a reason they are the number one team in our conference. They are talented, unselfish, disciplined and they play well together. Everything a championship team behaves like, they do, and they showed that tonight.”
Emma Christiano reflected: “We have to make our free throws, missing six in the first quarter is not helpful when every point counts. We also had too many turnovers and wasted possessions against the top-seeded team in the conference. You can’t do that. Going into Saturday, it’s crucial we put back-to-back quarters together.
We need to play organized defense, take care of the ball and finish on offense. For our next game, we need to come in with the same intensity and confidence that we do in Las Cruces. It is win or go home, and we have three amazing seniors who deserve to finish their careers the right way. All we do in this program is believe. That is not changing.”
Senior guard Loes Rozing added: “I want to give the coaches credit for preparing us with a thorough game plan each and every game. When we stick to it, we can compete with anybody – but when we let the details slide, it affects our flow. We gave away too many turnovers and committed sloppy fouls that were the difference-makers today.
We have a quick turnaround to play on Saturday. We are a capable team when we commit to the game plan and to each other so it’s on us to bring energy and fight to get result we want.”
NM State will close out its regular season against Sam Houston on Saturday at 1 p.m., streaming live on ESPN+; live stats will be available through nmstatesports.com/stats.
