Aggie women’s hoops closes season in Huntsville

Playing in its 15th game away from Las Cruces, NM State (9-21, 5-13 CUSA) met Sam Houston (18-11, 11-7 CUSA) at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum for its regular-season finale. A second-quarter surge saw the Bearkats build a lead the Aggies could not overcome on the way to falling by a final score of 71-55. 

Emma Christiano found Senoj Jones, making her third consecutive start, for the first NMSU points of the afternoon. Later, an 8-3 Sam Houston run put the Aggies behind 12-7 with three minutes remaining. Anna Csneyi put in her first of two 3-pointers in the opening frame, as NM State trailed 18-14 after the opening stanza. 

Returning to the starting lineup, Imani Warren posted eight first-half points to lead the team, while also pacing the team in rebounds after the first 20 minutes of play. At the break, the Crimson & White trailed 40-25.

While the Aggies held an edge in bench points (9-5), the Bearkats had the advantage in rebounds (21-14), paint points (28-12) and steals (8-5). 

After NMSU opened the second half with a basket by Senoj Jones, Sam Houston rattled off a 10-0 scoring run that put NM State behind by 23 points (50-27, the largest lead of the afternoon for the Bearkats) with just over six minutes to go.

However, following an injury to starter Lucía Yenes, the Aggies rallied and put together an extended scoring rush featuring field goals by Iyana Beh, Lucia Lara, DeAvion Wilson and Anna Csneyi, including the Szolnok, Hungary, native’s second 3-pointer of the day.

Csenyi posted a team-high 11 points in Huntsville, her fifth time with 10-plus points this season and first instance with the team high in points. The senior finishes the season with eight games of two or more made 3-pointers in a game, including five in CUSA play. Playing 30 minutes off the bench, she added two rebounds, two assists and one block.

That cut the Sam Houston advantage to just 11 (50-39). Heading into the final 10 minutes, NMSU trailed 57-40.

Fourth quarter scoring from Warren and Jones saw both finish with double-digit points, while Nikki Stanic tallied five points to post a new best with the Aggies.

Warren posted her team-leading 21st game in double-figures, totaling 10 points, with four rebounds and two steals in 29 minutes of gametime. Jones became the third Aggie in double figures in Huntsville, notching 10 points and four rebounds in her third consecutive start. The freshman forward found her groove to close the season, averaging 11.0 points and 5.5 rebounds over the final four games of 2025-26. 

Morane Dossou added a team-best eight rebounds in 19 minutes, adding four points, one block and one assist. The first-year Aggie closed the year with eight games of 10-plus rebounds, while leading the team averaging 7.7 caroms per contest. 

Stanic recorded a personal Division-I best five points, including her fourth triple of the season, with the assist coming at the hands of fellow Australian Keira Hudson. 

Wilson tallied the team lead with four assists from Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum, her fifth game this season with five or more helpers. 

NMSU dropped its 13th conference contest by a score of 71-55. 

“We struggled today with turnovers and fouls, a common theme for the season,” said senior guard Loes Rozing. “It’s hard to win games when we allow those extra opportunities. The coaches did a great job putting us in position to win all year, but we were inconsistent in following through with the game plan. I think each of us players has to learn from our results this year and grow in the offseason to avoid a similar situation next season.”

“It’s sad our season ended this way, not like we wanted, but I’m grateful for this team and the coaching staff, who always put us in position to be our best. This team will always hold a special place in my heart,” added senior forward Lucia Yenes.

Unfortunately, we were unable to string together four consistent quarters and put ourselves in position to win the game today, said senior guard Anna Csneyi after her final Aggie contest. “I want to thank Coach Jody [Adams] and Coach [James] Frey for recruiting me to Las Cruces and believing in me these past two seasons. I am beyond grateful to be coached by them. Our season didn’t end how we wanted it to, but I think we grew a lot as a team and as individuals since July. I’m thankful that I was surrounded with amazing people and was able to be part of the Big Belief.”