Huntsville, Ala. - FIU Women's Hoops will play New Mexico State in the first round of the 2024 CUSA Basketball Championships on March 14 at 3 p.m. ET. The tournament will take place in Huntsville, Alabama, with every game, both men's and women's, being played at the Propst Arena. 

Saturday, March 14 vs NM State

• Time/Site: 3 p.m. / Propst Arena, Huntsville, Ala.

• TV: ESPN+

• Live Stats

• Series History: Series is tied 1-1

*since 2006

FIU's last game of the season was also against the Aggies, where the Panthers fell 65-56.

New Mexico State jumped out to an early lead, ending the first quarter up 16-7. The Panthers fought their way back in the second quarter, shooting 52.8% from three in the 10 minutes before the half, and cutting their deficit to 31-25 heading into halftime.

FIU came out of the half with a fire, scoring 19 points in the penultimate quarter and taking a one point lead going into the final frame. NM State took the lead in the fourth using two 6-0 runs and did not look back, winning the matchup and securing the season split between the two programs on the season. 

Two Panthers scored in double-digits in the contest, led by Tanajah Hayes with 18 points. The junior came away with three steals on the afternoon as well, placing her at ninth all-time in FIU history with 189 career steals. Graduate student Olivia Trice also put up double-digits, scoring 12 points on four three-pointers, shooting 4-5 from the field in the contest.

Scouting New Mexico State

NM State (12-17, 6-10 CUSA) is coming off a win over FIU in the last game of the regular season. The win pushed the Aggies to the three seed, where they will now face FIU for the second game in a row in the first round of the CUSA Basketball Tournament. NM State ended the season as the eighth ranked offensive team in the conference, scoring 60 points per game. However, they rank second in the league in defensive points per game, allowing only 60.9 points per game on the season. 

NM State is led by the fifth ranked scorer in CUSA and first-team all conference guard Molly Kaiser, who averaged 14.7 points in the regular season and scored 20 points in the Panthers last game against the Aggies. While Kaiser was the only Aggie on the first or second all-conference teams, NM State had two players on the honorable mention team in forward Ene Adams and guard Jalia Harding. Adams, a senior, started all 29 games for the Aggies and was fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 7.8 points per game. She was also second on the team in rebounds per game with 5.4. Adams led the team on the regular season in field goal percentage with 52.4% shooting. Junior Jalia Harding was one of the Aggies best three-point shooters, shooting 36.4% from three on the season, and had the second most points per game on the team with 9.4.

The Panthers will aim to win the season series against New Mexico State and move on to the Tournament Semi-Finals on Friday March 15.

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