Game 20 Preview: at NM State

Game 20 • at NM State
Las Cruces, NM• Pan American Center (12,200)
Sam Houston (13-6, 6-2 CUSA) vs NM State (7-14, 3-6 CUSA)
Thursday, February 5 • 7:00 PM CT

TV: ESPN+
RADIO: BSN (Stephanie Keele); KSHU 90.5 FM
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @Bearkats_WBB
Series vs the Aggies: NMSU leads 6-2

HUNTSVILLE – Sam Houston will be in search of its first-ever win in Las Cruces on Thursday when it battles NM State.

Tipoff for the game is set for 7 p.m. CT and will air on ESPN+.

The game can also be heard online on the Bearkat Sports Network and the Bearkat Athletics app with Stephanie Keele moving behind the mic for the Kats for the 2025-26 season.

KATS SEARCH FOR FIRST WIN IN LAS CRUCES
- The Bearkats are 1 of 6 teams within 3 games of first place with 5 weeks left in the regular season

- Sam Houston's 13 total wins are tied with Missouri State for the second most total wins in CUSA behind LA Tech's 15

- Sam Houston leads CUSA and ranks 17th in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 56.1 ppg

- This year Sam Houston has held every non-P4 opponent under 70 points. The only teams to surpass the 70-point mark are TCU (Big 12), Alabama (SEC) and SMU (ACC)

- Fanta Kone needs 12 more assists to reach 100 for the year and 24 more steals to get to 90. No Bearkat has had con- secutive seasons of 100+ assists since Britni Martin (2011-12, 2012-13) and no Kat has had 90+ steals in consecutive seasons since LaKeita Richardson (1993-94, 1994-95)

- Sam Houston has held 4 opponents under 40 points in 2025-26 after entering the year only doing so 7 times in program history, the last time coming in 1988

- Sam Houston has totaled 32 overall wins since joining CUSA for the 2023-24 season. The Bearkats have held their opponent under 70 points in 27 straight victories, and in 31 of its last 32 wins with the lone exception being an 87-81 OT win over WKU in 2023-24

Quick Hitters & Need to Know

-Aysia Ward-Strong and Pop Inmon had matching 14-point, 11-rebound double-doubles in last week's win over Jax State. It's the third time in the last 4 seasons the Kats have had multiple double-doubles in a single game and the first time since Inmon and and Deborah Ogayemi pulled off the feat vs Kennesaw Sate on January 16, 2025

- Ward-Strong finished with five blocks against Kennesaw State, giving her 13 on the season after totaling 12 all of last year.

- The Kats have gotten a heavy workload from 3 of its seniors with Deborah Ogayemi (37.6), Aysia Ward-Strong (37.0) and Fanta Kone (36.7) ranking as the top 3 in the league in minutes per game in CUSA play

- Sam Houston lead CUSA and rank third in the nation with 26.9 turnovers forced per game and is currently riding a streak of forcing at least 20 turnovers in 11 consecutive games

- The Kats' average of 14.4 per game. That mark ranks seventh in the nation per game and leads CUSA

- Fanta Kone led Conference USA in both assists and steals per game in 2024-25, becoming the first CUSA player since Charlotte's Laia Raventos in 2017-18 to do so. This year she currently leads CUSA in in assists (4.9) and steals (3.6) and is in position to join Southern Miss' Jamierra Faulkner (2013-14 & 2014-15) as the only players in league history to lead CUSA in each category in consecutive seasons

- Deborah Ogayemi has had 10+ points in 10 of her last 13 games with 3 double-doubles in CUSA play

- The Bearkats have 3 players ranking within the top 5 in CUSA in steals per game. Fanta Kone ranks first (3.6), while Aysia Ward-Strong (2.8) is third and Deborah Ogayemi (2.6) is fourth

- Sam Houston also ranks in the top 15 nationally in turnover margin (+8.16)

Series History
- The programs have been conference rivals since 2021–22, with seven of the eight all-time meetings occurring during that span

- Sam Houston and NM State were WAC foes in 2021–22 before moving together to CUSA in 2023–24

- In the most recent meeting, a cold second quarter put the Kats in a 14-point halftime deficit that proved too much to overcome.

-Pop Inmon and Deborah Ogayemi combined for 42 of Sam Houston's 56 points. Inmon scored a career-high 24 points, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.

Game 20 Preview: at NM State

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Players Mentioned

Fanta Kone

Deborah Ogayemi

Aysia Ward-Strong

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