I went back and read my blog entry from January of this year when I first went to an Aggie Women’s basketball game. Wow. I struck by two things. One, I used to write much better and more concisely. The more I write about these NMSU games, the worse my literary diarrhea gets. Two, in the time between these two posts, I’m not even going to try to count the number of women’s sports I’ve been to this year. My opinion of these girl games has definitely improved. Though I am still essentially girl-watching at times, I do appreciate the athletic competition and the athletes. And it all started for me thanks to a free $2 special promotional ticket given out by my workplace. Nice job NM State marketing.
I’ve been kind of following along with the girls since this season started. I was kicking myself on Veterans’ Day last month when I missed the season-opening double-header with the guys. I had that day off, and I could have gone. Amazingly, the girls’ game was on local TV and I was able to watch it anyway. That was a resounding win. The next week I heard their terrible 29-point loss away to the Lobos over the radio. Just last week, I missed their other double-header on November 30th. I had to be at work, and I missed the radio coverage (though I did get to hear the guys), but I was pleased that they’d gotten revenge on the Lobos at home. (During the men’s game, Jack Nixon did take a moment to say some nice things about the volleyball team’s season, which I appreciated. I noticed the tape for the volleyball lines was now gone from the court.)
Though today’s game was also on TV, I decided to go in-person. I figured their opponent, the Arizona Wildcats, was probably tough and that the Aggie girls could use the support. The ticket was $6. I don’t know if that’s the regular price or if it’s gone up. It’s more than the volleyball. I picked up men’s and women’s basketball poster schedules. I wanted the men’s poster when I noticed that, inexplicably, there was a picture of the volleyball team on it. (Okay, yeah they’re my favorites. I almost felt like I was cheating on them going to this women’s game in the same venue.)
The women’s poster was the same as the program cover above with Moriah Mack and Tamera William. Though a recent picture, it’s now out of date, since Tamera’s hair color is currently bright red. She was hard to miss watching on TV. The red works for her, mostly because she’s very pretty. I also picked up a Brooke Salas pocket card schedule. I admit I was kind of hoping for a poster of her. Maybe there isn’t one; maybe they just didn’t have any available. When my aunt saw her program picture from last season, she thought Brooke was cute. Me, too, but she’s very serious out on court.
The other woman I’d noticed from watching on TV was on actually on the bench, Assistant Coach Ashley Ford. She’s downright glamorous in her dress and (highly impractical on a basketball court) high heels. On the Bleed Crimson website, while looking at the game pictures, I noticed there’s a picture of just her on the court. How many assistant coaches merit game pictures without any players in the frame? My dad, who was watching today’s game on TV, asked me about the other assistant after the game, Blanche Alverson. Specifically, he asked how tall she was. She towered over everybody on court. She was probably in heels, so it’s hard to say. (She’s also nice looking.)
For gender equity purposes, I have to give a shout out to an Arizona Wildcats’ assistant coach (Salvo Coppa?). The young man was in the sharpest suit I’ve ever seen on a court. Seriously, he was the best dressed person I’ve seen at a game. Either the guy just looks good in a suit, or he’s got way better income than a college assistant coach should have.
I picked up a Pete’s Special at the concession for $8. The hot dog was good, along with the chips and lemonade. I’m pleased to give a good report on the concessions for a change. It was a little empty in the arena when I got there, but it filled in. I’d guess, from looking at past attendance on the program, there were around 900 there. I think a couple of the men’s team players were in the student section. (No sign of the volleyball team. I looked.) A large troop of young girls came in. Maybe they were a middle school basketball team. The seats directly behind the Aggie bench were filled by presumed regulars, and that section was full. (I guess they wanted to hear the coach Mark Trakh yelling better, though I could hear him from where I was too.) I was right behind them. I thought that Arizona would bring some fans with them, but the section behind their team was mostly unfilled.
OMG! OMG! It’s Chico! The El Paso Chihuahuas’ mascot was in the house! And, and can it be? Yes! Pistol Pete was here too. My two favorite mascots together! It’s a dream come true. Oh, oh, will they? Yes! They meet on court and shake hands! I’ve gotten my money’s worth and the game hasn’t even started! [JDH grits his teeth, “Of course I didn’t have a camera to record this historic moment.”] Chico jammed with the band briefly and mostly worked the crowd. Pete handled the floor.
The cheerleaders, the Sundancers, and some of the Aggie Pride band were present playing behind the south goal. Excuse me, they are the Roadrunner Review, as per the PA. (Though I’m sure they’re part of the band.) They played an excellent live Anthem. For the player introductions, the lights went out and spotlights came on. The promo video was a bit low-key compared to volleyball one, but more emphatic in the message: “Back-to-back WAC champions. This . . . Is . . . Our . . . House!” Some of the Wildcat players watched it play, perhaps comparing production values with their own.
1st Qtr
Hey, I noticed there was a basketball scorecard with the program. I’d never seen one of these before. I sure wasn’t prepared to fill it out either, but I gave it a shot. Given the speed of the game, I could probably keep the scorecard or take notes, but not both, not well. I gave up on scoring the Wildcats and tried to keep up with the Aggies. The PA asked everyone to stay standing after the tip off until the opponents scored. Standing then and at other times, did make it hard to write or score anything.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo was running their “mea culpa” commercials in the arena and on TV. (I could see a TV monitor on the sidelines from where I was sitting). They’re promising to fix unspecified problems. These guys must be paying the university really well for NMSU to put up with this kind of embarrassing publicity during their sporting events. My workplace bank, who used to be a big sponsor, has more or less committed marketing funds to the local high schools, but still likes to say they support the university with various ticket buys for employees and customers. They sponsored the new club at the football stadium so they’d have good seats for the annual Cruces-Mayfield game. Consider this a Local Business 101 lesson.
Let’s talk about the actual game finally. Forgive me for playing favorites, but I kept my eye on #2 Brooke Salas and #21 Tamara William for most of the game. They’re pretty much the stars of the team, and Brooke’s long blonde hair and Tamara’s bright red hair stood out on the court. They were also crowd favorites during the introductions. By the north goal, a little girl had a “I wanna be like Brooke” sign. The cheerleaders threw some hats into the crowd during a break. They handed the little girl one.
Before the first TV timeout, I saw Tamara really hustling and Brooke had three steals (by my count). However, the shots just wouldn’t fall in for the Aggies. Several times, balls circled the iron before lipping out. The girls weren’t putting those clean shots into the bottom of the net. Maybe some jitters or the rim was being picky. The most emblematic moment was near the end of the quarter. The Aggies took three close shots, got two rebounds, and all they had to show for the trip for a foul on Brooke. There was also strange play where Brooke made an inside pass into traffic in the lane. It deflected off three players before another Aggie finally caught it. Even with frustrating offense, the Aggies’ defense had held. 10-16 Arizona by the end of the quarter.
2nd Qtr
The Aggies were still stone cold shooting. Tamara had a great steal and made a break for the basket and picked up a couple of foul shots. The Wildcats were also getting fouled, but not converting on most of their shots. #50 Tyesha Taylor entered the game as many of the starters cycled out. She got the first Aggie field goal six minutes into the quarter and got a great block defensively. That was a definite spark as the team had gone down by 8. They finished the half at 24-26 Arizona. The little girl that me and my boss keep seeing at various Aggie sporting events was on “Flex Cam” (“Show us your guns!”) during a break. She must be at about every home sporting event. I wonder if she’ll be on an Aggie team someday.
Halftime
I returned from the bathroom to see kids in banana suits riding trikes around an obstacle course on court and then trying to dunk into miniature basketball goal. Did I drop some LSD in the bathroom or was I witnessing some sort of avant garde performance art? This is what I get for walking out at the buzzer. Chico and Pete, egged on by the PA, decided to start trying to take half-court shots in a battle of the mascots. This went about as well as you’d imagine. All this event needed was “Sweet Georgia Brown” playing in the background to complete gag. Eventually, they started moving closer and closer to the goal. The band leader also coaxed into taking a free throw shot. In the end, it was Chico 2, Pete 0. Pistol Pete went back to doing what he does best, dancing Gangnam style. Chico disappeared.
I should mention the PA wasn’t the usual older baritone fellow, who did most of the volleyball games. I think it was the young man who called the soccer matches. He did a really good job, though he may have missed making a few play and foul calls on court, which made it really hard to even try to keep the scorecard. Since the game was on TV, there was no radio call to fall back on. Elsewhere, the cheerleaders took a break sitting in the stands, but a little six year old girl in an Aggie cheerleading outfit danced on the stairs beside them to keep the cheer going.
3rd Qtr
Brooke was not smiling. I don’t know if it was how her game going today or if she never smiles during a game. She looks like someone who should be smiling. The halftime stats that I just barely caught on the video board had the Aggies shooting 32% to Arizona’s 40%. That is nothing to smile about. Free throws had the Aggies at 50% and the Wildcats at about 30%. This might be why the score was still close.
It was not going well. With the Aggies not playing up tempo or making outside shots, the Wildcat’s zone was nearly impenetrable. They moved in unison, like a single organism, wherever the Aggies passed the ball. By the first media timeout early in the quarter, Coach Trakh was screaming. The crowd, however, had gone quiet with the score at 27-35 Arizona. Tamara stepped up and got a steal for a layup that got the team going again. Brooke hit a three and got a steal on defense. Tamara just missed another three right before the buzzer. 36-41 Arizona after three quarters.
4th Qtr
The Aggies closed to 41-43. Tamara and Brooke got a fast break layup. Ah, that’s what I’ve been wanting to see. The Aggies got a stop on defense, but lost it on their end, which led to a layup and a foul on the other end. The coach called Brooke over afterward and chewed her out by herself on the court. Whew. There was an unexplained extended timeout. People were looking over at the Wildcats’ bench. Was there a player down? No, apparently it was fan. The person was in bad enough shape that the University fire department was there tending to them. The person was taken off on a stretcher and a gave a thumbs up to the politely applauding fans. I don’t know what happened. Dad said the TV didn’t offer much of an explanation either.
During the lengthy break, I saw Athletic Director Mario Moccia pacing along the sidelines. I saw Brooke finally smile in the huddle with the other girls. The coach came running back on to the court from the stands. He’d probably gone to the bathroom. Back to the game, Arizona started a running game with four minutes left and the score close. Tamara stopped one fast break, slapping a ball out of bounds, but the Wildcats scored several quick baskets. Tamara ended the run on a steal and a layup. #12 Zaire Williams put up a three-pointer. Tamara was fouled and the Aggies finally take the lead on free throws, 54-53 with 2:45 left in the game. The band plays the 80’s classic “Word up,” and the crowd is on their feet. Arizona made a free throw to tie it at 56-56. With 34 seconds left, the Aggies held for one shot, but it didn’t go. The Wildcats got the ball back with a bit more than a second, but weren’t able to get a good shot off. Let’s keep playing.
Overtime
It’s too bad Chico left. He missed a good game. Unfortunately, the Aggies came out cold again. Arizona scored the first 6 points, until #30 Gia Pack (what a great name) hit a three to make it 61-64. That was as close as they got. The Aggies turned it over three more times. The fouling started and there was a technical or a flagrant foul mixed in. Tamara fouled out and got a nice round of applause as she came off. Our final was 63-74 Wildcats.
From the scoreboard (certainly not my borderline useless scorekeeping), Tamara William was the Aggie high scorer in the game at 17. Her foul-shooting may have kept the Aggies in the game. I don’t think anyone else on the team had double figures. (I could certainly be wrong). She really showed some leadership out there. I have to recognize Tyesha Taylor too. Honestly, she’s not built like a baller (more like a linebacker), but she came up big when the team needed it. Arizona was led by #14 Malena Washington at 26. Not to diminish that, but she got a lot of free throw points at the end as the Wildcats pulled away. If they’d been hitting their free throws earlier, this game wouldn’t have gone to overtime.
I’m no basketball analyst, so my opinions aren’t worth anything here probably. These teams were pretty evenly matched today. On a day with Brooke Salas playing better, it might have been a different story. She didn’t appear to be injured or sick, just not shooting well. (I have her at 5 points and three fouls, though she did contribute a lot on defense.) According to the program, she’s leading the team in scoring this season. I wonder if this is what happened last month in Albuquerque when the team laid an egg. Brooke is a sophomore, so these occasional cold streaks may happen.
Without the offense, the Aggies still did a pretty good job on defense, at least until the overtime, and that kept them in the game. Arizona’s zone defense appeared to be stifling the Aggies’ predominately half-court offense. I’m sure there was a way to take advantage of Arizona playing mostly zone, but I guess without your leading scorer, there wasn’t much strategy the coach could work. Whenever it became a running, full-court game, Arizona appeared to have the advantage, so that might not have been a good option either.
A bunch of little kids charged the court after the game for autographs. I saw Brooke signing hats and shirts, along with the other girls. The kids seemed to be gravitating towards Brooke first. The little girl with the sign got her new hat signed. I hope they’ll do a formal autograph session sometime after a game like the volleyball team did (because it’s too embarrassing for adults to go out on court and ask for them when kids are out on the court doing it, at least that’s my excuse).
When I got home, there was a message waiting from my dad. The TV station had cut off the game with three minutes left in regulation, and he wanted to know what happened! Sunday afternoon programming that didn’t involve football and you couldn’t let the game run over, sheesh. Shame on you local CW. This was the only game on the schedule I’d really planned on going to, but now I’d like to go back, if for no other reason than to see a win and to see Brooke a couple of dimes (20 points) on somebody. The next home game isn’t until New Years Eve, which is right after what’s going to be a long night at work, and I don’t know if I can get anyone to go with me, but hopefully I can make it.
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