Okay, this was the big day for Aggie sports. The main event was going to be football this
afternoon, but this was a great appetizer with the always highly contested UNM Lobos versus NM State Aggies rivalry. I
scouted the Lobos earlier in the week when they played the UTEP Miners in El Paso over the radio. Both teams went into the game undefeated:
Miners 4-0, Lobos 7-0. There were 1,300
fans at the Don Haskins Center and a bunch of them were Lobo fans. (It was also a double-header night with the
Miner Men’s team playing right afterward.)
The Lobos won by 20, 59-39. Miner coach, Kevin Baker, was amazingly ecstatic after the game in his post-game
interview. “Let’s see anybody else hold
the Lobos to under 90 points this season,” he said. (He also said the Miner girls need to be
tougher. “I’m going to tell our male
practice squad to knock the girls around some more.”)
So with that preamble, I arrived at the Pan-Am Center about 45 minutes early for the game. Tailgaters were already there for the
football game all the way to the very end of the parking lot. I bought tickets to both events at the ticket
office. Someone beside me questioned why
the Women’s game tickets cost more than the football tickets. They did boost the price of the Aggie/Lobo
game and were selling cut-rate tickets to the football game. They also asked me for my name when I bought
the tickets. We’ll see what comes of
that. Even coming early, I doubted I’d
get the giveaway shirt. (As if I need
another Aggie shirt at this point.)
Surprisingly, there were plenty of them lying out. There were two reasons for this, neither
good.
Shocked, shocked I was looking at the seats when I came in
to the arena. It was mostly empty. I just assumed there’d be a good crowd for a
rivalry game, especially with so many people on campus for the football
game. I could see the girls practicing
on court. They kept glancing into in the
stands in obvious disbelief and disapproval.
Again, I said, “mostly empty.”
While the Aggie booster section, which is usually full, was deserted,
the visitor’s section was full. The Old
Man was there in his usual spot, literally surrounded by Lobo fans. No wonder there were plenty of shirts
available (though I did see one Lobo fan with one).
The Lobos came out on court to a rousing (and horrifying to
Aggie fans) cheer. I’m not sure what I
was expecting, but they were a very diverse-looking bunch. A couple were in leg braces. A couple were big bodies. There was one girl with a terrible hairstyle
with little buns on the sides of her head.
I’d find out who she was soon enough.
In our Assistant Coach watch segment (I admit, they’re often the most
interesting-looking group on the sidelines), the Lobos had a beautiful blonde
woman that was very elegant-looking with a great smile. Being on the other end of the court, she wasn’t
able to distract me too much from the game.
Of course, the game itself would be very hard to look away from after it
started.
The Roadrunner Review
band broke out an “extended remix” version of the Aggie fight song. They also spontaneously went wild when a
promo played on the video board for The
Last Jedi. Taylor Swift’s Ready for It
was one of the songs played by the DJ. I
bought her new album last week and picked that song as a good “sports”
tune. (Yes, I bought the Target version
with the souvenir magazine. It had a
couple of great pictures of her cats.
The album itself wasn’t her best effort.
Ready for It and New Year’s Day, the first and last
tracks, were the best on it.)
About half the usual cheerleading
squad was present for the game, along with the Sundancers and Pistol Pete. The regular Aggie PA voice was there. He had some low energy to start, but got into
it quickly. He needed to make sure not
burn himself out early. All these people
would be working the football game later, and I pronounce them the
hardest-working individuals of the day.
I did see Tamera
William from last season’s team (and from my encounter at the mall) in
the stands. (Wow, she’s still gorgeous.) She gave a hug to the official photographer and
a few boosters on her way to sitting courtside.
Tamera was smiles, but after the game started, she seemed a bit winsome
(and looking at her phone, like everyone else in the world). If she wished she were out there playing, me
too. She did perk up trying to get a
souvenir shirt, of which the cheerleaders made two separate tosses into the
crowd. I think she got a Striking the Wonder Dog shirt (our
tee-retrieving football dog). I tried
saying “Hi,” after the game, but didn’t get her attention. (Hey, I wasn’t expecting a hug or anything.)
First Quarter
During the Anthem, a fat, old, hippy Lobo fan kept his seat,
F-ing with his phone, but he did get up to cheer his team. That was about the most of the notes I got in
for this quarter. It was incredibly
fast-paced. The Lobos took a quick 8-0
lead to start the game. They dropped a
pair of threes with about the same effort as an uncontested layup. Wow, me hearing these girls on the radio was
no preparation for seeing them in person.
Timeout Aggies. The girl with the
buns, Cherise Beynon, was unreal
from behind the arc. And it wasn’t just
her. A couple of the other Lobo girls
were doing it too. Thankfully, the
Aggies got over that initial shock opening.
Brooke Salas came up with two
steals and a block. Gia Pack would start matching Cherise, shot-for-shot. After 10 minutes, it was 32-29 Lobos.
Second Quarter
Events were still speeding along in the second. I can barely read (or not read) what little
notes I was able to take. Brooke was
still doing it on defense. The Aggies
were doing a good job rebounding, which kept them in the game. Eventually, Tonishia Childress would knock down a three to give the Aggies
their first lead of the game. It didn’t
last as the Lobos got a couple of strips and layups. A cringe-y moment for the Aggies happened
late when Brooke fired a fast break pass down court to Zaire Williams, who wasn’t looking back. It nearly hit her in the head. It was a bit awkward between them
afterward. 52-48 Lobos at the half.
Halftime
The band started playing the Aggie fight song to end the
half and then suddenly stopped part way into it. They kind of left the cheerleaders hanging
there out on the court. They led the
crowd to finish it anyway. Nice
recovery. There was no halftime
entertainment. Okay. Athletic
Director Mario Moccia came by, working the sidelines. He didn’t stay. He was probably visiting the tailgaters in
the parking lot and other stuff. Well,
here’s some stats from the video board (there wasn’t any radio call for this
game for some reason): Aggies 56% field
goal shooting, Lobos 50%, Aggies 53% 3-point shooting, Lobos 67%. These are NBA
Jam video game numbers.
Third Quarter
The shooting was stifled a bit as things got more physical. Unsurprisingly, fouls were also getting
called a lot more. Lobo fans started off
the third quarter standing, apparently until the Lobos scored. (Aggie fans stand at the beginning of the
game, until the opposing team scores.) They
ended up waiting about five minutes (maybe two and half minutes game
time). The Aggies scored 6 unanswered
points to start. The Lobos came storming
back. Memorably, N’Dea Flye went one versus three Aggies in the lane for an
uncontested layup. Madi Washington, with no points in the
first half, suddenly started killing the Aggies from outside. (Are parents just handing out
Internet-searchable names for their kids now?)
Even the cheerleaders were stunned.
During a break, one of the girls forgot to bring out a sign to hold up
while being held up by one of the male cheerleaders. 77-69
Lobos after three.
Fourth Quarter
Early, Jasmine Cooper
ran into one of the goal posts trying to recover a rebound. The crowd held its breath for a moment, but
she came up smiling. The rest of the
team was also undaunted. After being
down by 11 to start, the Aggies came back.
Zaire got a fast break assist to Gia for a layup. Zaire also hit a three to give the Aggies the
lead again to cap a great run. And
immediately after that, the Lobos answered with their own three. The kill shot was probably from Cherise a little
later, as she hit yet another three right at the shot clock buzzer to put the
Lobos up by 6 with a minute left. Gia
got a steal on a trap and a layup for the last Aggie highlight. Our unbelievable final score: Lobos 101, Aggies 93.
The band played out the Aggie fight song to end the
event. The fans enthusiastically chanted
along with it. If they didn’t get to see
the home team win and had to pay a “rivalry fee” for the ticket, at least
everyone got to see a hell of a game. I
certainly didn’t feel cheated. High
scorer for the game was Gia Pack,
whom I’m anointing the team leader after this game. Lobo Cherise
Beynon came in second with 30. While
I’ve had specific criticisms for the team after other losses this season, this
time I got nothing. When the opposing
team drops 15 three-pointers on the Aggies, shooting over 68%, I’m just happy
they could keep up. The Aggies ran into
a very good team today. OMG, 194 points
scored and I only missed one basket on the scorecard. I’m giving myself a round of applause.
There was one learned lesson here: Don’t schedule these
basketball games, especially rivalry games, on the same day as football. Even with a bunch of Aggie fans literally
sitting in the parking lot next door, most don’t want to go to two events on
the same day (or pay for two events).
They did this last week with afternoon football then an evening Men’s
Basketball game, and I’m sure it actually decreased attendance for both. No time for further reflection. I was off on a short hike to the football
stadium. Aggie Football’s destiny
awaited.
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