I checked out the team Twitter feed before this game versus
the CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners. Coach
Atkinson tweeted a “Welcome back” to the Roadrunner Review band after the Thursday game. It was good to have them performing. It meant that the arena staff wasn’t playing
that crappy rap music. The Sundancers, the Cheerleaders, and the regular PA were also back. The Old Man wasn’t there again. I wonder if he’s okay.
Ron was with me for the game. A nice lady at the courtesy table was making
paper airplanes for people for the halftime competition. Ron got one and tried it out in the concourse. It was a TV game, so no radio again. Ron was threatening to go talk to Adam Young about simulcasting these
games. I’d already missed listening to a
UTEP Women’s game on the radio this
morning. I don’t have their schedule,
but I’d kept tuning in, figuring they’d be playing. I’d missed them while watching Bring It On on a Mexican station. Eliza
Dushku seems like the unlikeliest cheerleader, but she really works it. I was also hungry and puzzling over the
concession prices at the closed Pan-Am
grill. $4 for a hamburger is pretty
reasonable, but the drinks start at $5.
What?
I chatted with fellow Aggie fan, Danny, in another
section. I told him that the university
had hired a new soccer coach. I’d surprised him, since he hadn’t known Coach Delgado had been fired. When you beat UTEP and UNM in the same
season that should be a job-saver. Danny
mentioned that he’d heard in the morning that a Grambling Women’s player had gotten a quadruple-double. That’s points, rebounds, assists, and steals. Very impressive. He’d seen the Aggies practicing earlier and
thought they looked good. The
Roadrunners were out on court practicing in very cool-looking blue and yellow
camo tops. Ron’s analysis from watching
them was that they were going to give the Aggies trouble. Their coach looked like he was about 7’
tall. If only you could teach size.
Pistol Pete was
out shooting baskets before the Aggies warmed up. It looked like a pretty good crowd
forming. I saw one guy with a Ramen
Noodle package print sweater around his shoulders. Weird.
There were a bunch of kids there for a halftime show. The Cheerleaders and the Sundancers went out
on court to perform together. A couple
of the girls from the different squads were fraternizing. (I’m still sure they all hate each
other. Different groups of the spirit
squads never get along, as I learned from Bring
It On.)
You could hear the Aggies roaring the tunnel right before
the lights went out and they ran out on court.
Bakersfield came back out. Some
regular Aggie fans waved at them. A
couple of the girls waved back. No idea
what that was about. They did some
synchronized drills without the ball and practiced free throws. Right before the Anthem, Brooke Salas was presented with a game ball for making her 1,000th
point last Saturday.
First Quarter
Seconds after the tipoff, the game was blown dead for a
problem with shot clock. Oops. When play resumed, it was a tight defensive
affair. The Aggies were in a full-court
press. Still, their shooting was cold
and the Aggies seemed to be being out-rebounded, as it was 13-5 Bakersfield
with under five minutes left.
The crowd was into it from the beginning. By that I mean, they were getting all over
the refs for non-calls against the Aggies.
Jasmine Cooper had the play
of the game. She grabbed a rebound in
the lane and made a no-look, over her shoulder pass to Tonishia Childress behind the arc, who dropped in a three. They should have played Sweet Georgia Brown over PA after that one. Gia
Pack wasn’t having a good afternoon shooting and came out early. Monique
Mills came in and was playing with Tonishia. The pair seemed to work pretty well together
on court. (But frankly, I’d rather have
Gia shooting the lights out.) It was
15-13 Roadrunners after ten minutes.
Second Quarter
Dance Cam! A camera
caught a senior lady grooving it to Michael
Jackson’s Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough. The crowd loved it. Even the referees were smiling. Unfortunately, the music kept playing when
play restarted. Bakersfield got a quick,
cheap three while everyone else was a bit distracted. The Aggies were subbing players fairly
constantly. Pam Wilmore came in for a stretch about five minutes in. She out-rebounded two taller players in the
lane and then got her own rebound after a miss.
The Aggies still weren’t hitting and went down by as much as 11. The Aggies’ high-pressure defense was at
least keeping it close, but they seemed to be giving up a lot of rebounds. It was 32-25 Roadrunners at the half.
Halftime
I keep saying the Aggies “seemed” to be being
out-rebounded. The halftime stats
actually showed them about equal. Where
the Aggies were deficient was in turnovers.
Meanwhile, the little kids, the Pistoleros,
came out on court dribbling. Balls, that
is, not spittle. I didn’t count, but
there were a whole bunch of them.
After their performance, it was time for the paper airplane
contest. Prizes were put out on the
hardwood and bedlam ensued as the fans were directed to bomb the court. Yeah, it was a big mess. The guy cheerleaders were pressed into
helping with the cleanup, while the girls reapplied their makeup. (No offense, just teasing a little, though
I’m pretty sure that’s what happened.) A
little kid won the grand prize of a portable grill. He could just barely carry it off. Ron said his plane flew too well and ended up
on the other side of the court.
Third Quarter
To start off, usually sure-handed Zaire Williams got her pocket picked on back-to-back possessions
bringing the ball down court. I think it
was Dalis Jones doing the
steals. She had Zee’s number and other
Aggies had to go on point. The Aggies
did pick up their defense. Tonishia got
a steal and went coast-to-coast. She
missed the layup in traffic, but Gia was right behind her to pick up the trash
and basket it.
Whatever the stats said, the Aggies still seemed to be
getting out-rebounded. About five
minutes in, the Roadrunners got two rebounds on one possession. Coop, on the bench, was standing and
screaming at her teammates after that one.
But Bakersfield came up with no points.
Brooke got a block in the paint to end it. The crowd really got into it as Brooke got
another block on the next possession.
Both defenses were tight enough that nobody was scoring for a few
minutes.
I didn’t see it happen, but Jeneva Toilolo went down hard by a goal. I was following the action back up court,
when the refs blew everything dead, then I saw her lying on the floor. Ron, who wasn’t even in his seat at the time,
saw her dive head-first into the post.
She was down for several minutes, in clear pain, as doctors and staff
were attending to her. The crowd
alternated between being quieted and angry that there wasn’t even a foul
called. They were asking for the refs to
take another look on video. Finally Jen
got up and was led off court behind the bench with her face covered. She was eventually sitting up on the table,
watching the game with a towel over her head the whole time.
This certainly amped up the intensity with the crowd and
probably the team. It was 36-34 Roadrunners
with four minutes left. Mo tied it with
a pair of free throws. With a minute
left, Tonishia put in another three to send the Aggies into fourth with the
lead, 41-38. The crowd was going nuts.
Fourth Quarter
Ron made the observation that everyone except Brooke had
come off at some point. She did play the
whole game. Ron thought she played the
whole game last Saturday too. Six
minutes left, it was 47-40 Aggies.
Brooke was scoring again. The
Aggies’ interior defense was fierce with her and Coop.
At five minutes left came one of the strangest exchanges
I’ve seen in a basketball game. The
Aggies got called for five fouls on one possession by the
Roadrunners. You read that right. Needless to say, the Aggies went over the
foul limit for the quarter. None of the
fouls were hard, though they were all under the basket. By the fifth foul, the crowd was getting all
over the officials. Here’s the
punchline: the Roadrunners only came away with four points.
Unfortunately right after that, Bakersfield got a steal and
a layup to close the score to 47-46 Aggies.
Brooke had a chance to break the play up, but her and Coop were already
in deep foul trouble. With three minutes
left, Bakersfield got another layup for a 48-47 lead. Two minutes left, Brooke hit a three, 50-48
Aggies.
Give up for everybody in the arena. Both teams and the crowd were all into
it. One minute, Mo accidently threw the
ball away at mid-court. Moments later,
she came up with a steal, a layup, and a free throw, 53-48. 30 seconds left and Bakersfield started
intentionally fouling. Aja Williams, one of the Roadrunners’
high-scorers, fouled out. Amazingly, the
Aggies didn’t commit another foul after those five straight fouls. The Roadrunners were then called for a technical
that sent Coop to the line. The .500
free throw shooter, dropped both in to ice the game. Our final: Aggies 56, Roadrunners 48.
Whew! That was a
game! Ron and I were really happy with
the show and the outcome. The stats put
up before the end of the game were not in the Aggies’ favor. They were 21 to 15 in turnovers and 36 to 41
in rebounds. The Aggies weren’t lucky to
win, but were certainly fortunate that their defense kept those mistakes from
turning into opposition points. This win
was also costly as Jeneva walked off the court with her head still covered and
her arm in a sling.
I’ll give the game ball to the team, as there were several
big contributors. Brooke Salas led with 18 points.
Tonishia Childress was next
with 11. Jasmine Cooper and Monique
Mills had 9 and 8 respectively. The
defensive effort was what really stood out for the team. If Gia
Pack can get back on track shooting, I like the Aggies’ chances from here
on out.
The sound of a multitude of bouncing balls by little kids in
the concourse followed us out. On tap
for dinner was an excellent meal at Arby’s,
though even with a free sandwich coupon, it was pricey. Admittedly the best part was their salted
caramel chocolate chip cookie. Those are
worth the trip. I was yawning all the
way through dessert from exhaustion. I
may have nearly caught something that afternoon, but thankfully got over it
later. I hope we get another good crowd
for the next home game. I think it
helped the girls in some small fashion pull this one out.
No comments:
Post a Comment