NM State Aggies vs Seattle U Redhawks Women’s Basketball 2-18-18

Photo from the Las Cruces Sun-News

 This is a great action picture by Gary Mook of Jeneva Toilolo from the game.

I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but after writing recaps for three softball games and a baseball game this week, this basketball game may get be getting a bit of a short shrift.  This was an important matchup in a tight race for the number one seed at the conference tournament.  The Aggies lost to the Redhawks in Seattle last month (1-18-18) and both teams have about the same record.  Still, after getting up too early for softball this morning, I found myself groaning at the prospect of attending another sporting event this weekend.  (Admittedly, I did watch the end of the Daytona 500 after I got home.  Congrats to Austin Dillon.)      

One quick digression.  The Aggie Men’s Basketball team lost in overtime Saturday night in Seattle.  I totally forgot about the game between the softball and baseball last night.  It was on the radio, but I was listening to the baseball game.  If I’d started flipping stations, my radio would have run out of power pretty quick.  They’ve lost two in a row on the road where they could have wrapped up the conference.  I really don’t know anything about the game to comment on it.  On the Aggie Coaches Show, Coach Chris Jans said he’d told the team afterward, “We’re not having anymore ‘Come to Jesus’ meetings after a loss this season.  The next time we have a meeting like this it’s going to be about the offseason.” 

I’d worn my NMSU baseball jersey to the softball game without thinking through how ridiculous I’d look at the basketball game.  If me and Ron hadn’t had lunch in between, I would have been completely disoriented going from an outside sport to an inside sport.  As it was, it was like switching channels between different programs, without a TV.  Inside the Pan-Am Center, I said “Hi” to Aggie fan Danny at his usual seat.  I hadn’t seen him at the softball games.  He’d just arrived from Silver City.  I overheard some chatter from some other hardcore fans who had been out there.  See, we aren’t the only ones going from sport to sport here at the university.

There was a decent crowd for the game.  Two different kids groups came, which will boost the attendance figures, even if they didn’t buy a ticket.  The floor where we were sitting was really sticky.  I’d told Ron about the Roadrunner Review Band wearing Aggie hockey sweaters at some point previously.  When he saw them, Ron wanted one.  They’d even fit him on his large frame.  During the warmup, I noticed the Mills sisters both had the same hair color and style again.  (I’m not sure if I mentioned that they’d changed in a previous game.)  Monique was still going with the hiked up shorts.  With legs like hers, why not show them off?        

The Aggies were introduced with a new video.  It doesn’t mention the “Back to Back to Back” WAC championships, but does feature footage from this season.  The previous one, with last years’ highlights, basically only featured Brooke Salas and Gia Pack.  The Aggie logo with the diamond star field background at the end looked good.  

First Quarter

The opening quarter was absolutely furious with the action.  Much like the softball game, I almost thought these teams had somewhere else to be later this afternoon.  The game ended up finishing in under two hours.  Without many stoppages, it was really hard to make notes on the action.  I got off on the scorecard a couple of times as I admired a few plays and forgot to mark the baskets.  There was also some scoring confusion as I had Kelsey Horton driving in Brooke Salas and Tristen Carranza with a three-point homer in the bottom of the second quarter.  Focus! 

I found myself marking a bunch of Brooke highlights in the first quarter.  She dished the ball to Jasmine Cooper underneath the basket for two.  It has been great to see Coop’s inside game develop this season.  Brooke poked the ball away from Seattle in transition which led to a Gia basket.  Both teams subbed a lot, as they kept up a fast pace.  The game got physical in the lane with Jeneva Toilolo coming in to guard the Redhawks’ big Kallin Spiller.  Jen is almost where Coop is in getting baskets close to the net.  She just needs to learn how to finish.  Hopefully, it happens before the end of the season.

The Aggies were hustling.  Both Brooke and Monique Mills dove to save balls from going out of bounds.  Brooke got another poke that led to a steal.  (I’m not sure if that counts as a steal for her, since she didn’t actually take possession of the ball either time.)  Coop converted the turnover with a reverse layup.  The Aggies led 17-12 after ten minutes.

  

Second Quarter

A cute little girl’s dance academy troop performed between quarters.  Their teacher was directing them while hiding next to the scorer’s table.  They actually performed second number later in the quarter.  One thing that was keeping the game flowing was that the refs weren’t calling a lot of fouls to this point.  Brooke knocked down a defender as she went for a basket.  No block or charge was called on the play.  Coop poked away a ball in transition.  Seattle must not have been protecting the ball well when dribbling. 

The scoring definitely fell off as the defenses tightened.  SU had one basket for three minutes of play.  The Aggies took six trips down court and came away with 0 points.  Brooke finally broke up the scoreless streak with a couple of shots in the lane.  She also dished one to Jen underneath for a bucket.  But, Seattle managed to tie it at 23 with three minutes left.

Brooke missed a three (actually she didn’t make one for the whole game), but grabbed the rebound, made the shot, and got the foul.  Later, Gia found Coop in the lane.  She ducked under two defenders jumping to stop her, then Coop came up and made the basket.  The Aggies retook had the lead, 32-28, going into the half.

     

Third Quarter

The little Pistoleros basketball troop came out at halftime to do their routine.  It’s a bunch of little kids dribbling basketballs and taking shots.  Again, it’s cute.  The Aggies came out in third building on their lead.  Tonishia Childress came in a hit a three to get the lead to 11.  She was pretty happy with the shot afterward.  Monique got an assist, finding Brooke in the lane for a bunny . . . no, no, no . . . I can’t use that phrase.  It just doesn’t work for me.  Brooke’s basket made it a 15-point lead.  Timeout Seattle, 47-32 Aggies, five minutes left in the quarter.  (The Aggies were scoring so quick, I couldn’t even record a couple of good plays.  Sorry for overlooking the players involved.  It’s not intentional.)

The Band played what I’m calling the Dixieland version of the Aggie fight song.  I noticed Athletic Director Mario Moccia seated behind the scorer’s table.  I hadn’t seen him all weekend, even with all the events yesterday.  Stress balls and Aggie hats got thrown into the crowd (on different breaks).  Pam Wilmore came in.  Brooke sat on the bench for a breather, though she expended about the same amount of effort cheering on her teammates as she does playing.  She came back in after a couple of minutes. 

The Redhawks had a chance.  Ashlyn Lewey hit a three that got the Seattle bench cheering.  They then got a fastbreak, but Gia managed to breakup an easy layup by Alexis Montgomery.  The Redhawks got another similar chance right after, but a bad pass ruined another easy layup.  If they’d made those two shots, this might have turned out differently.  49-38 Aggies after 30 minutes.

           

Fourth Quarter

Zaire Williams found Coop under the basket right off the bat.  That shot had to be crushing.  On another possession, Coop out-rebounded three defenders around her and took a shot in the lane.  It missed, but Gia got the next rebound, the shot, and the foul.    The band did a good job of harassing the Redhawks at the nail (the foul line, okay, that phrase, I’ll keep using).  “Hey 24, remember that layup you missed!”  Alexis did miss both foul shots.  The band also started chanting, “Agriculture,” during one of their possessions.  That was more funny than disruptive. 

 

However, the Aggies got into quick foul trouble in this quarter and it got worse as the quarter went on.  The team gave up the bonus with half the quarter left.  Coop and Brooke picked up their fourth fouls.  Brooke had to take a seat again with five minutes left.  The Aggies started running down the clock on their possessions.  Seattle took another timeout with the score at 57-45 Aggies.  Jacinta Beckley on the Redhawks fouled out with a minute and a half left.  Surprisingly though, they didn’t do more fouling to stop the clock near the end.  They kind of conceded.  Maybe the game felt closer than it was on the scoreboard.  My last listed highlight was 5’5” Redhawk McKenzi Williams blocking a shot by 5’10” Gia Pack.  Our final: Aggies 64, Redhawks 53.

Alexis Montgomery for Seattle had an almost unstoppable first half with 14 points.  She only had 4 in the second, so the Aggies must have clamped down on her.  In the postgame interview after their win against the Aggies last month, their coach said they focused on stopping Brooke Salas.  She didn’t have any threes in this game, so they might have focused on that here.  Brooke got 18 anyway, but I was just as impressed with her defense and assists.  That’s the kind of leadership I’ve been looking for. 

Gia Pack had great game with 21 points, but her best work were those six free throws in a row she had in the third.  That run put the Aggies in the lead for good.  Jasmine Cooper had 10 points.  She’s turning into a ninja under the basket.  The other girls just need to keep feeding her the ball when she’s open there.  The Aggies won this one against a good team going away.  I just wish they could play this well on the road or close to it.

  

“We had a successful day!” Ron proclaimed outside the arena.  It’s true.  The Aggie Women’s Basketball, Softball, and Baseball teams all won today.  Ron thought he heard that Oklahoma would be playing another softball game this afternoon, so we drove back by the softball field.  It was closed.  We might have been a little greedy there.  I was bushed anyway and needed to start writing up this long weekend of Aggie sports.  Thankfully, I had Monday off to recover.