NM State Aggies vs UNM Lobos Women’s Basketball 12-15-18

“Uh, oh,” both Ron and I said as we pulled into the Pan-Am Center parking lot.  There were a bunch of cars there.  Normally, this would be a good thing.  This time though we were concerned that that meant there was going to be a lot of fans for the other team, the New Mexico Lobos.  I’d told Ron about the teams’ meeting last year (12-2-17), where Lobo fans may have outnumbered Aggie fans.  Indeed, we could see Lobo fans exiting their vehicles as we rolled in.  While they did fill the Visitor’s section, thankfully, there were more Aggie fans present today, though (honestly) the Lobo fans may have been louder.

We stopped by the Toys for Tots donation box inside.  Ron came prepared with two sacks of toys.  He already looks like Santa Claus to begin with.  I brought a sleeve of Hot Wheels cars to go with the Barbie I’d brought for the last game (12-11-18).  Inside the box, well, donations were a bit slow.  They’re doing a Teddy Bear Toss and taking more donations for the Men’s game next week, so I’ll expect things to pick up then. 

The souvenir table was set up on the concourse today, as I expected.  I went ahead and bought an Aggie shirt to give to a co-worker for Christmas to make up for the giveaway shirt debacle (11-20-18).  (I ended up keeping the shirt, because no one else wanted it.)  The young woman there very happily completed my transaction.  I felt like I’d made her day.  I also felt $32 lighter for a frickin’ t-shirt, and Mike had better f-ing wear this thing for every Aggie Friday at work from now on.  I also picked up a raspberry tea at the concession to wash that bitter taste out of my mouth.

The Roadrunner Review Band was back playing (I admit they sounded a bit flat).  The Cheerleaders and the basketball team were dressed in throwback uniforms.  The team was in powder blue trim jerseys and shorts that just said “State” on them.  Also there were, not one, but two mascots.  Pistol Pete was there with the original Women’s team mascot, a big crimson Roadrunner.  (The team used to be called the “Roadrunners.”)  I think AD Mario Moccia had said they’d found the costume somewhere and, after a thorough cleaning, decided to use it for this Pan-Am fiftieth anniversary season.  The bird looked good and the suit occupant seemed enthusiastic and was having a good time.  Pete and Roadie (I have no idea what his name is) met with the Kid’s Club to everyone’s satisfaction.  The two mascots interacted well, without any mascot rivalry. 

Mario was there, of course, and met with the Lobos’ coaching staff before the game.  One of their guy assistant coaches looked very sharp in a black suit and red socks.  The Lobos also brought a couple of radio broadcasters seated nearby for the game.  (Ours were doing the TV broadcast.)  Their team came out to a big cheer from their fans.  The team had all sorts of different colored shoes.  It was hard not to notice.  I saw red, black, white, grey, bright pink, and . . . crimson?  As long as we’re doing fashion, Aggie Coach Atkinson was in a sleeveless cream blouse, black slacks, and short crimson boots.  During introductions, I noticed that the Lobos watched the Aggie intro video.  You can’t guess in advance which teams will watch the other teams’ video.

First Quarter

Hey, hey!  I got all the scoring right on the first try (well, second, but I had it right).  Too bad, this was not a game to celebrate.  The game at least started well for the Aggies.  Right off, they hit a couple of quick three’s.  Monique Mills got a steal, which led to a layup by Brooke Salas.  Gia Pack got a steal, which led to Mo getting a free throw.  The Lobos were having trouble getting their shots to fall in.  The north end goal force field seemed to be in effect.  Tom was in his usual seat, now surrounded by Lobo fans, and cheering up a storm. 

Still, the Aggies were playing nervous and were giving up turnovers.  Play itself could have been best described as rough and physical.  Gia made a great pass to Baylee Robinson underneath the basket for a bucket and an 11-5 Aggie lead and the first timeout for the media.  The Aggies then got victimized on a couple of bad calls.  At least the refs resisted calling fouls on all contact, which would have dragged out this game forever, as both teams were playing ferocious defense.  #4 Jayla Everett got a steal on Brooke.  Kalei Atkinson chased her down-court and Jayla rushed the layup and missed it.  Good hustle, Kalei. 

It was 15-10 Aggies after ten minutes, nearly.  There was an awkward end to the first quarter.  There was an inconclusive play with less than a second left on the clock.  .3 seconds were still left after that.  The refs reviewed the play, while both teams prepared for the next quarter.  The Lobos brought little fold-up seats out on to the court to listen to their coach.  That seemed unnecessary, since there were already seats at the bench, but how better to prove your superiority than to not use the visitor’s seats and bring your own.

Second Quarter

Dino Dash!  One of Dinos had all sorts of problems dribbling and actually collapsed at the media table in exhaustion.  As usual, the other contestant declined to dribble and won.  They should try to get the rules straight before the next contest. 

The Aggies offense was stymied to start this quarter.  Dominique Mills, giving up 5” and about 25 lbs to #21 Nike McLure, fought her for a rebound and nearly ended up in a fight.  Meanwhile, Aissatou Fall cycled in to the game for the Aggies.  While she was a bit larger, #44 Jaisa Nunn, another big body, started schooling her down low a couple of times, before Aissatou came out.  

A steal off Brooke and a layup gave the Lobos’ their first lead at 17-18.  Timeout Aggies.  I noticed Mario was at the media table and Men’s Coach Chris Jans was with him.  They were chatting, but Coach Jans was watching the game pretty intently.  I wonder if he has any advice for Coach Atkinson from what he saw, or would that be considered rude? 

An errant Lobo pass down-court nearly took out a cameraman by the basket.  Gia went over to him and asked if he was okay.  The guy barely wavered from getting the shot with the camera though, even with the ball coming at him.  The Aggies made a comeback.  Brooke got two steals and a free throw and a layup of them to make it 22-19.  But, more Aggie turnovers allowed the Lobos to retake the lead, 22-28.  Timeout Aggies with three minutes left.  Jaisa made a tremendous block on Baylee down low, but Kaeli hit a three with under a minute to close the gap to 27-31 Lobos at the half. 

Halftime

A little kid’s hip hop dance troop performed at the half.  Danny came over and chatted.  He didn’t like the Aggies’ prospects today.  He mentioned that he saw the Softball team out practicing, but I’m guessing that wasn’t open to the public. 

Ron got an emergency call from his caretaking job and had to leave, but swore he’d be back.  I sure hoped so, since he was my ride.  The Aggie Men’s Basketball team came in to watch.  I definitely recognized Ivan Aurrecoechea.  He spent most of his time on his phone.  I didn’t see Johnny McCants.  If he’d been there, me and some other fans probably would have gone over for an autograph.

Third Quarter

The Aggies kept it close to start the second half.  #21 Nike McLure came out of the game after a collision in the lane with Aggie Nike, Adenike Aderinto.  It was two big bodies crashing.  Brooke was everywhere pulling down rebounds.  #23 Jaedyn de la Cerda hit the first Lobo three of the game with seven minutes left in the quarter.  Prince answered with a couple of baskets to make it 38-37 Aggies.  On one, Brooke out-rebounded and tore the ball away from Jaisa (giving up about four inches in height and maybe 30 lbs in weight) and tossed it to Prince for a layup.

Stabresa McDaniel came in during the quarter.  From the Aggie Coach’s Show, I found out she hadn’t played in two years when she came in for her first game here last week.  Very impressive comeback.  Nike McLure came back in.  About the first thing she did was knock Brooke down flat in the lane.  She even hit the back of her head on the floor.  She got up apparently feeling okay; I don’t know how.  Lobo fans boo’d the foul call on the play. 

That probably wasn’t the pivotal play in the game, but what happened next was.  Jaedyn dropped in another three and followed that up with a layup.  Suddenly, it was 40-48 Lobos.  Timeout Aggies.  Out of the timeout, Jaedyn got a steal and another layup.  Even worse, Didi Echols was injured trying to break up the play.  She let out a couple of sharp cries, as the Aggies’ pretty little blonde trainer ran over to her.  Didi couldn’t even make it across the court and had to go to the Lobos’ table to get worked on.  By the time the horn sounded for the quarter, the Lobos were in control at 40-51. 

          

Fourth Quarter

Roadie the Roadrunner came back out, but this would not help the Aggies.  Ron returned, which made me feel a lot better.  He told me that Volleyball Coach Mike Jordan was sitting up above.  This was a big game.  Ron declined to talk to him, and unfortunately he’d left before I got a chance to congratulate him on a great season.  Across the court, Didi was now on crutches.  That was definitely not a good sign.

Since switching to the south goal, the Lobo shots were now falling in, while the force field was reactivated on the north end and the Aggies couldn’t buy a bucket.  The worst of it was that they were getting lots of offensive rebounds and second chances, but the ball still wouldn’t go in.  Some fan in the crowd kept yelling, “Shoot it!” like we were watching an Aggie soccer match.  (Read any of my soccer entries for an explanation.)  Turnovers were still an Aggie problem as well.  Meanwhile, it had gotten quiet enough in the arena with fans leaving early, that you could really hear Lobo Coach Mike Bradbury screaming at his girls like they were losing by double digits.

Brooke finally picked up her first foul for slapping down Nike McLure in the lane, probably some payback.  Brooke picked up her second knocking down Jaedyn driving the lane.  Jaedyn did come up smiling.  Lastly, Brooke picked up her third, stuffing Nike on a shot and knocking her down.  Nike is taller and bigger, but not necessarily tougher.  Coach Bradbury started taking his stars out, one-by-one, and they all got a round of applause from their fans.  Our disappointing final: Aggies 50, Lobos 75.        

The Aggies played 11 of 12 players on their roster and 10 scored.  However, only Brooke Salas scored in double digits (24).  Meanwhile, four of the seven Lobos who scored, did so in double digits.  Jaedyn de la Cerda led them with 21.  Late in the game when the outcome wasn’t really in doubt, I’m pretty sure her and Brooke were fighting to be top scorer in the game.  Compared to last year, I was impressed that the Aggies held the Lobos to four three-pointers, none in the first half, though the Aggies didn’t do any better shooting them. 

From the paper the next day, I learned how bad the Aggie turnovers were: 28, which led to 27 points and 17 fast break points.  The coach attributed it partly to the Lobos’ defense and partly to the Aggies not taking care of the ball.  The article also said that Gia Pack had been nursing a tweaked knee for the last two games.  This explains why she wasn’t shooting a lot.  She had over 20 in the last game against the Lobos.  This might have been a different game with her at 100%.

Autographs

I shamefully admit, I was a bit gun-shy about going down to get autographs.  I didn’t want to embarrass myself standing in line with a bunch of 10-year old girls, like I did with Volleyball (9-29-18) and Soccer (9-9-18) this semester.  Even worse, I was afraid of getting attached to anymore student-athletes.  I’m still hurting over my dear Aileen Galicia’s last game (10-27-18).  Ron talked me into it and pushed me down there anyway.

At least I wasn’t the only adult in line.  Assistant Coach McAdams was in line with his family as his girls were getting autographs.  (There were still plenty of little girls in line.)  I do see them out at other Aggie sports events.  I said, “Hi, Coach,” and he thanked me for coming out to the game.  That was nice of him. 

First up was Brooke Salas herself.  It didn’t go well last time I got her autograph (1-7-17).  This time Brooke was as pleasant and charming as she looks like she should be.  I congratulated her on a great a game, which was a bit awkward, as she did have a great game, but the rest of the team didn’t. 

Brooke was the one person I really wanted to say something to.  I more-or-less fumbled it, but told her that Coach Trakh would be proud of her showing so much leadership this year, especially at the Abilene Christian game (11-20-18) where she was coaching from the bench.  (During this game, she was also directing plays from the court.)  I think she understood what I was trying to say.  She said was just trying to help the team however she could.  Brooke also thanked me for coming out to game.  Aww.

I did not get to tell Kalei Atkinson that she’s probably my favorite on the team, apart from Brooke, but I did get a smile from her.  Dominique and Monique Mills are very pretty.  One of them has highlights in her hair, so maybe you can tell them apart when they’re not wearing their numbers (but I forgot which one).  I asked Aaliyah Prince if she’d gotten taller since last year, because I was pretty sure she was.  She laughed and said, “No.”  (I also meant to tell her how impressed I’d been with her this year.  Oops.)  Missing from our autographs is Didi (Rodrea) Echols.  She must have been doing pretty badly with her injury.  Given that there’s three or four girls out already, that’s troubling for the team.

Lastly, I said, “Hi,” to Adam Young who was last in line at the media table, not for autographs, just packing up after the TV broadcast.  I asked him if he called all of the WAC Volleyball Tournament games.  He did.  That’s great for him.  I had another question and I was kicking myself that I couldn’t remember what it was.  He told me to e-mail it to him if remembered (which I did in the bathroom five minutes later). 

Ron and I might have been the last fans to leave the building.  A charter bus left the parking lot as we came out.  Ron said, that was how most of those Lobo fans came here.  No wonder there were so many.  We had an excellent pizza at Zefferio’s and frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf, because ice cream is for winners . . . times when you’re smarting from a bad defeat.  Then we made a trip to the mall for some Christmas shopping.  Why not?  #Retail therapy.  Actually, we felt much better after a good meal and hanging out with a Christmas shopping crowd. 

Well, no more in-person games until next year.  We’ll try to get by.  Just a little recordkeeping here on that issue.  By my quick count, I’ve been to 25 Aggie sporting events this semester.  Technically, two of them didn’t involve the Aggies, but were at the Pan-Am.  I missed half of a soccer match, but I’m not counting four exhibition games I went to.  I missed one women’s basketball game, but that would have required me to buy a men’s ticket.  I roughly calculated that I needed to go to 28 games to make my Aggie Country Pass pay off.  I’ve still got four more weekend basketball games and the entire softball and baseball seasons left.  Yeah, that pass is a good deal.