NM State Aggies vs Utah Valley Wolverines Women’s Basketball 1-19-19

I didn’t realize until I sat down to write this, but this is my first live, in-person report for the year.  Today was promoted as “Space Day.”  Fans were encouraged to wear space-themed gear to the game for seniors Baylee Robinson and Stabresa McDaniel, and a poster was also produced for them.  I wore my crimson Star Trek shirt, though I think I was the only one wearing themed wardrobe today.  The team is recognizing their seniors for the next few home dates.  I am looking forward to “Brookie Cookie” day next month.  I’m sure Brooke Salas is cringing.  (Tell Aggie Marketing to stay away from her until she’s eaten a couple and is in a better mood.) 

Regrettably, neither of today’s honored seniors played today.  I saw five girls not suited out to play.  The rest of the team was wearing their throwback Roadrunner uniforms again.  Maybe it’s going to be a weekend thing for the rest of the season.  The Sundancers and the Cheerleaders were there.  The Roadrunner Review Band was there and they were psyched, I could tell immediately.  Oh, and there was a nice-looking tall brunette referee on court. 

There’s a new video board at the scorer’s table.  Ron, who was with me today, saw it when he was here last week.  The crowd was okay.  There were two sections of Utah Valley fans, but they weren’t sitting next to each other.  The group behind us was probably there for a player from New Mexico and another from El Paso.  They cheered for them during the introductions.

  

First Quarter

My mechanical pencil failed when I first attempted to fill out my scorecard.  I had to use my pen.  My concentration wavered several times during the game and there was one basket that I marked that was nearly waved off.  Somehow, I actually scored everything correctly.  I’ll use pen from now on.  (No, I won’t.)

Both teams came up empty on their first couple of trips.  I was worried it was going to be one of those kind of games.  #3 Maria Carvalho for the Wolverines broke the seal on the game with a three-pointer.  She was hard-to-miss on court.  While actually reasonably pretty, her hairstyle was shaved around the sides with the hair on top tied into a topknot which left a thin band of bare skin around her head.  At this point, she’d likely be better off shaving the whole thing and starting over. 

Ron was interested in #40 Josie Williams.  He was interested in her 6’5” height and being well-built.  He thought they’d be passing it underneath the basket to her all game, but that didn’t happen.  She had great hair, long and flowing.  She should really offer some hair care advice to her teammate Maria.    

Eventually, a few shots got in for both teams.  Utah Valley went to the nail on a shooting foul.  The Band started singing or humming during opposing foul shots.  I said they were feeling it today.  The first timeout was for the media at under five minutes, 5-7 Wolverines.  An entomology professor was honored on court.  PA Ed stumbled all over the various bug names that he was studying.  Most of the crowd was grossed out at the mention of them. 

Aaliyah Prince came off the bench.  She made a great steal from a taller player, but lost it going down court.  Kalei Atkinson also came in and came out firing with a pair of back-to-back three’s.  Brooke missed a three at the buzzer, but the refs stopped to review the shot.  During the delay, I could see the contestants for the Dino Dash fighting each other in the wings, waiting to come on.  The refs ruled that Brooke was fouled.  She’d make two of the three shots, though the TV coverage had already gone to commercial.  It was 15-8 Aggies after the first quarter.

Second Quarter

The Dino Dash contestants performed well, which is to say, funny.  The pretty ref was laughing at the spectacle, although she did call a flagrant foul on one of them.  Pistol Pete came by and shook my hand.  This was the handsome Pete, and I’m not just saying that because he said “Howdy,” to me.  He has a good manly look to him.  He’s perfect for the part.

The high-level of defense for both teams continued in the second quarter.  Nobody scored for several minutes.  Prince would pop a three.  Then, she got a steal.  Her and Tayelin Grays passed the ball to each other on the break, and Prince got the layup.  The Aggies went up by 10.

Unfortunately, they went into a scoring drought right after and Utah Valley got a free throw and a three to get close.  A gentleman next to me asked where Stabresa was.  She must be injured, since she’d played well in the Aggies’ last game.  This guy was really into it, yelling at the team like a parent.  (I was sitting there keeping a scorecard and notes, and I’m saying he was into the game.)  Specifically, he was getting frustrated that the girls couldn’t seem to score in the paint.  They were getting point blank shots, but missing them.   

#20 Alexis Cortez hit another three to give the Wolverines the lead.  Monique Mills hit a last second three to end the half and give the Aggies back the lead, 25-23.  I was really struck though by Mo just walking off the court afterward like she hadn’t done anything.  It was strange reaction in the lack of any reaction.  A little fist-pump would have been merited at least.

Halftime

A little girl dance group performed to start the break.  After that, a Cheerleader group from Roswell High School came out.  They marched out without shoes and proceeded to absolutely work it for a couple of minutes.  They were in sync and acrobatic and got the crowd cheering for them.  It was Bring It On!-level cheerleading.  I was seriously impressed.  Several people in the crowd taking video of the performance left right after, so they must have been their parents. 

Third Quarter

The band played the team in with Sweet Caroline.  I hadn’t heard them play that before.  They were really frisky today.  Oooh, I finally noticed some members of our champion Volleyball team nearby.  There was captain Tatyana Battle, Jordan George, and Ashley Anselmo (who I spent ten agonizing minutes trying to remember her name, I have the team autograph card on my fridge for Pete’s sake).  Ash looked really classy with her hair up.  Kiley Tonge seemed to be sporting a new silver blonde hair color.  Lastly, beautiful Megan Hart is letting her luscious hair grow out.  If they’d walked by at any point, I’d have congratulated them on their great season.  Oh, well.

On court, Brooke made a great steal at half court and hustled to keep it inbounds.  Unfortunately, the team lost the ball and Alexis turned it into another UV three-pointer.  Brooke was getting some points in the second half that she wasn’t getting in the first.  She was able to cut under the basket twice for easy layups.  The Wolverines did hit another three to take the lead. 

Prince was back in and hit another three to regain the Aggie lead.  Gia Pack followed that up with three as well.  Brooke got off a great pass on a fast break to Adenike Aderinto for a basket.  Still, the Wolverines were keeping it close.  It was 40-39 Aggies after three quarters.

Fourth Quarter

Oh, this was bad.  On the first play of the quarter, Brooke got knocked down to the court clutching her knee.  Thankfully, she was okay and kept playing, but she was in some real pain there for a moment.  That could have been bad for everyone. 

Prince hit another big three to increase the Aggie lead to 45-39.  On one possession though, the Aggies got like three offensive rebounds, including a great leaping one by Kalei, but couldn’t score.  Still on the same possession after the rebounds, Utah Valley committed two fouls and gave the ball back to the Aggies, who still didn’t score.  I’m sure the team will have trouble later watching the film on this sequence.

The Aggies nearly turned it over on a shot clock violation on another trip, but Gia hit a three at the buzzer.  Okay, now I know the girls are practicing these buzzer-beater shots.  While the refs reviewed the shot, Gia took a bow of sorts at half court.  That’s the way to celebrate those.  I was glad the refs decided she got the shot off in time, since I’d already marked it off in pen.

52-41, the Aggies got a steal on a Wolverines’ inbound, but still didn’t score on it.  Utah State turned it around with a steal and a layup, 52-45.  Timeout Aggies with two minutes left.  The Band began dancing to the PA playing Ah Ha’s Take On Me.  They were having a great time. 

Back to play, Tayelin slipped and fell taking the inbounds pass and turned it over.  She then committed two fouls.  Utah Valley closed in to 52-47 with 35 seconds left.  The Aggies got the ball back.  The UV bench started screaming at their teammates to foul.  They tagged Brooke, who sank two.  The Wolverines hit a quick three, 54-50.  Tayelin was fouled.  She calmly dropped in both shots to ice the game.  Nice comeback for the freshman guard.  58-52 for a good Aggie win.

The Aggies were really short-handed today.  Players were being cycled in-and-out constantly.  The Mills sisters were not scoring today and weren’t in for much of the second half.  Brooke Salas led with 15 points, 18 rebounds, and only one foul.  Aaliyah Prince was a real sparkplug with 11 points.  Gia Pack had 10 and Kalei Atkinson had 9.  The bench definitely stepped up. 

The Aggies displayed a new banner afterward for the Women winning the conference last season.  The Aggie Cheerleaders came out and unrolled mats out on the floor and brought out a box of trophies.  This was not for the team though.  Ron and I figured out that a cheerleading competition was about to be held in the Pan-Am Center.  If the other teams were as good as that Roswell team, the thought of staying was tempting.  However, I wanted lunch and they were probably going to clear us out before it started.

I’d been craving Raising Canes for about four weeks.  A new fast food place is about to open next door to it with steak burgers and ice cream.  I’m interested in that ice cream, since Canes doesn’t do desserts.  Instead, we went over to PQ Treats where I used a gift certificate.  I got a minty fresh Frozen Tornado.  While Ron was in the bathroom, Aggie Softball star, Kelsey Horton, came by and got dinner at the nearby grill.  She was hard to miss as she was in uniform.  The team must have been practicing.  If she’d come anywhere near, I would have totally fangirled on her, and my breath would have been so minty fresh too.  Even without being able to give any adulation to Kelsey or the Volleyball team, it was a great afternoon.