NM State Aggies vs CSUB Roadrunners Women’s Basketball 2-7-19

Umm . . . This is a basketball post, but I’m doubting the occasion will occur where I’ll be doing an Aggie Track and Field post.  They look nice though.  They’re pretty tall too.  Put a bit more meat on them and work on their shot and maybe they could play basketball.  There were some other new posters up front at tonight’s Aggie Women’s Basketball game against CSU-Bakersfield.  I will have an occasion to post the new Softball and Baseball posters here shortly.    

I was with Ron this Thursday evening as I’d taken the day off.  We went to the new Freddie’s restaurant before the game.  I thought it was okay.  The burger and fries were different, but not especially great.  I was interested in going primarily for the frozen custard there.  Even then, the sundae I had wasn’t as good as other places in town.  Ron liked it a lot, so everything is to taste.  I don’t think Raising Canes next door, with their great food, is going to suffer too much business loss beyond the near future.

We got to the Pan-Am Center way early when it was nearly empty.  Thankfully, a decent crowd would show up later.  It took me a minute to recognize it, but the Roadrunner Review Band was playing Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy during the warm up.  There was even a sax solo.  Much more quickly recognizable was their playing of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.  The Mills sisters were all smiles playing a little one-on-one against each other after the shoot around. 

For the Anthem, a pretty, but serious-looking blonde came out with a violin.  She played an excellent, stirring rendition.  It was part classical violin, part fiddle.  She was able to make the instrument sound like someone was accompanying her.  It was amazing.  After the game started, I saw her seated by herself behind the scoring table across the court.  She seemed attentive, but not interested, just downright winsome.  She was there for most of game, but left late in the fourth, when the game was well in hand.  I kind of wished I’d run into her before leaving so I could have congratulated her on her playing.        

First Quarter

The scorecard didn’t quite add up for me, but let’s just pretend it did.  The Roadrunners scored on their first possession, so we were not standing for long, unlike the last game (1-26-19).  I remember Bakersfield’s coach, Greg McCall, from previous visits.  He’s a very tall, well-dressed fellow.  Between his and Coach Atkinson’s passionate antics on the sidelines, I wasn’t sure if either would make it to end.

“Damn!” a Roadrunner player missed a wide-open jumper.  I don’t think she said it that loud, but everyone was too quiet after she missed that easy shot.  Brooke Salas came out tenacious on defense with a block on #54 Vanessa Austin, who had four inches and at least 15 pounds on her.  Monique Mills got a block on the next trip down.  It was a low-scoring, 4-5 Bakersfield, at the first timeout.

         

Jasmine Cooper, from last years’ team, walked by in front of us.  It took me a minute to remember her name, though I recognized her immediately.  (I saw her at the grocery store a few months ago and didn’t recognize her until later.)  She was there with friends, including one really hot one.  Wow.  (Unsurprisingly, she was there with a boyfriend.)  On court, a pair of professors were honored.  PA Ed had a bit of a time with one of them having a very Eastern European last name.  Ed also mentioned someone in the crowd and wished them, “Happy Birthday.”  The band started to play the fight song, but then switched to Happy Birthday without missing a beat.

Stabresa McDaniel, who we haven’t seen for a couple of games, came in after the break.  She was wearing a serious knee-brace, but she could play.  Gia Pack ran the point for a few possessions.  She was really harassed, but did some impressive dribbling to get the ball down court.  Aaliyah Prince got a steal and got it to Kalei Atkinson who was fouled and converted a free throw.  Brooke got her first points on a banked three off a great screen by Bre.  8-10 Roadrunners after 10 minutes.

Second Quarter

I’d noticed the Softball team was in attendance.  They were honored on court during the break and handed out hats to the crowd.  Some fans teased that they weren’t throwing them.  I was pleased to see my favorite player name, Caity Szczesny, was out there with them.  I hadn’t seen her at all during their fall games.  And my pen came apart while I was writing this in my notes.  This is why I always have two writing instruments on hand at games.

Brooke was left wide-open for a three at the start of the quarter.  Did the Roadrunners not scout this Aggie team?  She then got a steal in their inbounds and made a layup for the first Aggie lead.  Timeout.  The Band rocked out to Taylor Swift’s Trouble, a song from back when Tay wasn’t a sellout.  Brooke came out firing another three off a Pam Wilmore screen. 

The Mills sisters got involved.  Dominique Mills got a steal and a layup.  Mo hit a three.  There was some good team passing to find her open.  Ooh, Pam got her pocket picked clean for an easy layup.  Right before that happened, I noticed the entire Roadrunner lineup that was in had zero cumulative points.  I guess they were in for their defense.  The Aggies had a 28-27 lead at the half.

Third Quarter

A kid’s hip hop dance group performed at the half.  This was one of the few times I didn’t need to go to the bathroom at the half, since I went right before the game started.  I should do that more often.      

More sister act to start the third.  Mo got a steal and D got a layup off it.  Brooke then went coast-to-coast for a layup.  She got another block on Vanessa Austin.  The Aggies were turning up the defense and started hitting shots to make it 38-32.  Timeout. 

The mostly rather attractive Women’s Golf team was honored on court.  I would have picked up their schedule poster up front, if it had featured more of them.  It was Women in Sports day.  They threw out Aggie-the-Riveter “Guns up” shirts to the crowd.  It’s Rosie-the-Riveter flexing in Aggie colors.  They’re cool, but really seem like something a guy shouldn’t wear.  The girls happily accepted some promo shirts for their own afterward.  The Swim and Dive team is advertising handing them out at their Saturday meet.  I mentioned this to Ron, but he wasn’t tempted like I am.  (They will not have a shirt in his size.) 

#23 Miracle Saxon came out of the break with a bucket for the Roadrunners.  I’m just mentioning that because I liked the name “Miracle.”  Play was getting rough with girls hitting the deck.  Brooke picked up her first foul late.  I don’t know if she was being more careful on defense or if the refs were just letting the girls play.   The Aggies continued to add on to make it 47-36 after three quarters.

Fourth Quarter

Dino Dash!  Seriously, I think they moved this event to later in the game to keep more of the crowd around.  A pair of girls were the contestants.  One of them managed to get down and shake her inflated tail booty when introduced.  An extended cat fight ensued during the competition.  Their fight spilled over into the Aggie bench and disrupted their meeting.  It was like Peter versus the Chicken from Family Guy.  Don’t worry.  They were still friends afterward.  It was all in good fun.

Brooke started the quarter sitting out, probably more to catch her breath than because of foul trouble.  No problem.  Bre hit a three to increase the lead to 50-36.  Timeout.  Oh, I’m glad I came for what happened next.  I had some trepidation when I saw this developing on court.  Pistol Pete had joined the Cheerleaders.  Four guys lifted him up by his boots over their heads, while other guys were lifting girls beside him.  The entire group made a human pyramid and then rotated counterclockwise to display this spectacle.  Epic.

Also epic was Bre getting a monster block and a layup.  Things got a bit sloppy at the end.  The crowd actually groaned at one point after multiple turnovers at midcourt by both teams.  It was not in doubt at this point as the Aggies closed out a good 61-48 win.  The team did not panic when the shots weren’t going in and made the most of their defense. 

For the Roadrunners, #12 Alexxus Gilbert had a tremendous game with 20 points, including 7 free throw points.  #15 Malayasia McHenry got 10 points and was wearing a smart-looking pair of yellow shoes to match her school colors.  For the Aggies, Brooke Salas had 21 points.  Typical greatness.  She also had 12 rebounds for another double-double.  Gia Pack had 12 points and a bunch of other players chipped in.  Stabresa McDaniel had a great game back from injury.

I was nearly knocked out by the third quarter of this game.  While last night at work was very light on duties, the preceding days I was stressed out to the point of nightmares.  I think I’m still recovering.  I felt bad that I wasn’t being as responsive as Ron.  He started loudly cheering the team on in that quarter to help rally them.  Ron does not usually pipe up that much and was nearly losing his voice by the end.  He was completely jacked up after this win.  I was feeling exhausted, but was happy as well.  I thought my excitement for the evening was over, but then I caught the Aggie Men’s game on the radio when I got home.  I’ll cover that elsewhere.