3-13-19
vs Chicago State Cougars
This was nice: an afternoon game to listen to. Adam Young
sounded very upbeat to start the radio broadcast this afternoon as well. The team received some awards before the
tournament. Brooke Salas was the WAC
Player of the Year, for the second
year in a row, and was the Defensive Player of the Year. Gia
Pack made the conference First Team. Stabresa
McDainiel made the conference Newcomers Team.
A lot of Aggie fans were already there in Las Vegas at
the Orleans Arena to see the ladies
play before the Men arrive for their game tomorrow. The Roadrunner
Review band, the Cheerleaders,
and Sundancers were there with the
team. The Aggie girls were wearing their
turquoise throwback jerseys. They must
like them, because they’re wearing them at every opportunity.
Both teams were shooting well in the first quarter. The Aggies were firing in threes and Brooke
scored early, but Chicago State was hanging with them. Their bench was fired up. The Aggies went up to a 12-point lead, but it
was 27-20 after ten minutes. The Cougars
cut the lead close at the start of the second quarter. They were actually shooting better than the
Aggies, but they were turning it over more.
Eventually, the Aggies would capitalize and build up a 17-point
lead. Gia was on fire with 20
points. Brooke splashed in a pair of
threes to get to 11 points. Pam Wilmore, from Vegas, came in and
got a cheer from friends and family in the crowd. 55-34 Aggies at the half.
AD
Mario Moccia came on during halftime. He updated the listeners on the Men’s
team. Today in the area, we were under
some high winds, which grounded flights out of El Paso. (100mph winds were predicted at the St.
Augustine pass at the Organ Mountains).
The guys were stuck. They were
looking at a late charter flight or bussing to Albuquerque to catch a flight for
their afternoon game tomorrow. As confetti
from last night’s event was falling from the rafters, Mario said that a big
alumni event was planned for tonight.
It was more of the same in the third quarter. Gia hit a couple more threes. Her and Brooke came out late with the team up
by over 30. Aaliyah Prince, who’d been in as a sub, scored 14. Kalei
Atkinson came up with a big block in the quarter. 81-46 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter just featured the Aggie bench
players. Adam called out the CS Men’s
team for leaving the game early. Aissatou Fall scored a basket. A big cheer went up from the bench for
her. Pam got a mid-air putback for a
cheer. Chicago State eventually put in
their bench. On the last Aggie possession,
Coach Atkinson told Tayelin Grays to dribble it out, but she
went ahead and made a shot anyway.
Aggies
win 90-54. Gia Pack scored 28 and was 10 of 13. Aaliyah
Prince had 14, and Brooke Salas
had 11. The team was 9 of 14 on three’s. Your stat of the game was 33: the number of Cougar
turnovers. This was a good start for the
ladies.
3-15-19
vs UMKC Roos
Even more Aggie fans were in Vegas for today’s afternoon
game. They would need the support. In the first quarter, there was pressure
defense and turnovers for both teams to start.
It was a furious dogfight. Brooke Salas picked up an early foul. Adam Young
was giving breathless play-by-play on the radio call. He felt the Aggies’ zone coverage isn’t
working well to get rebounds. After a last
second three, the Roos were up 23-19 after ten minutes.
Kalei
Atkinson came off the bench to score six in the second quarter. (I like Kalei. She has a nice smile. Sorry that I think I’ve your name spelled
wrong in several posts.) I could hear
the bench cheering for her. The lead kept
changing back-and-forth. Monique Mills picked up a second foul,
she complained, and ref’s told her to put a sock in it. The coach had to take her out. The Roos were in the bonus with three minutes
left, as Brooke took a second foul on a charge.
There was a big Kalei three to keep the Roos from getting too far ahead. The Aggies got the momentum back and tied it
at 37 at the half. Whew, that played out
quick in under 45 minutes.
During the half, Tommy
Amico the Underarmor rep, came
on. He said that the women were wearing
their throwback uniforms by their choice.
They like them, as I thought. The
third quarter picked up right where they left off as the teams matched baskets. In this quarter, Aaliyah Prince missed a pair of free throws. Up to that point, the teams were 11 for 11 in
free throws. That’s pretty clutch. Ericka
Mattingly of the Roos had put up 22 to that point and gotten the Roos up by
five.
Stabresa
McDaniel answered with a three, however Brooke was sitting out with
three fouls. Pressure Aggie defense
started getting turnovers to tie it yet again at 54. (There were 14 turnovers to that point). The Aggies were in the bonus with two minutes
left, after a foul by Mattingly. A 7-0
run allowed the Aggies to take the lead with a pair of Dominique Mills’ free throws, 56-54. Kalei took a charge that caused a turnover
and a score that had the crowd going nuts, 58-54 Aggies. Mattingly fouled Gia Pack. It was her fourth
and we were tied at 60.
Mattingly was out to start the fourth quarter. Bre picked up her fourth foul. Kalei blocked a three into Roo’s bench. Both teams started missing a lot under
intense defense and pressure. Brooke got
a layup for a five-point lead with six minutes left. Mattingly came back in. Kalei got another block that had the crowd going
nuts.
Brooke picked up her fourth foul with four minutes left,
but stayed in. Mattingly got to 30 points
for the game with another three. From
here it got crazy. Brooke hit a basket
at the shot clock buzzer. The Roos hit a
three. Gia got a layup. The Aggies were up three with three minutes
left. Adenike Aderinto hit a jumper, but Mattingly got a layup and another
Roo basket cut the Aggie lead to one. With 90 seconds, Gia hit a jumper with the
crowd screaming the whole time. Mattingly
hit a three to tie it. With under a
minute left, both teams missed or couldn’t take shots that would have put them
the lead. Regulation ended at 75-75. There had been 14 lead changes to this point.
Thankfully, the overtime period was less dramatic. Gia basically took over and scored 10. Monique chipped in a three and Nike put in a
basket. The Aggies were up by ten and
the Roos were intentionally fouling when my dad called to see how the game
went, so I was kind of distracted at the end.
He hadn’t been listening and had missed a good one.
91-80
Aggies win! I was exhausted. I’d been on pins and needles since the fourth
quarter. This game was great, but not
relaxing afternoon entertainment. Wow,
even with the OT period, the game still finished inside of two hours. The game was played at a breathtaking
pace. There were 18 ties and 14 lead
changes.
Roo Ericka Mattingly
scored 37 to lead all players. Gia Pack scored 36, a career-high. She played the whole game. Brooke
Salas had 12. Kalei Atkinson had a big game off the bench with 11 points and a
couple of blocks. Afterward, Coach Atkinson (no relation) said that
Kalei guards Brooke in practice, so she’s used to a defensive challenge. The Aggies were -15 rebounds, but came up big
in bench scoring and in turnovers.
3-16-19
vs UTRGV Vaqueros
The Aggies were right where that wanted to be: in the WAC Championship game. They’d been on a mission since last years’
early exit. This Saturday afternoon
radio coverage started with the Anthem.
For all the WAC tournament games, Men and Women, they did the Anthem ten
or 15 minutes before the tip.
The Vaqueros brought some fans with them and their band. I could tell the difference between them and
the Aggie Roadrunner Review band
from hearing their playlist and skill level. (Of course the Aggie Band was better.) The Vaqueros band did play an electric guitar
rift on made free throws. It was hard to
tell the size of the crowd over the radio, but upon viewing the highlights and
pictures later, it was tremendous. Good
to see Aggie fans, who there mostly for Men’s Championship, come out to support
the ladies.
Starting in the first quarter, the Ref’s were calling a
very loose game. It was physical at times
with a bunch of no-calls. Monique Mills got the scoring started
with a three. Brooke Salas scored next on a finger-roll. Then she got a steal and another layup. Next, Brooke hit a jumper. Then, she got another steal and a layup and a
free throw. She had nine points in the
first three minutes of the game. Brooke
was on a mission.
The Vaqueros were keeping it close by making
threes. There was a humorous moment as
they directly passed the ball to Aggie Assistant Coach McAdams on the sidelines. “He’s not playing today,” remarked Adam Young on the radio call. Mo added another three and Brooke got four
more points off of free throws for 13 for the quarter. Kalei
Atkinson ended the quarter with a block.
21-15 Aggies after ten minutes.
Unfortunately, Aggie shooting went cold in the second
quarter and the Vaqueros closed in. Gia Pack did answer a UTRGV three with
one of her own. Brooke picked up her
first foul late and that put the Vaqueros in the bonus. Quynne
Huggins (pronounced “Quinn”), their leading scorer, went down on a
collision right before the half. To add
insult to the bruise, the refs called a foul on her too. It was 36-35 UTRGV at the half. Brooke had 17 points.
During halftime, the acrobatic “Trick Dogs”
performed. Even Adam was impressed with
the show. The players were going to
upstage them though. Brooke came out
firing with a jumper and a steal that led to a fast break layup. However, she picked up her second foul. Brooke stayed in a got a layup and now had 21
points. Gia was getting into it with a
bunny and a free throw that put the Aggies back in the lead.
It was a brief stay.
Huggins hit her fifth three-pointer.
The Aggies then had three bad offensive possessions. Adam could hear Coach Atkinson calling out plays “Pistol” and “Fresno.” Those apparently were not good plays. The Vaqueros went up by seven. Adenike
Aderinto finally broke up a 9-0 run with a layup. It was 51-46 UTRGV after three quarters.
Brooke and the reserves were in to start the fourth
quarter. It was a bold strategy. Brooke scored as the Aggies turn up the defensive
pressure. Even the Aggie fans got into
the act. They started standing and
roaring and caused a 10-second violation on the Vaqueros trying to bring the
ball across midcourt. Brooke’s mom was
there leading the cheering. Credit 5’6” Pam Wilmore during two sequences where
she was guarding a 6’ Vaqueros player.
UTRGV was still outrebounding the Aggies and hitting
threes. Brooke and Gia clawed the Aggies
back into it. The deficit was four at
the media timeout with six minutes left.
Stabresa McDaniel started
taking most of the shots and was making them.
She tied the game twice. Brooke
got a block on the last Vaquero possession and the Aggies got the ball back
with 18 seconds left. Brooke couldn’t
get a near last-second shot to go. There
was an official review of an out-of-bounds call that felt like it took five
minutes, but the last two seconds played out without a score. 58-58.
On to overtime.
Adam kept praising the refs for this game, but they were frankly a bit
indecisive. Here at the start of
overtime, two refs gave different calls on the same play. They had to consult with each other before
giving Bre a charging foul, her fourth for the game. Brooke picked up another foul and the
Vaqueros went up by one point. Huggins hit
a basket for a three-point lead, but Dominique
Mills made a free throw to cut it to two.
With under two minutes left, both teams seemed exhausted
and couldn’t shoot. Huggins committed a foul and put the Aggies in the bonus. Dominique made two free throws to tie
it. With under a minute left, it was 61-61. UTRGV went up by two. The Aggies missed on two shots, but kept
possession. With the shot clock off, Brooke
scored to tie it again. UTGRV had 24
seconds, but missed their last shot. 63-63.
Are there any scary words in a championship game than,
“In the first overtime period . . .” You
know that means there was more than one.
Both teams were now in the bonus after an Aggie foul. Gia got her second wind and made a layup, hit
a three, and got a steal. The Aggies went
up by two, but the Vaqueros tied it on free throws and went up by two with under
two minutes left.
Bre hit two free throws to tie it. One minute left, Gia made two free throws to
set a new WAC tournament scoring record.
The PA announced it on the next stoppage. The Vaqueros tied it again. With 30 seconds left, Brooke got stickback on
a Gia miss up to put the Aggies back up by two.
13 seconds, Bre fouled out. Ooh, some chicanery followed. The UTRGV coach said the fouled player, one
of the worst free throw shooters on the team was injured. She was taken out and switched with one of
their best free throw shooters. Adam was
in an uproar, but the Aggie coaches apparently didn’t complain much. UTRGV’s best free throw shooter made the
first shot and missed the second. As Justin Hawkins says on the Aggie Men’s
broadcasts, “Ball don’t lie.” With three
seconds remaining, Brooke was intentionally fouled and calmly drained both foul
shots for a three-point lead. The
Vaqueros weren’t able to get a final shot off before time expired.
76-73
Aggies win? Is it
over? Is it? I’m on the verge of tears. That was one of the most nerve-wracking
basketball games I’ve ever heard. I
couldn’t have taken a third overtime. Quynne Huggins had 19 points to lead
the Vaqueros. Gia Pack was the tournament MVP.
She had 22 today and 86 for the tournament. Brooke
Salas was on the All-Tournament team and had 29. These two played nearly every minute of the
last two games. You guys are excused
from practice tomorrow.
I’d wondered why the Volleyball team was wearing
sunglasses when they won the WAC Championship last year. Apparently, they’re handed out to the
winners, probably from a sponsor. In the
press conference afterward, Coach Atkinson and Brooke were wearing their
victory hats on backward. Brooke had a
piece of the net tied to her hat. When
asked about Gia’s performance, Brooke thanked her for helping her go out with a
bang.
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