It was a solo flight today. Dad had already backed out of going earlier
in the week. He was afraid of the crowd
at the game and getting sick. As if to
prove the point, Ron called me Saturday morning and said he had the flu. He thought he caught it at the Men’s game last week. Oh well.
Let’s quickly recap the Aggies’ last two games.
1-12-20 at UMKC Roos
I had no coverage of this
weather-delayed game. It was scheduled
for Saturday, but was moved because of a winter storm in the area. The Sunday reschedule was a 56-52 loss for the Aggies. They had the lead with two minutes left, but
lost it on a 9-0 Roo run. From the
stats, it looked like they won it on the free throw line with great foul shooting. Amanda
Soderqvist busted out with 13 points to lead the Aggies. Gia
Pack had 11.
1-16-20
vs Utah Valley Wolverines
I was able to watch most of the first half on the WAC Digital Network. Nana
Sule was out tonight. Micayla Buckner started as the Aggies
were trying to combat a taller team in the Wolverines. UV is the best defensive team in WAC, but not
that great on offense. In the first
half, the Aggies worked out a good lead with Gia Pack scoring early and often.
They went on a 10-0 run, as UV went scoreless for five minutes. In the second, Aaliyah Prince came in shot well.
Gia was still hot shooting. UV
got close, but it was 31-25 at the half.
Halftime at the Pan-Am
Center featured a Paper Airplane contest for the fans. Aggievision ran a piece on Striking the Wonder Dog. For some reason the camera kept showing lots
of shots of Utah Valley’s travelling fans.
I know that attendance wasn’t that great, but I’m sure there were plenty
more Aggie fans there.
UV had a brief lead in the third quarter. They led again in the fourth with an 8-0 run
and a 6-point lead, as the Aggies went on a five-minute scoring drought. The Wolverines figured out they only needed
to stop Gia and started triple-teaming her.
Encouragingly, the Aggies made a bunch of free throws late to keep it
close, but couldn’t hit the jumpers when they needed them.
Utah Valley took it 58-54. Perhaps worse, this broke the Aggies’ 23-game
home conference winning streak. The
Wolverines had used their size to get a lot of points in the paint. Gia
Pack had a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds. The rest of the team was a bit of a
no-show. Starter Amanda Soderqvist had zero points.
Coach Atkinson didn’t even do
a postgame interview, so she must have been pissed.
Back to the present, I arrived at the Pan-Am Center. I saw the
lovely Grace Laporte at the courtesy table.
She asked if I’d like to guess the number of the golf balls in a jar for
a contest. For the second time (10-18-19), I declined to participate.
I’m sorry. I just wasn’t into the
prize. I ran into fan Danny in the
concourse. He mentioned that the Aggies
had beaten Chicago State by the
fewest points this season by any team, except for a Division II team. He wasn’t sold on them this season.
The Roadrunner
Revue was practicing on the south end of the concourse when I got
there. They started playing and marching
around the building after I sat down.
The drummer and guitarist for the band were left behind on the band
platform, looking forlorn. I sat down with fans Mike, Rob, and Mina. Mike said Danny wasn’t sitting with them
anymore, but he didn’t know why. Oooh,
fan drama.
Boy, did I F this scorecard up. I wasn’t even close. What can I say? There was a bunch of action. I’m here watch the game, not the
scorecard. Before the game, I couldn’t
help but notice the Redhawks’ personnel
advantage over the Aggies, 16 to 11. Out
on court though, I only counted 14 Seattle U players. For the Aggies, Nana Sule was not suited up to play. Judging by her limited playing time today, I
think Aaliyah Prince wasn’t entirely
good to go either. (Not to mention, there
was another player injured during the game.)
The Redhawks had several tall white girls on the
team. Pretty Georgia Kehoe (top) from Australia caught my eye. [Edit:
Holy crap! One Internet search later, I
found out she’s an actual model.] Guard Kamira
Sanders (bottom) was also attractive.
She had this incredible mass of curls on top of her head and had intense
eyes. She reminded me a bit of streamer Brittany Venti. Her game play
and attitude were also intense. (It’s
not my fault that most of the opposing teams have been better-looking this
season.) Chinwe Ezeonu had a fun name to hear PA Ed call during the game.
There was kind of a light crowd for this Saturday noon
game. Looking at attendance for this
season, it’s been going down. Amanda Soderqvist and Micayla Buckner started today. I don’t know if Aaliyah lost her spot or
still wasn’t feeling well from being sick a couple of weeks ago.
First
Quarter
Both teams were shooting well to start. SU’s Courtney
Murphy hit a three at the buzzer.
Amanda answered immediately with a three. SU subbed in several players early. The Aggies subbed Adenike Aderinto in for Micayla.
Kamira made a splash with a steal and a layup. The Redhawks were up 15-10 with three minutes
left in the fast-moving quarter at the first timeout.
Aaliyah came in with one minute left in the quarter. Gia
Pack took a hard fall earlier, then she was hit on the nose on an inbounds
and had to come out. It was getting a
bit rough. Kamira was involved in two
straight turnovers right before the end of the quarter. Amanda fouled her at the buzzer. The refs checked to see if it was
flagrant. The Dinos for the dash contest
were waiting in the wings for the decision.
Kamira was just awarded free throws.
Somebody in the band yelled out, “You stink!” during the attempts. That was rude (and pathetic for a
taunt). 25-12 SU.
Second
Quarter
Dino Dash! The
contest with the T-Rex costumed contestants was even better with added Grace
Laporte assisting. Back to play, Kamira
was on a tear. She got a layup and had a
block/steal on defense right after. Gia
was taking shots, but only had one basket to this point. Kamira had another layup. Micayla took a feed inside for a bucket. She’d missed on several of those close shots
the last two games. She’s been in the
right place, but not finishing. Back on
defense, Kamira ran into her and Micayla was called for the foul. The fans were up in arms at the call.
Nike came back with a steal and layup. It was her Senior Day spotlight day. PA Ed gave out some trivia facts about her
during the game. 31-19 SU with six
minutes left. Shania Harper came in. I’m
pretty sure Coach Atkinson doesn’t
want to play the freshman, because she looked overmatched out there, but the
bench was too short not to play everyone.
Gia made some nice moves dribbling for a bucket. She also got a steal. Amanda hit her third three of the half to
make it 33-24 SU. Gia got around Kamira,
who was guarding her, for another basket.
Seattle hit an answering three, but Gia got in another basket. She finished off with a pair of free throws
and a three. I think Gia found her
shot. 38-33 SU at the half.
Third
Quarter
I wasn’t sure if there was any halftime entertainment,
because nothing came out on court right after.
As I went to the bathroom, a troop of sparkling costumed young dancers
came out. They were the Charlie’s Angels
from Roswell. I should have stopped to watch. They finished before I got back (and that
wasn’t a long time). The crowd seemed to
enjoy them.
After play resumed, Didi
Echols got a steal under the basket, but went down to a knee right
after. She was okay at that point. The Redhawks stole it right back on the other
end. Didi made an over-the-back foul on
Kamira to stop the layup. It was
reviewed, but not ruled flagrant. (Am I getting
tired of these flagrant foul and football targeting reviews? Yes.)
Soufia
Inoussa made a pretty (or lucky) scoop shot under the basket for
her first points. Didi fed Micayla under
the basket for points. I think Micayla’s
figuring it out. I was afraid to look at
the scoreboard, because I didn’t want to be disappointed. I wasn’t.
It was 40-39 SU. Micayla got a
steal. The crowd was fully into it
now. Gia hit a basket. It was 41-40 Aggies with six minutes left. They’d clawed all the way into the lead.
The Aggies had been fouling a lot this quarter
though. SU was already in the bonus with
five minutes left. Down to three
minutes, Gia got a steal, a layup, and drew a foul. She posed for the appreciative crowd. 48-46 Aggies.
On defense, Kamira got trapped on the sideline. Didi stole her pass out, which led to a Gia
three, 55-47. The Aggies started pulling
away.
Tayelin
Grays came in and flat took a ball away for a steal. (Why do some many of these players have names
with non-standard spellings?) She got a
basket under the rim and got the foul for her first points. The crowd loved it. 62-51 Aggies at the buzzer. It was a 29-point quarter for the Aggies,
while they only gave up 13. What a run!
Fourth
Quarter
Here’s the injury I mentioned earlier. One minute in, Didi and Tayelin collided on a
rebound. Didi let out a cry and fell to
the ground. She tried to stay in, but
the refs finally called time to take her out.
She got a round of applause as she went to the trainer’s table. Didi stayed there for the rest of the
game. This might not be good.
The Aggies kept pouring it on. Gia hit another three to make it 71-52. She took another bow on court. On the other side, Kamira was still playing
her heart out. She took a bad shot on a
three and was taken out. She didn’t go
to the bench, but went behind the bleachers.
She came out and punched something and went back behind the
bleachers. Kamira walked around behind
the bench, until she got put back in.
By this point, Gia came out for a breather. Tayelin hit a three to make 74-54. Timeout.
While the rest of the Redhawks stood by the lane, Kamira stalked out to
midcourt by herself. She shook loose her
incredible curls to pull back her hair.
Would it be dangerous to say Kamira is beautiful when she’s angry? I did not mind her being the center of
attention until play resumed.
Tayelin hit another three.
Kamira got of a better shot for an angry three. Amanda was back in and hit a jumper and a
three. 82-59 Aggies with two minutes
left. Even I saw a foul on Gia
later. She complained to a ref, but they
wanted this one over with. Shania came
back in and was pushed into one of the goals.
She came up okay. Then, Kamira
ran over her on the other end and drew a foul.
That was basically it. 83-65 Aggies for the win.
How about that? The
Aggies were down 13 after the first quarter and won by 18. Gia
Pack scored 30 points! As soon as
she got it going, the Redhawks were in trouble.
She also got a double-double with 19 rebounds. Amanda
Soderqvist had 14 points with four three’s.
Adenike Aderinto had a great
game with 12. Tayelin Grays had 9 in limited time. Poor Didi
Echols. She had 7 points, but got
the worst of the injuries. I think her
first fall made that second fall worse.
Only Aaliyah Prince didn’t
score of the players in the game. I
think there’s something wrong with her.
Lastly, Kamira Sanders had 25
points for SU. What an effort and what a
ferocious beauty!
I’d just finished writing down the player scoring off the
scoreboard (thanks for getting that fixed Pan-Am staff), when PA Ed told
everyone to clear out. They were
cleaning up for a city cheerleading competition. I’d seen the Aggie Cheerleaders bring in several boxes of trophies earlier. They were setting up for the competition as I
left. Outside, there was a very long
line of people waiting to come in.
I’d had a craving for Raising
Canes since yesterday. I really
shouldn’t have gone out for a food, but had to satisfy myself. It was a tremendous meal. I then went over to Freddy’s for a sundae, just to be more indulgent. A pretty girl at the counter was very nice, which
made the custard even better. Driving
back home, I considered why I wanted those chicken fingers so bad out of
nowhere. Oh yeah. I remembered I’d watched an episode of Community yesterday featuring chicken
fingers. Talk about subliminal
advertising.
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