A recent Best of
the City poll (Las Cruces, New Mexico) said that our old friends
at Roadrunner Pizza had the best
pizza and the best subs in town. Ron and I had noticed their sandwich menu
before, but now we had a mandate, which we exercised this Saturday afternoon. In short, they were pricy, but
excellent. Ron's various meat sub filled
him up (a nearly impossible task) and he raved about it. I got the meatball that I've been looking for
for years. We’ll have to try this again.
Our bellies' full,
we took off for our double header of Aggie
Basketball. I was given tickets to the
Men's game at work, which would
follow this late afternoon Women's
game. At the Pan-Am Center, I made a quick trip to the ticket office. I'd seen a marketing promo that there were
posters available commemorating Aggie
Football's bowl win. Indeed there
was and the KISS-inspired poster was
cool. (Unfortunately, I don't have my
cubicle anymore at work to put it up.
I'll find space at home.)
Moe Shida
was back on court. That was the good
news, but the bad was that she was in sweats and wouldn't be playing. Two other Aggies were out for the game: Sabou Gueye and Fama Thiam. One of them was
in a boot (I’m not sure which), so she's gone for the season. The Aggies would be short-handed, but the Tarleton Texans had a losing record and
were winless in WAC play. Their team looked big and tall warming up,
but that didn't show up in the game.
(Thankfully, their listed 6'6” player wasn't playing.)
The NMSU students were still on break. The Band
wasn't here for today's games, but the Sundancers,
Cheerleaders, and Pistol Pete were. They were going to have a long evening. That attractive camera girl from last
time was here and had redone her long chestnut hair into flowing
waves. If you think I was looking too
much, I'm not sure Ron saw the game. His
head was turned for two straight hours.
There was a really
good crowd of 880. A bunch of kids were
present for the halftime show. A family
or group of 20 Aggie fans came in together and sat up behind the visitor’s
bench. They were hard to miss. One of the new suites was occupied during the
game. There was a group of cheering
young women behind us.
Volleyball Coach Mike Jordan and his family were here in the mostly
vacant Student Section. I think he spoke
to the players before the game and gave them a little “pep” talk. (All of the girls seemed to have some trouble
hearing when they came out on court. I’m
just kidding here.) A steady stream of
people went up to chat with the coach, including a long animated talk with the
Cheerleaders' coach.
Tarleton brought
their own radio announcer. That doesn't
seem to happen often with visiting teams.
The Aggies' intro video was new.
I miss the previous song, but the new one was good and upbeat. They worked in Lucia Yenes' behind the back pass play, of course, as well as that
great give-and-go play. Tayelin Grays was starting. She'd had a career game earlier in the week
with 18 points when the team got the win over Utah Valley.
First Quarter
The Aggies scored
the first two baskets and were showing good defense. Molly
Kaiser made a steal and blocked a shot on a Texan fast break. It was 6-4 Aggies after 5 minutes. Sometimes, these Women's games start off real
slow. The refs seemed to signal a foul
at this point, but actually they were just stopping play for a media timeout.
During the break, Taylor Donaldson was getting treatment
on the trainer's table on her legs.
She'd come back in later. A
senior guy caught a t-shirt tossed by the Cheerleaders. He gave it to a senior lady. That was nice of him. I noticed a patch of sunlight from an open
door working its way around some seats on the other side of the arena.
Tayelin poked a
ball loose and stripped another. Molly
came up with a steal, stripped a ball, and made another block. Shania
Harper scored her sixth point. It
was 10-6 Aggies at the end of the quarter.
“Not very high scoring,” Ron commented.
Second Quarter
In the break, Moe
was on camera briefly, along with the other girls on the bench. She was all smiles and adorable. Back to play, Soufia Inoussa made a steal and passed to Tayelin on a fast
break. Tayelin got pushed into a
photographer on the sideline. Everyone
was okay and Tay knocked down the throws.
With 7 minutes
left, we had our first and only (?) traveling call. Either the players were doing better or it
really depends on who is calling the game.
Lucia came in. She immediately
took a high-arcing shot from under the basketball and the ball dropped in. She just has a knack for finding the
basket.
It was 19-14 Aggies
with 4 minutes left when they went to a Media timeout. The Texans closed in with a 3 by Starr Omozee. The Aggies took a timeout with 3 minutes
left. Little girls started gathering
courtside for the halftime show. One of
the Cheerleaders ran over to get a little girl from the stands and held her
hand to bring her to the group. It was
so wholesome. On court, Molly hit a last
second layup to make it 26-19 Aggies at the half.
Halftime
The little girls
were there from an Aggie Cheerleading camp.
The Cheerleaders rolled out big heavy mats on the court for the
performance. A bunch of moms had their
smartphones out to record it. The little
girls did some cheers and tumbling. Some
older girls did some impressive flips.
The Cheerleaders were all smiles.
They looked like they were having a good time working with the
kids. Afterward, the Cheerleaders rolled
up the big heavy mats and pushed them off court. Keep in mind, this whole act was repeated
during halftime of the Men’s game.
Third Quarter
Harper made a tip
for a steal and batted away another pass for a steal. Ene Adams
made another steal. It was a defensive
show. Molly made a great pass to Taylor
under the basket for 2. Ene made a scoop
layup. 35-20 with 6 minutes left and
Tarleton took a timeout.
Taylor found
Tayelin for a layup out of the break.
Soufia sank a 3. There was a
Media timeout and it was 40-20 with 5 minutes left. An energetic little girl courtside won the
Fan of the Game award. Too cute. Some of the Men’s Basketball team was watching
from the Student Section.
Mason Jones
for the Texans hit a deep 3. I admit I
was kind of rooting for her. She’s not
short, but looked way too thin to be out there on court. Sylena
Peterson made a layup and drew a foul.
She missed the free throw, but grabbed her own rebound. She also had a steal directly out of the
hands of a Texan player. Ene went to the
floor wrestling for a loose ball. The
girls were determined to win. 46-25 Aggies
after three quarters.
Fourth Quarter
Maybe the Aggies were fighting a little too hard for the
win. Harper picked up her third foul and
Ene, her fourth. This allowed the Texans
to mount a run. It was 48-32 with 8
minutes left and Coach Adams called
a timeout.
A Cheerleader ran out flipping on court by herself. A few moments later the rest of the squad
joined her. There might have been
confusion on whether it was a full break or not. Mrs.
Hubbard graced us with her presence at courtside. The Men’s opponents tonight, CBU, might have been watching up by the
concourse. Jack Nixon came in. He
looked like he had just stepped out of the 1970’s with that business
jacket. (Still a broadcasting
legend.)
Jones fouled
out. She may have been thin, but she was
hardnosed. Ene fouled out as she had
trouble guarding the Texans’ big player (6’4”) Nyajah Mitchels in the paint.
Sianny Sanchez-Oliver came in
at 57-34 with 4 minutes left. Nyajah, a
foot taller, picked up a flagrant foul tossing her to the floor. Coach Adams talked to Sianny on the sidelines
during the break, probably to calm her down.
Lucina was in and hit a long 2.
She also had an assist to Harper on the basket.
61-39 Aggies with 2
minutes left. With a minute left, local player,
Janessa Johnson, came in to a cheer
from the fans. She did make a
steal. Ashlee Strawbridge had a block.
The regulars were out, except for Sylena. The starters were going crazy for the bench
players. Jenna Dick hit a last second 3 for the Texans. 61-43
Aggies was the final.
Molly Kaiser
led all scorers with 13 points. Taylor Donaldson and Shania Harper both had 11 points. Harper also had 10 rebounds. For the Texans, Mayra Caicedo and Nyajah
Mitchels both had 10 points. Your probable
telling stat of the game was 46% to 33% shooting in favor of the Aggies. It was a good effort by the team to dominate
a lesser opponent today.
However, the real
reason for the victory was that I remembered to wear the white
souvenir hat. I think they’re
undefeated when I’m wearing it. Ron
and I gave up our seats to head to the other side of the arena for the ***Men’s
Basketball game against CBU.***
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