I’m not happy with New Mexico State Women’s Basketball and the season hasn’t even started. I’d like to talk to Coach Adams for a moment. Ahem. “You had one job!” Madi Gewirtz has left me . . . err . . . us! How could you allow the second coming of Brooke Salas to pack up and leave after just one freshman season? I don’t know how Coach Jordan recruited Jaelynn Kohli for the Volleyball team this year, but I suspect it was because he told her that she’d start for him. If you’d just made that deal with Madi, maybe she stays another year.
Now she’s at FAU. Wait, let me check. No, our Florida conference opponent is FIU. I’m sad I likely won’t get to see her again, but at least I won’t have to watch her play against us. We wish her luck . . . I guess . . . sniff. I didn’t expect to get this emotional before the first game (or at any point this season). I really am actually unhappy about this. Madi had shown potential, but wasn’t a star yet. Losing her at this point in her career isn’t a good sign for the program and probably fits into the general downturn of Aggie Athletics.
At least they did pick up one player for this season that I’m attached to. I was talking to an officer at work about Aggie Basketball and he asked if I knew the local girl who was on the team. He mentioned her name and I’d happen to notice an interview with her on Twitter. Seeing her and hearing her name, it reconnected a memory. Here’s an excerpt from a Softball game from 2016 (4-2-16).
The highlight of this game was a little girl sitting below us. She was loud and pumping out encouragement for the girls like she was on the team. I got tickled listening to her and nudged Ron, who was annoyingly still able to listen to the game on his phone. He started chuckling as he heard her. After another round of rally towels were thrown to the crowd, two people behind us caught them and tossed them at the girl. She turned around and waved, “Thank you!” as our section had a laugh.
It’s Ron’s little “niece,” Emma Christiano. He was so charmed with Emma, he wanted to adopt her. (I think he wanted to ditch me and just go to Aggie games with her.) I’m sure I mentioned Fan Emma in a few other posts, but I was lucky to find this one. Since there would be autographs after today’s game against Cochise College, I was going to have to go to officially meet her.
We have encountered the Apaches of Cochise College before at a Soccer exhibition game (8-10-23), which was unfortunately right after Thalia Chaverria had died. The Aggies won that game, 9-1. This is a community college, not a university. Congratulations for not changing your team name like Cleveland and Washington DC did. (No man, that’s different. Really? Are you sure? Explain it to me.)
And I’m back at the Pan-Am Center for the third day in a row (10-24-25 and 10-25-25). The parking lot was just about empty. I was momentarily worried the game had been called off. In the concourse, there was a girl holding a sign for Emma. That was my first hint she might be a popular draw for the team. I was going to get popcorn and a drink for the game. However, checking the prices, that would have been $12. In fairness, they only sell large buckets of popcorn, but I decided to wait for dinner.
I was sitting in my usual spot for basketball on the west side of the arena. The volleyball floor had been taken up. (There’s been a schedule change for Volleyball that is likely because they can’t change the surface between two games on the same day.) It was a really light crowd, but Mrs. Hubbard was here, though she’s now in a wheelchair. Broadcaster Jack Nixon came by the press table. He was surprisingly dressed in a Los Angles Chargers jersey. The Anthem was played 10 minutes before the game. The CC coaches lined up their team on the sideline for it. The Aggies were nowhere in sight. I might add CC has a very international team with only two Americans on it.
When the team came out to warm up, Emma led them out on court. The booster section with friends and family, which was the best filled section, went crazy for her. Emma was all smiles and a bundle of energy. The new intro video showed Coach Adams in a white suit. She came out wearing a classy white pullover, though she ditched it and was just wearing a t-shirt underneath. The assistants were in matching gray pullovers.
First Quarter
PA Ed was challenged with the names of the players today. There was the additional challenge that the CC uniform numbers didn’t match the program at all. The team looked like they were wearing practice jerseys. Maybe they forgot to pack their regular jerseys. That kind of stuff does happen. This caused me a great deal of confusion trying to match scorers to uniform numbers. I was already out of practice covering a basketball game. Somehow the scoring added up, but I don’t guarantee that the scores match the correct players. There’s no official scoring for the game, so there’s no correcting it.
Frankly, this game was a mismatched mess. I did not take play-by-play notes. The player number thing had me confused for most of the game. CC scored a quick basket right off the tip. Their bench got good and loud. You could also hear both coaches shouting. There wasn’t enough of crowd to work up a noisy buzz. Imani Warren had an early steal with a basket. She’d also get fouled on another trip, but miss both free throws. CC also drew a foul, but one shot was waved off on a lane violation.
Imani had another steal with a basket. Anna Csenyi had a steal and connected with newcomer Keira Hudson, who splashed a 3. It was 7-3 Aggies with 7 minutes left. Imani made a steal at half-court, which led to a layup by Lucia Yenes. It was 13-3 Aggies at about the 5-minute mark, which led into a Media timeout (though this wasn’t being broadcast).
One of the two Americans on the Apaches is Gaby Oliver. (It took me a minute to identify her with the uniform number issue.) She was cute. She looked like a young Ziva David from NCIS. She was interesting to watch during the game, as she was wearing her emotions on her sleeve, mostly frustration. Oliver nearly fouled out early in the second half.
Emma and some other new players came in after the break. The crowd went nuts. At Emma’s listed at 5’3”, I admit I was a bit skeptical of her playing D1 basketball. She was the point guard bringing the ball up and distributing it. Her opening minutes were a bit rough. My only other note was a highlight for CC. Lesine Penge stuffed new Aggie, Morane Dossou. It was actually close after 10 minutes, 18-12 Aggies.
Second Quarter
Imani rather blatantly tripped a CC player and took her third foul. The refs were calling a lot of fouls in this game. I’m a little shocked nobody fouled out. Emma came back in 2 minutes in. There was no change in the score for those 2 minutes. 6’ left, Anna hit a 3, but the Aggies gave up an immediate layup going the other way. It was 23-16.
5’ Emma made a nice assist to Iyana Beh for a basket. That might have been her first assist. She had another a minute later to Loes Rozing on a breakaway for a layup. 2’ Emma took her first shot, a long jumper, and she nailed it. The crowd went wild. She took another long shot after that missed. Before the end of the half, Emma did knock down another long jumper. Emma was mostly pass first while playing. It was 38-20 Aggies at the half.
Third Quarter
There was no halftime show. The Cheerleaders took off for popcorn and soda. (They must be rich.) It was the Imani show to start the third quarter. She had a bucket, a steal, and then a steal with a layup. And then she came right out and went to the trainer’s table. The trainer worked on her legs. I didn’t see her get hurt, but I certainly could have missed it. She didn’t come back in.
Emma was standing at the bench and yelling at the players on the court. She got put back in about 5’ in. Possibly, the Coach was tired of hearing her. Again, I have little in the way of notes. It’s hard to take an exhibition seriously. 4’ Lucia had a steal. With under a minute, Emma made a steal and started a fast break, but no points came of it. Emma was making some impressive no-look bounce passes. After three quarters, it was 58-29.
Fourth Quarter
There were three fouls called on the Aggies in the first minute of the fourth quarter. What did I say about the officiating? 8’ left, Emma on a fast break found Marta Guilera for a layup and a foul. It was 61-29 Aggies. Emma had a steal and won the tie up. Newcomer Aussie, Nikki Stanic took several long shots that missed and was taken out. Her Aussie countryman, Keira, came in a hit a 3.
2’ left, Morane scored and the bench went crazy. She must be popular. Emma later made a tight, low pass to her that resulted in a turnover. The two of them had a quick discussion on court afterward, but didn’t have further problems passing to each other. Nikki came back in and hit a 3 with about a minute left. With that, all the Aggies available to play scored. Aggies win 70-35. There was a little comedy before the end. 6’1” Marta accidently knocked down 5’2” Apache Noa Mikami from Japan. While play was still going on, Marta helped her back up. This got a chuckle from the crowd.
From the official recap, the Aggie had 23 steals and the Apaches had 39 turnovers. Imani Warren led all scorers with 14 points and she only played 10 minutes. Lucia Yenes had 11 points and Keira Hudson had 9. Malika Goutay led Cochise College with 7 points and 9 rebounds. Unfortunately, I have no other stats.
Autographs
The Aggies did their usual circuit around the court after the game. The Apaches came over to the sidelines and all fist-bumped and older man there. I don’t know who is, but a couple of Aggie fans there also talked to him. He took off on a Segue with oversized outdoor tires. New Athletic Director Joe Fields was at this game. He was all smiles and greeting people.
It was a short line for autographs. Maybe they should have done this later in the season. I was in line with the usual crowd of little girls. Imani Warren was first at the sideline table briefly, but disappeared before I got there. I wonder if she needed more medical attention. I wanted to congratulate her on great performance.
Just to mention a couple of other players. Lucia Yenes smiled and seemed to recognize me. She’s finally warming up to me. Fellow Spaniard, Lucia Lara was there. I’m sure this won’t cause confusion for my recaps later at times when they’re both on court together. Nikki Stanic is kind of gorgeous. Iyana Beh is really cute and she is very friendly and charming. She helped me with her name, “Eye-on-ah.” (I think.) She has a Cree Summer vibe (from the 80’s show A Different World). I’d pick her for a player to chat with in a social setting.
“So in 2016, I remember this cute little girl cheering her head off at an Aggie Softball game,” I said. Emma Christano smiled and said, “Yep, that was me.” She reached out and shook my hand. I think she sort of recognized me. I made sure to tell her we were proud of her. I’m sure several other people in line said the same thing.
Absent from the signing was Coach Adams. I was probably going to tell her off, so that was good thing. (I would have nice about it, but “Why isn’t Madi here?”) Once again like Volleyball and Soccer, Aggie Women’s Basketball only recruited freshmen and non-D1 university transfers. We can almost expect the same results. Maybe I should have tried to get a minute of AD Field’s time.
I went to Smokey Sensations for dinner. It cost a bit more than the popcorn, but was a much better use of my money for a meal. Concessions was offering a “Personal Pizza,” but I was considering a “Brisket Pizza” at the barbeque place. I did have a foresight to ask what was on it first. Basically, other than the brisket, the other toppings were nothing that I liked.
I went with an excellent brisket sandwich with really good fries, which I’d had before there. It was sort of too bad though, because I otherwise would have had something new out three days in a row. The girl taking my order liked my white Aggie Women’s Basketball throwback Roadrunner hat. She did know about the Women’s team and I told her I had just been there to see them. If it hadn’t been so busy, we might have chatted some more. I’ll probably be back later in the season.
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