Wednesday, November 21, 2018

NM State Aggies vs Abilene Christian Wildcats Women’s Basketball 11-20-18


I’d been looking forward to seeing the Aggie Basketball girls for awhile.  I was really curious to see how the team was going to be put together with returning players and new players.  Once again, I had the night off for the game.  Ron, in spite of caretaking and family concerns (or perhaps because of), was going to be coming this evening as well.

He wanted a close restaurant for dinner, so I picked next door McAlisters and walked over.  Through the picture window there, I immediately noticed that the Aggie Volleyball girls were there.  I was nervous, but after we placed our orders, I went over and wished them “Good luck” at the tournament this week and beat a hasty retreat.  I hope I didn’t disrupt the meal (like I think I did).  This is the second time this season that I’ve run into them at a restaurant.  I didn’t see them at the game later.  Maybe they were out practicing.

Ron ordered a sandwich so large, it was brought to the table on a forklift with trumpet fanfare.  After I finished my own sandwich (the seasonal turkey with cranberry sauce and apple slices, excellent), I still felt hungry, because it seemed like an insignificant amount of food by comparison.  A Todd Rundgren song played in the background, Hello, It’s Me.  After listening for a minute, I said, “Ron, stop me if start singing along,” because the song is kind of irresistible.  “Dude, I was about to say the same thing to you,” he answered.  We had frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf nearby.  Ron’s dessert was topped with a mound of bite-sized chocolate bar bits.  A couple hours later after the game, Ron said, “Ooh, my stomach’s upset.”  It’s a mystery. 


At the Pan-Am Center, paper airplanes were handed out along with the programs.  These were for the halftime contest.  I guess they assumed people couldn’t fold their own paper airplanes.  Probably correct in my case, and they did a good job.  These things really fly well.  The program listed zero attendance for their first game here, which was the double-header with the Men playing.  I’m guessing that means that you had to buy a Men’s ticket to get into that game.    

Abilene Christian (let’s go with AC from here out) brought a decent number of fans with them.  The crowd for the Aggies was a bit light, likely due to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, though they were actually loud and passionate.  On court, a couple of the AC assistant male coaches in dress shirts and slacks took a few shots with the team at their insistence. 

On the Aggie side, a couple of the girls were on crutches.  One I couldn’t identify.  I think the other was Pam Wilmore.  She wasn’t listed on the scorecard.  Jeneva Toilolo wasn’t with the team at all.  I thought she was a good down low presence.  Sara Lopez also wasn’t on the team.  I always appreciated her pluck whenever she got into a game.  Brooke Salas was smiling and happy in the warm up, which was good to see.

The Wildcats came out of the tunnel for the game with an appropriate howl.  A couple of minutes later, PA Ed asked the crowd to get up for the Aggies.  We were still waiting a minute or so later.  “Did they get lost?” said Ron.  They came out eventually, but it was a bad sign.  They do have a great new video for introductions this year.  Nice job on that.  Both Mills sisters were starting for the Aggies.  Dominique had been playing in the previous games this season and was scoring, like her sister Monique last year.  Coach Atkinson was making a bold fashion statement tonight in tight, black leather pants, and a sleeveless blouse.    


First Quarter
Unsurprisingly, I completely butchered my first basketball scorecard of the season.  I thought I was paying close attention.  I might have been marking some baskets for the wrong players.  I got several of the player totals off the scoreboard, so those are mostly right, even if they’re not marked off right.  Frankly for a loss, I’m not going to sweat the details.  (Spoilers.)

Oh, my notes were an incomprehensible mess too.  Let’s perform the autopsy as best we can.  The Wildcats came out firing a couple of threes, 0-6 AC.  Ron had noticed that they were good at those in practice.  Their bench was good and loud.  The Aggie bench would match them in that though.  New transfer Rodrea Echols, who according to the announcements goes by Didi, got a couple of steals, but Aggie shooting was cold to start.  Brooke missed on three layup attempts.  Finally, Dominique hit a jumper to get the first Aggie points, 2-8.  But, AC followed that with a steal and a layup, 2-10.  Timeout Aggies at 5:30 left.

Aaliyah Prince came in.  She looks taller than last year somehow.  The Aggies had another turnover which was converted to an AC three.  It was becoming apparent by this point that the Aggies weren’t rebounding well and were giving the Wildcats too many second chances on shots.  Prince got a pass to Brooke under the basket.  Brooke made a pretty move and finally got a shot to fall in, 6-15.  Prince again drove to the basket from the sideline and scored, 9-15.  The crowd loved it.  Late, Kalei Atkinson stood her ground on a one-on-one breakaway in front of the basket and stopped the easy bucket.  The Aggie defense forced shot clock violation on the rest of the Wildcat possession.  It was 8-17 Wildcats after 10 minutes.

Second Quarter
I wasn’t actually too worried at this point.  Some guys from the Aggies Men’s Basketball team came by to watch at the start of this quarter.  The music was still playing when the Ref’s (all female crew tonight) started play.  There were several long breaks in the game for TV timeouts otherwise.  Gia Pack started off with a three.  Brooke got a steal, a layup, and a foul to close the score to 14-19.

The Aggies began a more pressure defense.  They got a turnover, but Gia traveled right after to give it back.  (That got called on several players this evening.)  The Aggies got a pretty play on a Kalei to Monique to Brooke layup, 16-21.  Aggie defense really locked it down at this point in the halfcourt.  They got two blocks on one possession.  Brooke came away with a fast break, but was called for a charge at the other end and had to come out with two fouls. 

Ron was becoming disgruntled.  Aggie defense forced another shot clock violation.  Mo hit a three to get it to 19-21.  Brooke high-fived everyone on the bench.  Prince got a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup.  The crowd was fully engaged by this point.  It was 23-22 Aggies at the half.    

Halftime


Fans crowded the sides of the court for the paper airplane toss.  There were several prizes on court.  The closest plane would win it.  Mine flew beautifully, but went nowhere near a prize.  Ron’s nosed-dived directly into the court, but he won a t-shirt anyway.  He gave it to me, since it was wasn’t close to his size.  It was bit big for me too, so I gave it away later.  Coming into the arena earlier, Ron talked to the souvenir vendor, who he’d apparently talked to before, and asked for a triple-XL shirt.  He told Ron to come by the store.  They should bring one with them, just in case Ron comes back by next time.    

[Edit: I took the shirt to work to give to a co-worker.  I had not unfolded it when I handed it to him.  He liked it.  He thought it might work for Aggie Fridays here, when you can wear jeans with an Aggie shirt.  But then he turned it around to the back.  The shirt giveaway was sponsored by a rival bank.  Oops.  So much for that.  I hope dad likes the shirt.]   

Third Quarter
The Aggies went with a full court press to start.  Brooke picked up her third foul with nine minutes left in the quarter and had to come back out.  AC pressed as well and got a turnover and took the lead 25-26.  The Aggies took an accidental timeout after some confusion with the TV break.  #10 Breanna Wright, who’d hit two three’s in the first half for the Wildcats, put a nice move on Didi for a bucket.  Mo and #3 Dominique Golightly traded three’s right after.  (I like it, but I assumed Golightly was a made up name from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and not a real name.)

The Aggies’ Dominique got a steal and passed to Didi for a layup, but #11 Sara Williamson took the charge for a turnover.  AC got another steal and converted on it for a 30-33 lead.  Brooke came back in after a timeout with about five minutes left in the quarter.  I have “Brooke back in” and “Brooke out” written in my notes about ten times after this.  She was being used basically for offensive possessions and taken out for defense to limit her foul opportunities.  Unfortunately, Brooke is one of the better defenders on the team, and she’s a streaky shooter, who needs to be on the court a bunch to get her touch right.  In other words, this subbing didn’t work out well.      

With about two minutes left, Didi hit Gia for a layup to tie it at 33.  Kalei had a layup attempt, but missed and fell into the stands, thankfully unharmed.  Brooke got fouled and got a free throw, but she picked up her fourth foul right after.  I loved her “Who me?” look right after the call.  36-37 Wildcats with 10 minutes to go.  


Fourth Quarter
During the last quarter, some regular fans were discussing other Aggie sports including volleyball.  One of them mentioned Coach Jordan telling the fans that they’d been spoiled by the great players on the team.  I hope they agreed with him. 

On court was the best fan competition I’ve seen yet.  It was the Dino Dash.  Two guys were in large inflatable T-Rex costumes.  They waved their stubby arms at the crowd as they were introduced.  They had to run across the court, grab a ball, and dunk it in a kid’s goal.  They performed well, but it was completely hysterical watching the two dinosaurs running across the court.  Do this every game in every sport!  The Cheerleaders would not be outdone.  The girls did the Macarena while being held overhead by the guys.  It was impressive.

Brooke was not in to start.  (Yes, I’m playing favorites here.  I do this in every sport.  No apologies.  It’s my blog.)  I’ve said before that leadership was the only thing lacking in her game.  There she was on the sidelines, standing, yelling, and pointing at her teammates, full-on coaching them.  Wow!  This was the quiet girl a couple of years ago.  Brooke has hit the leadership checkbox. 

The Wildcat defense turned up and got a full court trap and a turnover for points, 38-42.  Gia drew a foul after, but missed both free throws.  Up to this point, I was still reasonably confident that the Aggies were going to pull it out, but not after this.  That hurt.  Brooke found Gia inside for a bucket to make it 40-43, but that was as close as it got. 

From here, it was just frustration.  Brooke got two rebounds on a possession, but still couldn’t get it in.  Didi fouled Sara Williamson on a layup.  The ref’s checked the video to see if it was flagrant.  Thankfully, it wasn’t called.  Some of the crowd and the Men’s team left early at 40-49.  Brooke attempted and made her first three with a minute left.  There were a bunch of fouls for both teams at the end, but the Aggies missed most of their foul shots.  Kalei fouled out.  A mass exodus started with under a minute and the score 46-55.  The last Aggie highlight was a kid gymnast doing a contortionist act on camera during a break.  Your disappointing final was Abilene Christian winning 46-58.  

The Wildcats had three players in double figures, Dominique Golightly, Breanna Wright, and Sara Williamson.  (I thought Sara was kind of cute.  #13 Jazz Taylor, in addition to a great name, had some nice highlights in her hair.)  For the Aggies, Gia Pack did have very good game with 22 points.  In spite of a lot of bench time and having trouble shooting, Brooke Salas still had 11 points.

Whew, that sucked.  I think this was scheduled as a walkover game for the Aggies, which makes it worse.  Two immediate concerns for the team are rebounding and free throws.  AC out-hustled the Aggies in rebounding.  That’s an effort thing.  Free throws are a practice issue.  Aggie defense was actually pretty good, but their shooting was atrocious.  It was telling that in the Aggies’ best defense in the second quarter, they only managed to come away with a one-point lead as they’d dug themselves in such a hole in the first.  Obviously, Brooke needs to stay out of foul trouble in order to help the team.  Someone also needs to step up as the third main scorer.


Danny came by and him and Ron chatted while I was writing stats down off the scoreboard.  They were blaming some specific players for the loss and general sloppiness.  They probably did better analysis than I just did, but I wasn’t entirely listening.  I’d likely feel worse if this were a conference game.  I was actually pleased with seeing the game just for seeing Brooke coaching.  I’m still looking forward to Monday’s game, which I plan on attending.  This team was good in their first three games.  Hopefully, they’ll show up better prepared.       

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