Monday, March 18, 2019

NM State Aggies at the WAC Women’s Basketball Tournament 2019

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 90-54Gia 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.  

As per Monday’s announcement, the girls will be playing Iowa State in Iowa on Saturday.  No radio coverage was mentioned, though it will be on ESPN2.  We’ll see if I’ll be able to watch or listen to the game.

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