Thursday, November 21, 2019

NM State Aggies vs Pepperdine Waves Women’s Basketball 11-20-19



I wasn’t able to get the night off for this game.  Gosh darn it, it was also Aggie Sports’ first Pride night and they were handing out rainbow-colored t-shirts.  I would have looked so good wearing one with my ass-less leather chaps.  There was supposed to be a radio call with Jack Nixon filling in, but I never found it.  (Too bad, I was looking forward to hearing him do a Women’s game.)  There was single-camera video coverage without any sound.  (I thought I saw Jack at the press table.)  They didn’t start putting the score on screen until the second half.  I wasn’t able to watch much while at work anyway.

This was a reciprocal engagement, as the Aggies had visited Pepperdine two years ago (12-17-17).  Former Coach Mark Trakh, who’d actually coached both programs, attended the game and cheered on the Aggies.  They’d won by 20, as Brooke Salas was also playing in front of friends and family there in California. 

This time, Pepperdine apparently brought a whole cheering section with them.  They were all in black shirts behind their bench.  The Aggie crowd looked a bit thin.  After losses to UTEP and UNM, enthusiasm may have dimmed.  From what I was able to watch, with little in the way of in-game stats or commentary, the Waves led for most of the game.   

When the game got near the end, I finally sat down and watched.  The Aggies were down by 9 with 30 seconds left.  There were a bunch of timeouts to stop the clock.  The Aggies managed to force 3 turnovers in that time.  Soufia Inossa got 2 steals.  Her and Aaliyah Prince both got layups.  The Aggies had a chance to tie with a near last-second shot, but Gia Pack missed a three.  72-69 Pepperdine was the final. 

With the game over, I looked over the stats.  Gia only had 6 points and three fouls, including a technical.  Our star tonight was freshman Shania Harper with 14 points and 12 rebounds.  I thought she looked like a player.  Next was another freshman, Soufia with 13.  Let the kids play!  Prince had 12, and Amanda Soderqvist was 3 of 5 in three-pointers.  This was a disappointing loss, but I’m encouraged by some of the performances tonight.

Cheer up ladies.  Things will come together for you.

(I wasn't sure what to do this short report other than post it by itself, since it's too long for a recap.  I should have been there anyway to do a full report.)

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