NM State Aggies vs UTEP Miners Women’s Basketball 11-13-19

Oops.  Here I am fan-cheating again with a rival school no less.  I’d been looking forward to seeing UTEP’s Katarina Zec again since the last time I’d seen her here (12-10-17).  The gorgeous Serbian blonde was a standout in that game.  I’d also heard that she’d played well from Aggie fan Danny, who’d seen her play last week.  They’d beaten UC-Riverside, the Aggies’ first opponent this season (11-7-19), pretty badly.

The Aggie Women beat their second opponent, Denver, on the road by 3 last week.  Gia Pack had 29 pts, including five three’s, and led in rebounds.  Aailyah Prince had 20, and freshman Soufia Inoussa had 9.  This was another hard early season matchup.  The Aggies only beat them here last year by two points (12-11-18).

On the other end of the gender spectrum, the Aggie Men’s Basketball team was blownout yesterday by UTEP at the Don Haskins Center.  The Miner men are a much improved team.  They beat national runner-up, Texas A&M in a scrimmage earlier and got some tongues wagging.  Their best player from last year, who was averaging a double-double per game, isn’t even a starter this year with their improved talent level.  Meanwhile, the Aggie men have a bunch of injuries.  Trevelin Queen played well, but the Aggie offense never really got going.  Coach Jans almost stiffed Jack Nixon for a postgame interview because he took so long to chew the guys out in the locker room.  That loss ended a 9-game winning streak over UTEP.

Ron and I were going to tonight’s game.  We went for an early dinner at What-a-burger first.  Oddly, we both got stuffed.  It’s pretty hard to fill Ron’s large stomach, but the Monterrey Melt did it.  We both somewhat agreed we needed to get to El Paso sometime to find a Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich.  We need to get one of these delicious things before they’re banned for killing and/or addicting people.

We got there very early and saw warmups.  Kat was looking good.  After I pointed her out, Ron was entranced.  Kat was looking good playing too, as she was popping three’s.  On the Aggie side, I noticed injured players, Kalei Atkinson and Tayelin Grays, on the sidelines taking care of a little toddler boy.  I think he was Coach Atkinson’s son.  The girls seemed to be enjoying this company.  Later, a couple of Pan-Am staff girls were shooting baskets with him.  He tripped and fell down at one point and cried a little.  One of the girls picked him up and hugged him until he felt better.

It was a pretty good crowd.  The Student section was filled more than usual.  Was it for the rivalry game or the $1K scholarship giveaway tonight?  UTEP brought some fans.  Most of them were behind their bench.  Kat looked up from the court and flashed a big smile at some fans behind us who were cheering for her.  (I was restraining myself from cheering for her.) 

Gasp!  Suddenly, we noticed by the court a very familiar figure.  It was our graduated star player, Brooke Salas.  Umm, she looked good too.  Her long blonde hair was permed out a bit and her figure had attractively filled out a little.  And, what the heck was she doing here?  She came here all the way from Europe from that pro Spanish team she’s playing for because she knew I’d be fan-cheating on her with Kat tonight.  Wow, that’s dedication.  Seriously though, I never expected to see her here again.  According to her team’s Twitter, she’s as awesome there as she was here.  Brooke circulated around to greet some of the boosters.  She also took over watching the toddler.            

PA Ed wasn’t doing the game tonight.  That was too bad, because he would have singled out Brooke at some point with an announcement, whether she wanted it or not.  He likely also would have made an announcement recognizing the championship-winning Aggie Volleyball team, some of whom were here.  Student violinist Christina Mitchell, whose name I think I got wrong last time, again did a great Anthem.  UTEP’s Coach Baker congratulated her after she finished.  I also found out I’ve been getting the band’s name wrong all this time.  They are the Roadrunner Revue, not Review.  

First Quarter

The first points of the game came on an offensive rebound by Adenike “Nike” Aderinto.  She passed to Prince for a bank shot bunny.  Kat came back with a layup and a defensive rebound.  (Yes, I’ll be covering her here right along with the Aggie highlights.)  Aggie fans and Miner fans sat down.  (I guess they sit for their team’s first points, while Aggie fans sit for the opponent’s first score.)  Prince (still easier to type than Aaliyah) dropped in another shot and picked up a free throw.  Kat came back with a three.  Gia picked up a rebound.  Kat was guarding her for the game defensively.

Prince saved a deflected pass and put in a layup.  Amanda Soderqvist’s first shot was a made three.  Katia Gallegos for UTEP got a steal and a layup.  Micayla Buckner did a good job boxing out under the basket with three rebounds early.  The action was so furious I wasn’t even looking at the score, but it was close.  UTEP went on a short run and took a 4-point lead while Gia was sitting out for a quick break.  The Miners got the Aggies on a shot clock violation with some good defense. 

Gia got a steal, but no points came off it.  Prince then got a steal and a layup.  As she ran to the basket you could tell what she really wanted to do was dunk it.  Unfortunately, she’s lacking that level of verticality in her game.  Gia then took a hard tumble into the Cheerleaders under the basket.  She got her first points of the game on a pair of free throws with the foul.  That gave the Aggies a 17-16 lead after the first quarter. 

Second Quarter

Dino Dash!  This time the contestants were fully costumed, which meant that they had a lot of trouble dunking the ball in their inflatable T-Rex outfits.  Brooke was holding the toddler up behind the Aggie bench so he could watch.  Otherwise, she was having to chase him around a lot.  Taking care of this little boy was wearing her out more than when she was playing here.  The kid didn’t stop for timeouts.  

Early in the second quarter, Gia got a bucket when Kat wasn’t on her.  Unfortunately, that was her only field goal for the first half.  The Aggies went up 21-16.  The band collectively did the Macarena during a break.  Soufia got a steal.  She passed it to Prince, who hit a ten-footer.  Nana Sule got a block.  Soufia was fouled on the fast break and converted on the free throws. 

Gia fouled Kat on a shot.  Kat came back with two free throws, a layup, and a 15-footer.  Best not to get her mad.  The band was piping up at Coach Baker, “Sit down, coach!”  UTEP went to a full court trap and retook the lead, 28-27.  They were also in the bonus.  Prince got a layup to get the lead back.  Kat answered with a three, but Amanda then hit another three.  It was 33-32 Miners at the half.

Halftime

Brooke was finally relieved for a bit on child care duties.  She went over the other end of the court and visited with, I think, her old teammate and friend, Sara Lopez.  Good to see her around.  For the $1K scholarship drawing, a member of the band won it.  He was happy as heck and veritably skipped down to the court to collect his prize.  They asked where he was from.  “El Paso!” he shouted.  The UTEP fans cheered. 

Third Quarter

UTEP was still manning a full-court press.  Miner Michelle Pruitt came on strong with three baskets under the rim.  Prince missed a couple of shots and fouled a player and had to come out.  UTEP was now up 40-32.  Didi Echols dropped in a three to break up the run.  Adrianna Henderson was in and got a steal.  Kat gave her a hard foul and Adrianna converted on the free throws.  The Aggies got a turnover with a half-court trap.  There was a timeout with the score, 42-37 UTEP. 

Out of the break, Shania Harper came in and got a basket from under the rim.  Kat fired an airball and the Aggies rebounded it, but lost it on a bad pass by Gia.  Henderson (easier to type than Adrianna) missed on a three, but got her own rebound and made a layup.  Soufia got an offensive rebound.  Amanda converted on another three to tie the score at 44.  On the other end, a UTEP player was injured under the net and came out.  Amanda had fouled her, but came over and helped her up.  The Aggie defense stiffened and forced a shot clock violation.  Henderson made a steal, but no points came of it.  The Aggies were again down by a point, 47-46.                 

Fourth Quarter

I finally noticed that Gia was not in at the end of the Third Quarter.  She also didn’t start the fourth.  “Get that man a chair!” the band was still having fun with Coach Baker.  Buckner (easier to type than Micayla and I’m going to stop explaining how lazy I am with my typing) made a ten-footer in the lane.  The Aggies went up 53-51.  Prince got a steal and a layup.  She had her tongue out, ala Michael Jordan. 

I often pinpoint a turning point in close games.  This one seemed so innocuous at the time, but now I see this was where all the momentum shifted.  There was a lengthy officials’ review on a turnover.  It was initially ruled UTEP ball, but looked on the replay that it was actually a Miner foul.  The refs eventually decided and talked to the coaches and even to the TV commentators.  Possession stayed with the Miners.  It wasn’t so much the call, but that long delay gave the Miners time to regroup.

The Miners made the next shot and got a free throw.  They forced an Aggie turnover, but then turned it right back over.  We were tied at 53, but then there was Pruitt again with a shot clock-beating basket for a UTEP lead.  UTEP again went to a full-court press.  I saw Brooke with some fans in the north grandstand.  I was kind of hoping for an overtime game.  Maybe she’d work her way around to our side of the stands.   

Gia was finally back in with under five minutes left in the game with UTEP up 55-53.  Buckner got a steal, but there were no points off it.  Soufia came up with a rebound and got it to Gia for a layup to make it 57-55 UTEP with three minutes left.  Then the dagger.  Kat hit a three to make it 60-57.  Coach Atkinson took a timeout.  The UTEP fans were now standing.  I’m not sure what triggered that. 

The teams exchanged a couple of misses.  The Miners took a couple of timeouts with under 30 seconds left and the score unchanged.  Prince took a final meaningful Aggie shot that missed and then had to intentionally foul right after.  The Aggies had to do that a couple more times to put UTEP in the bonus.  Katia hit both free throws.  With about 13 seconds left, the crowd was deserting.  There was one more intentional foul and Katia hit one of those, but that was already more than enough.  UTEP won 63-57.   

 

The scoreboard was again not showing the player stats.  Unbelievably, my scorecard added up for the second time in a row.  Who needs official stats?  Katerina Zec paced the Miners with 17 points.  She was also the hottest player in the game.  (Notice how I’m cleverly excluding Brooke Salas, some volleyball players, and a couple of Pan-Am staff members from direct comparison with her.)  Kat played the entire game and definitely showed some senior leadership.  Michelle Pruitt had 14 points, and Katia Gallegos, who is a local El Paso product, had 11.

Aaliyah Prince led all scorers with 22 points.  Amanda Soderqvist came up big with 3 three-pointers and 9 points.  Unfortunately, the story was Gia Pack’s 6 points.  Ron blamed Gia for the loss.  He said she was making a lot of bad decisions on court and thought the coach had sat her out for that.  I wish I could have heard the postgame interview.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some injury or illness involved here.  Maybe Kat was just covering her really well.  (Gia did lead the team in rebounds.)  Ron also said the Aggies were passing very poorly.  They were really only handing it off to each most of the time.

My analysis is that the Aggie Women have had a tough schedule to this point and it’s probably going to get worse on Sunday against the Lobos.  (They’ll be lucky if Lobo fans don’t outnumber their fans in the Pan-Am Center.)  The evening was not a total loss (even there was no ice cream afterward).  Beautiful volleyball star Megan Hart stopped in the aisle nearby to talk to some boosters.  I bravely stepped up to her to say, “Congratulations,” for their regular season championship win.  I got a smile and a, “Thank you.”  Sigh.