Okay, here we are for another rivalry game. This time the Aggies are playing their I-10 foes, UTEP. So . . .
Whoa,
whoa, whoa there, jdh417! I seem to
recall you swore blind that you were done Aggie Women’s Basketball for the
season after their loss to UNM a couple of weeks ago.
Yeah, I was hoping everyone had forgotten that. I have a simple explanation. I’m on vacation this week and there was
nothing on TV tonight. If that isn’t a
good enough explanation, let me further add that I’ve been bored since Saturday
afternoon and needed something interesting to do. I did go to the mall next door and do some
Christmas shopping on Monday. It was
miserable. By the time I was done, I
felt like I’d run a marathon. This would
hopefully be less stressful.
Ron was at least eager to go. We went for Whataburger before the game.
I used a coupon on the back of an Aggie ticket. Both our meals were really good. Ron was also nice enough to take me over to the
post office. My mailbox was broken into
a few weeks ago, and I was going to have to pick up my mail at the office. Thankfully, it was a short wait. Boy, did the mailman give me a look when he
brought out my mail. I had a ton. It was mostly charity solicitations. There was no timetable on when my apartment
building’s box would be fixed. See you
next month.
At the Pan-Am
Center, there was a frighteningly small crowd a half hour before the
game. The number of Aggie and Miners
fans was about equal. This game was a
reschedule from two weeks ago. The
school session was over and it was now Christmas shopping season. Things filled up a little better by the time
the game started. However, more UTEP
fans showed up as well. I’d say Aggie
fans outnumbered them, but not by much.
The girls were on court warming up when we got there. The Miners weren’t wearing masks. The Aggies were. This makes no sense. (Not to mention, masks don’t work. If they work, why aren’t they working?) Katerina
Zec, my previous opposing team crush, is long gone from the Miners, but I
do like Katia Gallegos on the
team. She is cute. I’d seen her play before (11-13-19). She looks small and
thin compared to the other girls, but plays big. Her shorts seemed too short and were hiked up
into her rear.
There was no band tonight.
The Cheerleaders were
late-arriving. About half of them took a
seat and weren’t even cheering. There
was a reason for that, as we found out later.
The Anthem was about to start and the Miners were a no-show. PA Ed
seemed a bit confused. The Anthem played
without them and then they came on court.
El
Paso Sportstalk was talking about the game the next day,
since they had broadcast it. I called in
and talked to the producer about the Anthem, but I wasn’t on the air. They had a bunch of guests lined up for the
show and didn’t have time to discuss it.
The producer did seem very curious.
He hadn’t heard of them doing anything like this, so I don’t think
they’re doing this at home games. I’m
going to withhold judgment or speculation.
The teams did line up and shake hands after the game, so this wasn’t
personal. [Unlike the profanity-laden
first draft of this paragraph.]
First
Quarter
With a bad taste in my mouth, the game started. (Now, I’m kind of sorry I came.) Aggie Jade
Bradley got a couple of points early, but then picked up two fouls in
seconds of each other and had to come out.
Point guard, Mel Isbell, hit
a three to put the Aggies up 7-3 with 6 minutes left. Soufia
Inoussa found Taylor Donaldson
on a fast break to make it 11-5 Aggies.
During a UTEP free throw, one was waved off on a rare lane
violation. A media timeout came at 4:30
left in the quarter.
PA Ed suddenly sounded a little questionable, like he had
a cold. He’s a trooper. The Aggie bench was making the most noise in
the arena. Elina Arike was UTEP’s big middle.
She seemed even bigger than Bigue
Sarr on the Aggies and out-muscled her in the paint for a shot under the
basket. Katia hit a 3 to close it to
12-10 Aggies. Taylein Grays went inside for a basket to make it 14-10. Mel had a steal and tapped it to Taylein for
a layup. Taylor got a steal and the
assist to Soufia for a layup. Elina
could shoot from the outside, too. She
hit a 3 for the Miners before the end of the quarter. 22-18 Aggies after 10 minutes.
Second
Quarter
There was a Fry Shuffle fan contest on the video
board. They were giving away a Whataburger
gift pack. I’d already had mine
today. I’d gotten a Honey BBQ Chicken Strip sandwich.
I got the barbeque sauce all over my hands and mouth and it was totally
worth the mess. I think Katia’s parents
were behind us, as they were cheering for her.
She is from El Paso. I don’t know
why they weren’t with the other UTEP fans in the visitors section behind their
bench.
UTEP showed off some great passing skills to find the open
man (woman), as Eliana Cabral buried
a 3 after several passes around the horn.
Sarr was back on court with a pair of layups under the rim. Two minutes in, it was 26-23 Aggies. Taylor pulled up for a 3 to make it 32-25
with 6 minutes left in the quarter. UTEP
started full court pressing, though the Aggies were able to beat it. Katia made a 3 to make it 34-28 Aggies. Sarr picked up another foul and had to come
out. A couple of bad Aggie turnovers
closed the score to 34-32.
After the Media timeout, UTEP converted on a pair of free
throws to tie it at 34. The ball got
stuck between the rim and board on a possession afterward. No one on court was tall enough to jump for
it. Finally, a ref got another ball and
dislodged it with a shot. Taylor broke
the Aggie drought with a jumper. Coach Atkinson put in some reserve
players that I hadn’t seen before to give the regulars a rest. Coach
Baker did the same for the Miners. A
couple of players were wearing different numbers than on the scorecard. I had to hope that they didn’t score until I
figured out who they were. The fouls
increased until the end of the half.
Taylor hit a last second 3. It
was 42-39 Aggies at the half.
Halftime
We found out why some of the Cheerleaders were relaxing
during the game. They were busy doing a
group performance for halftime. It was a
high-energy acrobatic routine. The guys
were doing some high tosses of the girls.
I went to the bathroom afterward.
When I came back, a couple of the girls were behind us talking to
probably their parents. I should have
congratulated them, but like high school, I was too embarrassed to talk to
Cheerleaders.
Continued in Part 2.
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