NM State Aggies vs Portland State Vikings Women’s Basketball 11-18-23

Sabou Gueye

Technically, the title is misleading and burying the lead.  Today’s Aggie Women’s Basketball game was completely upstaged by what was going on with Aggie Football, which started at the same time.  I apologize up front if don’t give the ladies their proper due. 

 

There was lots of Aggie Sports today.  Aggie Volleyball won their last two games and came into the C-USA Tournament as the #2 seed.  They won their first round game and today’s game versus FIU.  They’re on to the finals against Western Kentucky tomorrow.  Aggie Men’s Basketball would be playing here in the evening.

 

I’ve had an up-and-down week.  I took three days off at the beginning of the week.  When I got back to work, I found out a bunch of co-workers were out sick.  I was buried with work.  On Friday, I took something as a preventative to getting sick and had a reaction to it and ended up in the Emergency Room.  I’m fine, thank God.  (Fell another day behind on work.)  I was feeling a bit weak today, but was okay to do things.  I went over to the mall and got something for the co-worker who took me to the hospital.  In the afternoon, still feeling okay, I took off for today’s Women’s basketball game and took my radio with me to listen to the football game against Auburn. 

 

There was light crowd today at the game, especially compared to last game I was at against Arizona.  There was only one little girls team present.  I sat in the wrong place for basketball, which was my usual seat for volleyball, but it worked out okay.  Today’s opponent, Portland State, was warming up out on court.  They were a pretty nice-looking team (especially Laynee Torres-Kahapea).  They were about to line up for the Anthem when an assistant coach told them to leave the court.  The Aggies were in the locker room, as usual.

 

The Roadrunner Revue Band was here.  They’d be doing double-duty playing at tonight’s Men’s game.  The Sundancers were here along with a few Cheerleaders I didn’t recognize (the rest would be here tonight) and Pistol Pete.  For the Aggies, Lucia Yenes and Ene Adams had their legs heavily wrapped up, but both would be playing.  Coach Adams was again bold in her fashion with a crimson plaid sports jacket. 

 

PA Ed Carnathan (who’d be calling both basketball games) made an announcement about Aggie Volleyball winning and going to the championship game before the game.  He’d be making some more announcements during the game.  On the radio, Jack Nixon mentioned that UTEP took WKU to five sets in the other semi-final and almost did the Aggies a favor.  (UTEP is tough, but I kind of would have liked the Aggies’ chances against them better than #22 in the nation WKU.)  There was a program up front, but no scorecard this time.  I felt a bit naked not marking off scoring, but had plenty of notes to take.          

 

First Quarter

Both teams started out cold.  Ene almost got the scoring started with a free throw, but it was waived off for a lane violation.  3 minutes in, PS finally broke the seal.  Molly Kaiser answered right back for the Aggies and made another to make it, 4-2, 5 minutes in.  It would be tied at 4 going into the Media Timeout.

 

In Football, the Aggies got the ball first.  Diego Pavia finished the drive with a pass for a touchdown.  He was doing good with the passing, but was helped out with a couple of Auburn penalties.  The crowd there was announced at over 88k.  I could hear them.  PA Ed announced the 7-0 score to the cheers of the crowd at the Pan-Am Center.

 

After the break, Molly hit a 3 to make it 7-4 with 3’ left.  Sabou Gueye missed a runner in the lane, but got the rebound and Tylie Jones converted with a jumper.  The ball hit the rim, bounced high, and fell in the net.  Loes Rozing hit a jumper and two free throws.  It was 13-6 Aggies after 10 minutes.  In Football, Auburn went 3-and-out on their first possession.

 

Second Quarter

An ad ran for Aggie Football going to the conference championship game next month.  It felt like we were rubbing it in on Portland State.  I noticed at the press table, they were watching the football game.  In the break, PA Ed was standing and watching, along the guy that gives the signal to the officials about coming out of the TV break.  That guy is able to multi-task well.

Lucia Yenes

Sabou blocked a 3 attempt early.  Jaila Harding made a fast-break jumper off a great feed by Sianny Sanchez-Oliver.  Lucia came into the game briefly and immediately put in two baskets before coming out.  The coach is limiting her minutes.  17-10 Aggies with 7’ left.

 

Back to the Football, Diego threw a pick, but it was nullified on an offsides call.  Unfortunately, he also took a penalty for tackling the defender and suplexing him to the ground.  The Aggies didn’t score on the possession. 

 

Sabou drew charge on defense, but Esmeralda Morales put in a 3 for the Vikings next to make it 19-15 with 6’ left.  Ene increased the lead to 21-15 after a pair of free throws.  Esmeralda made a steal that led to a PS basket, 21-17.  Joy Halton made a great pass inside to Esmeralda for a basket, 21-19.  They would tie it at 21 with 2’ left.  Jaila responded by hitting a 3 and Roes got a rebound with a putback to make it 26-21.  An errant hard pass struck the metal sign in front of the fans at the sideline seats and startled them.  (Me, too.  I didn’t know they were metal.)  Sabou made a jumper to make it 28-21 Aggies at the half.           

Halftime

I went to the bathroom and missed the Sundancers performing.  I would have waited if I’d known that was coming.  Back to Football, Auburn had a bad penalty that killed a drive and they punted.  The Aggies went 3-and-out.  Auburn came back and made a fourth and short play.  The Aggie defense had a couple of dumb penalties that extended the drive and Auburn scored a touchdown to make it 7-7 in the second quarter. 

 

Third Quarter

The Aggies started off with three travelling calls and two fouls to begin the quarter.  PS had two fouls themselves.  Ene sunk at couple more free throws to make it 30-23 with 7’ left.  Sabou made a steal and went for a layup, but missed.  When she came out, the Coach gave her a long talk on the sidelines.  Sylena rejected a shot, but was called for her third foul in the process. 

 

Mia ‘Uhila made a steal for PS, but Molly stole it right back and got a layup, 34-24 Aggies, and the Vikings took a timeout.  (Was that the only team timeout of the game?  This game flew by.)  Back at Auburn, the Ethan Albertson hit a 40-yard field goal and the Aggies took 10-7 lead into halftime.  (Yes, Jack and everyone listening was amazed.) 

 

Back to basketball, the Aggies had another travelling call.  (Got to work on that, ladies.)  This was part of a three-minute scoring drought that felt much longer.  Ene missed 4 free throws during the stretch.  Molly broke it up with a layup, 34-24.  Tylie hit a jumper and Molly had another layup to make it 38-24.  Molly got laid out flat on the court on a foul.  She made two free throws and came out.  She was okay.  41-28 Aggies after three quarters.      

 

Fourth Quarter

PA Ed gave the Football score in the break.  An adorable little girl won the Fan of the Game award.  She was cheering her little heart out.  Tylie started the quarter with a jumper.  Sabou had another steal and this time finished the layup.  That was a good talk by the Coach.  45-28 Aggies with 7’ left.

 

Esmeralda hit another 3.  Viking Lana Wenger hurt her hand on a play.  She had to stay in for a minute and keep playing before she was taken out.  The trainer took a look at her on the bench.  Lana came back in later with her finger wrapped up. 

 

The Aggies poured it on.    Sy found Molly for a layup, 51-33.  The little fan girl came up on the video board for Flex Cam.  This was too cute.  Esmeralda put in another 3 for PS.  The game finished, 57-38 Aggies.  Admittedly, I was sort of tuning out a bit as the game was blowing out and I wasn’t keeping notes.

 

For your stats, Viking Esmerelda Morales led everyone with 19 points.  Molly Kaiser had 17 points and 3 steals.  She was clutch.  Loes Rozing had 8 points and did the dirty work with 8 rebounds.  The Aggies shot 42% from the field.  They looked pretty good this afternoon. 

 

Back to Football.  The Aggie defense got a big sack on a third down and forced an Auburn punt.  I walked outside to my car.  The road barriers were now up for the Men’s game later.  One guy decided that didn’t apply to him and he proceeded to move one.  (I chose not to help him.)  Traffic was forced out through one exit.  I sat in my truck and listened to the game while the line cleared.    

 

The Aggies scored another touchdown to lead 17-7.  Star Thomas stumbled into the endzone on a short pass.  I drove over to get gas and Auburn had a fruitless possession.  Back at home and into the fourth quarter, the Aggies ran a fake punt for a first down.  Then on the Auburn two-yard line on fourth down, Diego found Eli Stowers for another touchdown, 24-7.  Auburn came back with a field goal, 24-10.  The Aggies recovered the onside kick.  Makhilyn Young rushed in a touchdown to finish it.  31-10 Aggies!  Can you believe it?    

 

I called dad before the game ended and told him the score and told him to listen in.  He was amazed and happy.  For some unknown reason, dad hates Coach Kill.  However, he talks to a neighbor that works for the university, who says it’s all Kill’s assistant coaches making the team good, so dad now roots for the team.  I’m sure Coach Kill actually has a lot to do with the team’s success, but I won’t talk dad out of it.

 

This was a “money” game for the Aggies.  They made $1.8M.  Twitter was not kind in pointing this out, especially other SEC teams.  (Also, the Aggies are now 1-27 versus the SEC in football.)  I think the Aggies are going to have trouble booking these “money” games in the future. 

 

Auburn was 26-point favorites, however their new head coach is Hugh Freeze, who was coaching Liberty last year when the Aggies shocked the world by beating them badly, 49-14, and they were also 24-point underdogs.  I had this pegged as a revenge game for Freeze, not a rerun.  

Diego Pavia celebrates with the Auburn crowd.

Diego Pavia threw for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns.  He was banged up coming into this game.  People were questioning if he was going to play.  Coach Kill said, “We’re coming here to try and win.  He’s playing.”  Aggie rushing had over 200 yards.  Credit the Aggie defense, Auburn only had 65 yards rushing and they’re known for their run game.  The Aggies had no turnovers, though there were two near ones.  Diego had the interception scare and a fumble, but he’d already been blown down before it happened. 

 

The Aggies got a bit lucky and the refs weren’t helping Auburn.  Regardless, that’s 7 wins in a row.  Even with this huge win, the Aggies have two tough conference games coming up.  Jacksonville State dropped 56 points winning today and Liberty also had a big win and they’re 25-th in the nation.  Hopefully, the fans will show up for the final home game next week.          

 

I listened to the Men’s Basketball later that night.  Duke Keith was sitting in for Jack Nixon calling the game.  (Adam Young was calling the TV side.  He also called the Women’s game.)  The team picked up a new star player for this game, Femi Odukale, with his eligibility approved.  The Aggies went down by 12 at the half to Northern Colorado, who was shooting the lights out, while there was “a lid” over the Aggie basket.  The Aggies came back in the second half.  The crowd got into it and the Aggies won 76-71.  Four Aggies were in double-digits scoring, including Odukale.

 

“It’s a great day to be an Aggie,” they said in the postgame with three wins today . . . except it was four.  Duke kept forgetting to mention the Volleyball win.  He remembered them later, but didn’t know if they’d won.  I’ll go ahead and finish up the storyline.  Aggie Volleyball did lose to WKU in straight sets in the C-USA Championship.  Starr Williams, Ryleigh Whitekettle, and Kacia Brown got all-tournament nods. 

 

The team finished second in the conference and went to the championship game, but they honestly never felt like a contender to win it all.  Those two games against Sam Houston (11-3-23 and 11-4-23), the only team that didn’t make the tournament, both going five-sets was brutal.  UTEP didn’t seem all that great, but were much grittier.  WKU just runs like a machine.  The Aggies certainly have some real talent, but aren’t a cohesive unit.  They’ve got to work on being more of a team. 

   

Hey, NMSU joins a new conference and are already in three championship games (including Football, which is yet to be played).  The school is definitively competitive out-of-the-box.  We’ll see how the Basketball, Baseball, and Softball teams do next.  Today, November 18, 2023, was a great day in Aggie Sports and we’ll celebrate this one.