NM State Aggies vs Utah Valley Wolverines Women’s Basketball 12-16-23

Isn’t this poster gorgeous?  Unlike the last couple of hijacked Aggie Women’s Basketball posts (11-18-23 and 12-5-23), this post will mostly focus on their game and not the New Mexico Bowl (but with a couple of diversions). 

 

The Aggie Men played basketball Friday night in a rematch with the Lobos in Las Cruces.  After losing by 44 points two weeks ago in Albuquerque and a close win over NAIA Northern New Mexico earlier in the week, the Aggies played much better this time.  They hung with the 10-1 Lobos for the entire game.  The Aggies had a slim lead late before losing it to a Lobo three-pointer and then having a turnover with 4 seconds left, which sealed it.  UNM won 73-72, but hopefully the Aggies have learned how to play as a team much better for the rest of the season.

 

An officer at work gave tickets to the game to a co-worker.  Taylor was going to ask if I wanted to go before he remembered that I work at night.  He was excited about the game before I told him about the previous blowout.  I hope he found someone to go with and went anyway.  It was a great game.  Admittedly, I was busy and only really listened to the end of it.

Boy did I whiff on this one.  After kind of waffling on getting a Bowl game t-shirt earlier in the week, I’d decided I might get one before the Saturday game.  I’d neglected to consider the possibility that the Merchandise kiosk wasn’t even going to be open for it.  Oops.  Really though, none of the designs I glanced at stood out, which was the real reason I didn’t get one.  However, I saw this picture from the Aggie tailgate.  If I see one of those shirts available, I’ll probably get it. 

 

The Pan-Am Center was actually being run by skeleton crew today.  There was no Band or Cheerleaders.  I’m not even sure who was in charge.  The staff were all up in Albuquerque.  No wonder the idea of holding a football watch party afterward was laughable.  Duke Keith, who called the Men’s game last night, was here to do the TV coverage today.  (I think I saw his partner and all-time Aggie great, Anita Skipper, in the crowd.)   

 

I was worried the crowd was going to be super-light as well.  It was pretty empty when I came in.  There was a section of young girls in white face paint and wearing green wigs and striped outfits next to me.  It turned out they were a dance group.  (Whew!  I was afraid the ban on mimes at sporting events had been lifted.)  They were having a good time.  Their parents came in later (and sat in front of me where I could smell them and their concession food).  This did bolster the crowd to a tally of 351.

 

Utah Valley was warming up on court when I came in.  They are a generally good-looking team.  A couple of them were quite attractive.  Unfortunately, they all ran off the court before the Anthem.  Sigh, I almost switched sides.  They were a spirited group.  They formed an enthusiastic rally circle after introductions and were cheering loudly for each other all through the game.   

 

In spite of the small crowd, the Aggies were all smiles when they came down from the stands to the court.  Coach Adams came in wearing an ugly Christmas sweater.  It was quiet enough that when the refs met with the team captains I could hear them.  They all agreed that nobody really wanted to be here and that we all had better things to do. 

 

I noticed three of the suites were occupied this afternoon.  They didn’t have the TV’s on in there, so I didn’t bother trying to think up a way to get in there to watch the bowl game.  (I don’t have cable or any other place to watch it.)  Hey, I did get a shirt.  A staffer tossed a shirt into the crowd before the game.  However, he was aiming for a couple of guys behind me.  I caught it and handed it to them.    

Posting another Tylie Jones pic.  She's wearing a boot right now.

First Quarter

Jaila Harding started off the scoring with a free throw.  She missed the second one.  Ene Adams got the rebound.  Molly Kaiser passed to Sylena Peterson for a layup.  The Aggies were looking sharp to start.  UTV fouled again on the next trip.  It was a physical game, though not contentious. 

 

Jaila hit a 3 to make it 6-2 Aggies with 8’ left in the quarter.  The coach was very animated during the game.  She got mad at Loes Rozing loud enough that everyone heard it.  The coach pulled her off the court for a quick lecture on the sideline. 

 

6’ Ene made a layup and was fouled.  She missed the free throw, but there was Jaila again with the rebound and a jumper, 10-6 Aggies.  A few players from the Men’s team came in and sat in the Student Section.  Maybe they came from practice.  (I don’t know who they are to identify them.) 

 

After the Media timeout (and boy were those breaks long without Dance Cam and the other activities), Sianny Sanchez-Oliver found Ene under the basket with a nice pass, 14-6.  The Aggies got called for a blocking foul on defense.  Coach Adams was hopping mad.  I thought she was about to put herself into the game.  The Aggies ended up committing four fouls in a row without scoring. 

 

UTV made a bit of run to get the score closer.  I noticed Femme Sikuzani Masudi was back playing after taking the last game off.  She was limping and wearing a big leg brace.  Later in the game, she took it off on court and played without it. 

 

1’ left in the quarter, there was a stoppage as the shot clocks suddenly went out.  Ah, this is what we all wanted—a 10-minute delay.  The refs called the coaches over after the delay and I thought they were about to call the game, but suddenly the shot clocks came back on.  I had mixed feelings.  It took three false starts, but the game finally restarted.  

 

Molly made a great move getting to the basket.  It was a little too good and she was called for a travel.  In the final seconds, Kaylee Byon, the shortest player on the court, drove the lane for a layup for the Wolverines.  It was 18-12 Aggies after 10 minutes.

 

Second Quarter

There was another long delay or it just felt like it.  Before play resumed, Ally Criddle and Kaylee hugged on court like kids.  It’s always nice to see some genuine camaraderie between teammates.  After a nervous start by both teams, Molly started the Aggie scoring with a jumper.  On a fastbreak, Sylena found Ene under the basket.  Sabou Gueye made a pretty reverse layup.  The Aggies went up 24-14.

 

What briefly followed was a series of wild shots and turnovers for both teams, and even girls falling on top of each other.  It wasn’t sloppy; it was comedy.  After a few minutes, we went back to playing basketball.  Molly hit a jumper and was fouled and converted on a free throw.  She followed that up with a 3.  31-16 Aggies.  Femme made a shot from under the basket.  Molly faked out a defender bad enough, that the girl fell to the floor.  In the closing seconds, Sylena made a steal and was fouled on the layup and made the free throws.  The half ended with the Aggies taking a commanding 35-17 lead.

 

Halftime

The Venom Dancers performed.  First there was a troop of little girls.  They were pretty impressive.  The teen girls came out and their makeup and costumes made more sense, as their dance theme was Beetlejuice.  At one point, they made a kicking chorus line.  The parents were all around me, making videos, and going crazy.  Afterward, the girls walked by and got another round of applause.  They were all totally gassed.

 

Third Quarter

The families and the dancers left.  There was still a somewhat respectable crowd left.  Jaila hit a 3 to start.  Sylena made a kind of lucky reverse layup to make it 40-17.  I know it was lucky, because she was smiling afterward.  Halle Nelson, a rather striking blonde on the Wolverines, made an angry layup that somehow went in.  Molly may have taken a hit during the shot.  She seemed a little shaken up after. 

 

Coach Adams was not toning it down with big lead.  She was yelling loud enough for everyone to hear.  6’ left in the quarter, Lucia Yenes got her first points with a jumper and she followed that up with another.  44-23 going into the Media timeout. 

 

3’ Wolverine Kylee Mabry made a steal, but Femme stole it back on the other end, which led to a layup by Molly.  Femme even got an assist with a great backdoor pass to Lucia for a layup.  Lucia finished up with a 3 in the last 3 seconds of the quarter, 54-31 Aggies.

 

Fourth Quarter

By this point, the football pregame show was on the radio, which I had brought with me.  Also, this game was no longer in doubt.  Lucia hit a jumper to make it 58-31.  Halle made a 3 for UTV.  Sha’Kyia Parker came in to the game and made a 3 heading into the Media timeout, 62-37.

 

Injured girls on the Aggie bench were doing a synchronized dance to the music.  They were having a good time.  Jaila was also having a good time, as she added another a pair of 3’s and jumper to her total.  Aggies win 70-39.

 

I don’t remember Utah Valley being this bad in WAC games.  I’m too lazy to look my previous posts.  Whatever.  This wasn’t a conference game.  Liana Kaitu’u led for the Wolverines with 11 points.  For the Aggies, Jaila Harding led with 17 points.  Lucia Yenes and Molly Kaiser had 11 points, and Femme Sikuzani Masudi had 10.  Sylena Peterson had 8 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds.  Ene Adams had 8 points and 7 rebounds. 

 

The biggest reason for the Aggies’ victory was that the Wolverines couldn’t shoot.  The stats back up what I was seeing.  The shooting was 53%, to 28%, three-pointers 46% to 12%, and free throws were 73% to 40%.  The Aggies also led in points off turnovers 28 to 13.  This was an impressive effort by the team.  On the way out, I ran into Sylena in the concourse.  I called her by name and said the team had a great game.  She smiled and gave me a high-five. 

 

I went over to Dominos to get a Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich that I’d been wanting for a month.  I ran into the coach who does the color commentary for the broadcasts.  I don’t know his name, but I said “Hi.”  He was more interested in getting dinner than talking.  I was kind of hoping they might be showing the game on the TV’s at Dominos, but they were only showing Internet videos interspersed with Pfizer ads every minute.  It was a little uncomfortable (if not horrifying).     

 

The New Mexico Bowl: NMSU Aggies vs. Fresno State Bulldogs

I got home to eat (the sandwich was great) and listen to the game on the radio.  Okay, I’ve been putting this part off.  The Aggies lost 37-10.  It wasn’t even really that close.

 

From the pregame interviews, the team was concerned about Fresno State’s offense, but it was their defense that strangled them.  I think the Aggies’ plan was to hold the ball on long offensive drives to keep the Bulldog offense off the field, but they kept going 3-and-out.  The Aggie offense has been badly shutout for entire halves during the season.  The offensive plan seems like: Diego Pavia à ??? à touchdown.  The emphasis was on the defense coming up big and preventing touchdowns.  Against Liberty and Fresno State, teams they couldn’t completely stop, they needed more thought on offense than to just hold the ball and grind it out.      

The Aggies were 3-point favorites.  Fresno State was a powerful team at the start of the season, but an injury to their quarterback, Mikey Keene, had relegated them to a lesser bowl game.  Keene was back playing at the end of the season and had a great game.  The Aggies were playing the Bulldogs at the wrong time.  They were playing the team that was going to be headed to a New Years’ bowl game, not the one that finished the regular season.    

 

There was a great crowd for the game at 30,800.  We assume they were mostly Aggie fans.  Hopefully they had a decent time even with the loss.  This was a great season regardless.  NMSU beat Auburn and made it to the C-USA Conference Championship game in their first year.  They played 15 games and finished with 10 wins.  The poster is still looks magnificent on my wall and I might still get a t-shirt.