I used my final day off for the year to go to today’s Aggie Women’s Basketball game against the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds. Why not? It was a super nice day and I had plans for after today’s 2:00pm game. For some reason, I thought this was a Kid’s Day game. Ron and I went to one once and half the Pan-Am Center was filled with kids (12-18-19 with 1,600 in attendance). This was not the case today, though. School’s already out for Christmas. There was a group of tall high school girls outside the arena that I guessed were a team. Except them and a few little kids, that was about it.
The doors to the Pan-Am were almost unattended. Inside, there was a bored Concessions worker. (I’d give him some business, but I had plans.) The Cheerleaders, the Sundancers, PA Ed, and Pistol Pete were there. I looked for Jack Nixon. He called last night’s Men’s win over Northern New Mexico and he said he’d be here as a fan. I didn’t see him, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there. The crowd was light at 438 officially. At times, I could hear myself applauding. The Cheerleaders were working it, but seemed slightly embarrassed. ENM did have a knot of fans behind their bench.
Since both Aggie teams had swept the Lobos, the Men had had a blowout road loss to Texas and began a five-game home stand with a close win over Utah State and a blowout win over NNM. The Women had had two road losses. Today, they were playing without Fanta Gassama, their star forward. She was in sweats and holding a clipboard for the game. She didn’t look hurt, but that doesn’t mean anything. Noah Garcia started in her place. ENM’s tallest player wasn’t playing either. Surprisingly, they had a few international players, including a girl from Moscow. The team is 10-1 this season.
First Quarter
The scorecard didn’t add up again. This is kind of annoying. I think I’m paying attention, but I’m apparently not. ENM blocked Molly Kaiser and Noah to start the game. Noah came back with a layup under the basket. After Sylena Peterson committed a foul, she made a block. Loes Rozing made a steal and Sy converted that into a layup. Sylena always seems to play harder to make up for mistakes. Molly made her first jumper, but ENM came right back with a fast break basket by Kaitlyn Edmondson. Molly made a layup and then drew a foul to make it, 11-4 Aggies, with 5 minutes left.
Jaz Salon came in for ENM. She was the shortest player on the court at 5’3.” She did hold up Lucia Yenes on a fast break, but was otherwise pretty overmatched. Tylie Jones made a steal with a layup off Jaz. Anna Csenyi hit a 3 to make it, 20-6 Aggies, with 2 minutes left. Molly made a steal on an inbounds and was fouled. She missed one of her free throw shots and was completely disgusted with herself. I’m not sure if she had a streak going.
Anna and Tylie worked on a steal, which led to a Jaila Harding 3. Jaila quickly drained another 3 right after. A t-shirt whizzed by me, as Pistol Pete did a “Tees for Threes” toss into the crowd. The Aggies were up, 29-8, after 10 minutes of play.
Second Quarter
Loes and Greyhound Julieta Ceja nearly came to blows fighting over a rebound to start the quarter. Victoria Barrera on ENM took a charge from Sianny Sanchez-Oliver and drew a big cheer from her teammates on her bench. Molly was called for block and was laid out flat on the floor. Loes and Julieta fought again over a rebound. It wasn’t quite personal to this point.
Tylie made a nice move in the lane for the first Aggie points of the quarter to make it, 31-12, with 5 minutes left. Noah and Jaila had steals and Loes made a layup off that second steal. Greyhound Nataya Lockette made a great slash move for a bucket, 35-16 Aggies, with 3 minutes left. Tatiana Platonova, ENM’s Russian player, connected on a layup with a foul. She missed the free throw, which was unfortunately a common occurrence for the Greyhounds today. I was expecting their team to at least be competitive in their free throws.
Lucia fought her way down the lane for a basket. She then made a steal and passed to Madi Gewirtz, who flipped in a jumper. Lucia got another assist to Sy for another jumper. Lockette sunk in a 3 and Madi made a layup to finish the half, 43-22 Aggies.
Halftime
For halftime, the young girls team came out on court and was honored. They won the local city league and were undefeated this season. Last night’s Men’s Basketball game featured the annual Christmas Toys for Tots Teddy Bear Toss, where fans toss Teddy Bears on the court at halftime.
While writing this, I’m sort of watching a surprise UTEP Men’s Basketball game that’s on TV. I didn’t notice this on the schedule. It’s the Sun Bowl Tournament. Their halftime show was an acrobatic basketball stunt team doing high-flying dunks. (By the way, there at the Don Haskins Center, both teams were on court for the Anthem, unlike at the Pan-Am Center.)
I’d feel cheated about the halftime show, but Pan-Am video screen did show a cool classic Christmas movie and TV clip montage to the tune of All I Want for Christmas Is You. No disrespect intended to the teams, but this was the highlight of the game for me. (That and this really hot chick they showed on Dance Cam.)
Third Quarter
Molly was back in after sitting out most of the second quarter. She began with a layup. Tylie and Sylena both put in 3’s. Meanwhile, Barrera made two attempts at a wide open shot under the basket before making one. 53-25 Aggies with 7 minutes left.
Molly was fouled and hit two throws. She was then fouled on a layup and missed another free throw. Molly flapped her arms in anger. She’d get a couple more tries at nail and convert on them. Usually, a Cheerleader will say, “Guns Up!” before an Aggie free throw attempt. A little girl in the stands kept jumping her in saying it first.
Lockette made a rebound on a shot made with 1 second on the clock. She converted it into a layup. Tylie came back with another 3 to make it, 60-27 Aggies, with 4 minutes left. Lockette responded with a 3. There was a Media timeout. The Cheerleaders handed out some little Bundt cakes to the crowd from a sponsor. I almost sold out for one, but I was already working on a gifted loaf of banana bread at home.
Diarrah Sissoko came in for the Aggies and made a free throw for her first point. Tylie took a charge on defense. Both teams traded steals and Jaila came away with a 3. Greyhound Daci Smith caught fire at the end of the quarter with a pair of 3’s, both at the buzzer. 68-36 Aggies.
Fourth Quarter
Emma Dasovich came in for the Aggies and made a layup. Madi got an assist to her for another layup. Barrera came back with a coast-to-coast layup. Molly started the quarter. She missed her third free throw (keeping in mind that she made 9 in basically 2 quarters of play) and came out angry. Lucia comforted her on the bench. I also saw Lucia being pretty supportive and instructive with her teammates on court.
Greyhound Tonka Jaksic made a 3 and a fast break layup. 75-43 Aggies with 5 minutes left. In the Media timeout, the girls team, sitting at courtside, was on Emoji Cam, along with even their coach. Tylie and Anna both had steals in the final minutes. Jaksic made another 3. Marta Guilera came in late and was, I guess, the last Aggie player available to play. They tried to get her a shot, but she didn’t make it. Aggies win, 77-46! Poor Marta. As the team went around the court after the game, she was crying. Hopefully, she’ll get another chance to play.
Nataya Lockette led the Greyhounds with 10 points. Kaitlyn Edmondson had 7 points and 7 rebounds. They only shot 33%, 26% on 3’s. They were a terrible 6 for 17 on free throws. They had 10 second chance points, 18 points in the paint, and 24 bench points. Honestly, for a blowout, ENM played pretty well, they just kept making bad shots and not converting on free throws.
For the Aggies, of course, Molly Kaiser led with 21 points. She didn’t even play that much. It was almost too easy for her. Tylie Jones exploded for 14 points and 8 rebounds. Jaila Harding hit 3 3’s for 13 points.
The Aggies shot 47% and were 38% on 3’s. They were 14 of 20 on free throws. How about this? 28 points in the paint, 26 points off turnovers, 20 fast break points, and 41 bench points (not surprising there). The Aggies took care of business here. Coach Adams didn’t seem to get too upset about anything. We are concerned about Fanta Gassama not playing, though.
Yeah, I’d like to say I enjoyed this, but I was sitting there by myself watching an uncompetitive game and feeling kind of miserable. I’m really feeling some Christmas blahs. Also, I’d been craving a Whataburger for the last three weeks and I’d designated today as the day after the game. I found myself watching the clock a lot. Every minor delay by the refs was kind of excruciating.
Finally, I got my Whataburger. It was delicious and the fries were great. I’ve heard Whataburger uncharitably called, “McDonald’s with bigger portions,” but they put a little extra flavor in their burgers to get you to come back. Well, at least I enjoyed the meal. We’ll probably be picking up some more basketball next year with some conference games.
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