I’m not sorry to see January pass. On the one hand, I got the Inauguration I wanted and a lovely new car. On the other, my truck suffered a perhaps unfixable mechanical failure that necessitated the new car purchase. Then this week, dad ended up in the Emergency Room with breathing trouble. He’s okay now, but it was frightening. Friday night month end processing at work was a long, irritating affair and I ended up staying 45 minutes off the clock to finish. But, I also got a nice bonus on that same day. It’s really been mixed.
For Aggie Basketball, it’s been less than mixed since my last post. The Men lost two conference games and won one. The Women have been on a four-game losing streak. Their last game on Thursday against Middle Tennessee was particularly heartbreaking. Molly Kaiser scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and tied the game to send it to overtime, but they lost it there.
In Aggie Football news, Shiyazh Pete has picked Kentucky to transfer to. This was surprising given the bigger name schools who’d made offers. Maybe it was an academics thing. Maybe Kentucky told Shiyazh that they’d start him, while the other schools only told him they’d give him an opportunity to start.
I set off for today’s Women’s Basketball game between the Aggies and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers . . . err . . . Lady Toppers (as PA Ed announced them). Just down the street there was a dead black cat on the road. Would this be better or worse than a black cat crossing your path?
Once at the Pan-Am Center, I noticed this little Wave stuffed animal at the Merch kiosk. I debated it for a minute. I don’t need any more stuffed animals, but I felt sort of obligated to buy one, since I’d suggested that they stock them there. Well, Little Wave is quite adorable. He helped me cheer the team along this afternoon. (I would have worn my Wave hat if I’d known this was going to happen today. They should have had those stuffed animals available for that game.)
There was a decent crowd in the arena at 397. It could have been better given that there was nothing on TV this weekend, as we all wait for the big Taylor Swift Invitational Football game next weekend. Still, it was a super nice and relatively warm day after last month’s cold spell. People probably wanted to do stuff outside. The Aggie Men had started their game on the road against the Hilltoppers an hour before this game. I brought a radio to listen to the game, though I didn’t pay much attention to it and only got a headache from it. The Aggies were down 42-34 at the half.
First Quarter
I missed two baskets on the scorecard. I’m not getting any better at this. Lady Hilltopper Alexis Mead was the shortest player on the court. She managed to get two steals off of bad passes and made layups from them in the first couple of minutes of the game. Molly hit her first jumper to give the Aggies a 7-6 lead at the 5 minute mark. Sylena Peterson subbed in and made a great assist to Molly, who snuck in under the basket. 9-6 Aggies with 4 minutes left.
Unfortunately, the Aggies kept making bad passes and went into a scoring drought on top of it. Fanta Gassama made her second steal of the quarter, but was tripped going down court. The Aggies weren’t able to score on the possession. Molly was taking shots, but not connecting. Josie Gilvin made a 3 at the end to give WKU a 17-9 lead.
Second Quarter
I saw Tylie Jones on the sidelines. She was not suited up to play, but seemed to now be on the coaching staff. She was going over stats with the players before Coach Adams came over. Good for her. It was National Women in Sports Day. I finally noticed that some of the other Aggie Women’s teams were here.
I’d looked for Megan the Hot Pan-Am Girl on the sidelines and finally found her seated next to PA Ed. That seems like a promotion. On a similar track, one of the refs was an attractive blonde. Her and Lady Topper, Caleigh-Rose West, chatted and smiled before play. Caleigh was a pretty girl with an impressive ‘fro. She was hard to miss.
Molly made a steal early, but a Jaila Harding had a travelling call right after. The Aggies had another bad pass. Josie converted that into a WKU 3. They were up 22-11 with 7 minutes left. Molly powered her way to the basket for a hard layup. She got the foul, but uncharacteristically missed the free throw.
At the 5 minute Media timeout, it was 26-13 WKU. Simba Cam was activated. This time it was mostly parents holding up their kids. A really cute girl with short hair held up a bucket of popcorn. I’ll forgive it, because she was really cute. A Volleyball player was lifted by a teammate. I did not lift up Little Wave, because that’s not what Simba Cam is for. I did lift up Little Wave for Dance Cam later, but that was appropriate. Once again, there was another very cute girl in the stands dancing for that. The camera guys were doing a great job.
Freshman Madi Gewirtz subbed in. I hoped this wasn’t Coach Adams throwing in the towel early, but I was glad to see Madi anyway. Madi dropped in a jumper. After, Sy tried to find her cutting to the basket, but it was another turnover on a bad pass. Molly hit a jumper and drew a charge. Sianny Sanchez-Oliver had a steal and passed to Molly under the basket, but Molly was blocked by Mya Pratcher.
The Aggies had another turnover on a bad pass. Diarrah Sissoko made a steal. On the possession, Molly was fouled and converted on the free throws. Lady Topper Destiny Salary (there’s a last name I’ve never seen before) went to the floor for a loose ball. She tried to argue with the pretty ref for a foul, but was ignored. However, WKU was up, 30-19.
Halftime
The other Women’s teams came down to the court to be honored. This included Track, Soccer, Cheer and Dance, Swim and Dive, and Volleyball. The other teams weren’t available. I saw some pretty girls from the Gonzaga Tennis team at McAlister’s on Friday. I assumed they were here to play the Aggies. I might have talked to them and asked, but they were giving me dirty looks as I was wearing an Aggie hat. (I had the new Turkey Dip Sandwich. It was awesome.)
I noticed Rachel Haan with Soccer. I really want to see her play next season. She is a specimen. Bella Garcia was mentioned during the ceremony, I think for academics. I saw her go by. Wow, she is looking gorgeous. Maggie Lightheart was with Volleyball. I hope this means she’ll be back next season. There was a very big, tall girl with them that I didn’t recognize. She seems like an impressive new recruit.
Meanwhile on the radio, things did not go well for the Men. WKU won 101-69. No wonder I was mentally tuning out the game. The Aggies were actually shooting pretty good and had a nationally ranked defense, but the Hilltoppers were unstoppable today, as they shot 58% overall and 50% on 3-pointers (!). On the other hand, they play at the E.A. Diddle Arena. I hope that’s a person and not a sponsor.
Third Quarter
The Aggies went down by 13 before a comeback started. Fanta made another steal, though Molly took a tumble on the fast break. Lucia Yenes was in and made two layups in short order. Madi fought for a rebound and went to the floor for it. She came back with a 3. Molly made an Alley Oop pass to Lucia for another layup. 34-28 WKU with 5 minutes left in the quarter.
Lady Topper Acacia Hayes hit a 3 and put WKU back up by 10. Molly got stuffed going to the basket by Zsofia Telegdy. The Cheerleaders did a Bundt cake giveaway during a break. The Volleyball and Soccer girls got a couple. The Aggies came back. Madi hit another 3. Fanta made a layup off a great assist by Lucia.
The Aggie defense forced a backcourt violation. Jaila hit a 3. Alexis hit an answering 3 for WKU, but the crowd was now into it. Lucia hit a jumper at the end of the quarter. It was 43-40 WKU.
Fourth Quarter
The crowd was still right there and loud to start the quarter. Madi fought for another rebound under the basket and took a poke. (Not the face! She’s pretty!) Lucia hit a jumper. The Aggies on defense forced WKU shot clock violation. Molly was blocked again by Zsofia, however this time a technical foul was called. (I don’t know what brought call on.) A free throw tied it at 45 with 7 minutes left.
Madi hit a 3. The Aggies were up finally, 48-45. Zsofia blocked Molly again, but fouled in the process. Molly dropped in both foul shots. 50-47 Aggies. Molly took a cheap shot. The crowd was angry and wanted a foul. Madi came back with her fourth 3. WKU took a timeout down, 55-49, with 5 minutes left.
Fanta was fouled and put in both of her free throws. It was 57-49 Aggies with 3 minutes left. WKU wasn’t done. After another bad pass was picked off, Zsofia hit a jumper to close it to 57-55 Aggies. Coach Adams took a timeout with 1 minute remaining in regulation.
Molly drew a foul and knocked down both throws and got a steal. Jaila committed two fouls in quick succession. Acacia put in both free throws to get WKU within 59-57 with 24 seconds left. The Aggies had trouble with their next inbounds and had to burn their final timeout. Madi and Lucia hugged and chatted before play resumed.
Fanta was fouled and put in two more clutch free throws to make it 61-57 with 16 seconds left. WKU took their final timeout. Jaila fouled out and Acacia was back at the nail. She drained both as the Band in front of her chanted, “Don’t mess up!” Madi was fouled at the other end. She took a deep breath and put in both, 63-59 Aggies. 10 seconds left, Alexis shot a 3 and missed. Madi grabbed the rebound, hit the floor, and was stepped on. She went back to the foul line and put in one of two to ice the game. Aggies win, 64-59!
After the game, the Aggies made a circle on the court and mobbed Madi Gewirtz. She’d put in quite the effort today with 17 points and a lot of grit. Molly Kaiser had 17 points, as well. Even on an off-night, she’s the co-high-scorer. (I’m convinced Madi missed a free throw at the end just to make sure she didn’t score more than Molly.) Fanta Gassama had a great game with 9 points and 9 rebounds. Lucia Yenes scored 10. She was a real sparkplug. Acacia Hayes was the high-scorer for WKU with 14. Destiny Salary, Alexis Mead, and Josie Gilvin also had good games.
WKU had 26 points in paint and was 42% shooting and 38% shooting 3’s. The Aggies were 40% shooting and 26% on 3’s. The difference in the score was the Aggies shooting 86% on free throws and they had 27 bench points. The Aggies didn’t play a perfect game and hurt themselves a lot with bad passing, but they didn’t give up and fought for the win.
I got a very long text as exited the Pan-Am Center. The dealership had been trying to reach me all week about my license plates, but had been dialing the wrong number. Soon, the new car will legally be mine. That was additional good news. Softball and Baseball are about to start. I’m planning on at least one more Women’s Basketball game. The real question is: Am I going to have to bring the stuffed dog with me again for good luck?
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