NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Men’s Basketball 2-1-20

Let’s hear it for my workplace!  Ron and I had a nice meal at McAlister’s before tonight’s Aggie Men’s Basketball game.  This was courtesy of a gift card from work.  The tickets for this Pack-the-Pan-Am game versus GCU were also from work.  Indeed, we weren’t the only ones with tickets.  85 local businesses had bought many of the 12,900 tickets to sell out the Pan-Am Center tonight.  This also included the restaurant where Aggie Bryce Rewalt works.  They bought 80 tickets so his co-workers could see him play. 

If you got there early enough, they were giving out t-shirts for the first 1,000 fans.  It was probably a long shot to get one of those, though I did run into a co-worker with a couple.  I was ambivalent about getting one.  They weren’t going to be handing out any in Ron’s size.  We got there relatively late, about a half hour before tip-off, and the overflow parking lot was full.  Inside, I noticed several people wearing throwback jersey t-shirts.  Maybe these were given to season ticket holders. 

Our seats were on the south end in the corner and had a good view of the court.  The student section was next to us.  It was full and the students were standing.  Next to them was a section full of purple-shirted GCU students.  They were standing too.  In between them was the Roadrunner Revue band.  Tonight, they were featuring a vocalist.  A girl belted out a song with the band.  It added a Mad Max feel to the event.  Even the GCU students applauded her. 

There were lots of pretty girls there tonight.  I noticed a couple of girls wearing matching jackets that read, “Clever Girls Club,” on the back.  A co-worker came in and evicted some cute girls sitting in front of us.  Just as well.  They would have been a distraction.  Down below, there were a couple of very good-looking young women in white dresses serving the fans in the courtside seats.  For that matter, some volleyball girls (Cat Kelly, Ashley Anselmo, and Katie Birtcil) were sitting in our section, in front of one of my other co-workers.    

Ron had told me earlier that the Aggie Women had lost in Phoenix to GCU in the afternoon.  The Men’s pregame on the radio gave the score as 60-49.  For some reason, our Women don’t play well there.  Earlier in the afternoon, I listened to the UTEP Miner Women lose to UAB on the radio.  My dear Katarina Zec came within one point of scoring her 1,000-th career point.  I told Ron that I’d almost asked him about going to their game in El Paso last Saturday.  I’d heard Kat and teammate, Ariona Gill, (if I’m remembering correctly) on the radio earlier in the week.  They were so sweet and asked for the fans to come out for them.  Ron was noncommittal on whether he would have wanted to have gone.

Let me put in a little sidebar in the middle of this digression.  During the interview with Kat and Ariona, Steve Kaplowitz mentioned a former Lady Miner player.  She had been secretly pregnant while playing.  She was a big player and her job was to stand in the lane and take hard charges.  The girls let out an audible gasp at the story.  Also, Kappy mentioned how he’d accidently interviewed Kat after a Miner loss earlier in the season.  A staffer had told her to go talk to some people after the game.  They’d meant for her to go mingle with the fans, but she’d thought they’d meant for her to talk to the people calling the game.  Players aren’t supposed to talk to the media after a loss, I guess, and the team staff members were horrified to see her chatting away with Kappy on the air.    

PA Ed couldn’t resist welcoming the GCU fans there tonight.  The video screens played Johnny McCants’ halfcourt last second winner from last year (1-10-19), as Ed reminded them of that victory.  Right before the opening ceremonies, even before the full crowd had showed up, I was having trouble hearing my radio even with the volume all the way up.  The lights went out.  A rapper came out and fronted the band.  Pistol Pete, waving the Aggie flag and wearing chaps with crimson lights, charged out on court before the team. 

    

There was a great Anthem performance.  The crowd went wild as the lady did an impressive rendition.  During the GCU team’s introduction, their fans locked arms and started swaying back-and-forth.  It was impressive syncopation.  There was a decidedly mixed reaction to their new assistant coach, Marvin Menzies, who used to coach the Aggies.  PA Ed, at least, gave him a warm welcome.        

Damn it!  I was so close to getting this scorecard right.  My concentration lapsed once in the first half (which strangely coincided with the Aggies doing the same).  Late in the second half, some of my co-workers were leaving and I wasn’t able to pay attention to the action on court.  (Chatting a little with some friends was a bit more important.)  Excuses . . . excuses . . .

First Half

Evan Gilyard popped in a three to start the Aggie scoring.  On defense, Ivan Aurrecoechea was being aggressively double-teamed whenever he touched the ball.  Lope Carlos Johnson had all their points after four possessions.  Johnny McCants got his first points on a three to make it 8-6 Aggies.  Jabari Rice then hit a three.  Since baskets inside the arc were hard to come by at first, it was a good thing the long distance shooting was working.  Jabari then went coast-to-coast for layup and the crowd rocked the house, 13-6 Aggies. 

During the first media timeout, Athletic Director Mario Moccia came out on court for a presentation.  For tonight’s “White Out” game, he was dressed in white shoes, white pants, and a white jacket.  Back to the action, Ivan committed a foul and freshman William McNair came in.  Both teams went scoreless for a couple of minutes.  Jabari broke it up with another three to make it 16-9.  Shunn Buchanan came in put in another three to make it 19-9 with 12 minutes left in the half. 

During a timeout, Flex-Cam found a little kid with his shirt off posing.  Inspired, Jabari hit his third three of the game.  As he ran past the media table, he said something to color commentator Justin Hawkins.  Hawk declined to exactly repeat whatever Jabari said.  Shunn followed up with a steal and then another three that took a friendly bounce on the rim.  He then tipped away a pass to get the Aggies the ball back.  Shunn had picked up where he left off after his performance against the Roadrunners on Thursday (1-30-20).

Ivan got in on the scoring with a last second layup.  He flexed for the crowd afterward.  Johnson ran over Gilyard to draw a foul and prompt another media timeout.  A couple of El Paso weather forecasters were honored out on court.  Nicole Gomez’s little son was given a souvenir ball.  On the way off the court, he dribbled the ball and made a layup.  Mario, lock that kid up with a scholarship now!  (The forecasters were also sitting in our section by the way.)  There was also a halfcourt shooting contest.  The girl contestant’s shot didn’t make it halfway to the basket.  She seemed to be having a good time anyway and might not have passed a breathalyzer test.

Johnny stood his ground under the basket and drew a charge.  GCU went to a full-court press, but both teams again didn’t score for a couple of minutes.  McCants broke it up with a three.  32-14 Aggies with three minutes left in the half.  A few more Aggie Volleyball players came in, including Kassi Stolz and Autumn Gentry.  I’d definitely classify that as the main highlight of the first half.  Johnny continued his highlights as he put in a layup.

GCU did make a run at the end of the half.  Johnson made a three, got a steal, assisted on a layup, and got another steal.  At halftime, it was 34-25 Aggies.  Coach Jans was unhappy as the team went to the locker room.  The 1976 Aggie Missouri Valley Conference winning team was honored on court.  They were also sitting in our section.  It was a popular section.  There was a $1k drawing for the students.  The Sundancers performed a routine on court.  There was also a free Chik-fil-a giveaway, but you had to have their app to claim it, darn it.

Second Half

The Aggies got right back on track.  Gilyard got a steal and McCants got a layup.  Gilyard was fouled shooting a three and converted on all three foul shots.  Those were the first Aggie free throws of the game.  Johnny then dunked in an Ivan miss off the rim.  Jabari had a steal and Johnny hit a three.  The fans went nuts.  Jabari went out to center court to play to the crowd.  It was 44-27 Aggies with 16 minutes left. 

Johnson did put in a dunk going into a timeout.  For the halfcourt putting contest, another pretty and inebriated girl took another bad shot.  The wave went around the crowd.  I kept looking around throughout the game in awe of the full house. 

Ivan was blocked on a shot, but goaltending was called, so it still counted.  Ivan came back with a rebound and a layup and flexed for crowd.  He was then called for a foul on a late whistle.  Him and the announcers complained about the call.  Johnny dunked another one after a rebound.  He was having a monster game.  52-31 Aggies with 11 minutes left. 

Shunn took a charge to go into another timeout.  There was a Raising Canes giveaway in a neighboring section.  I almost sprinted over there.  GCU came out with a full court press and trapping.  It was no help.  Gilyard got a steal.  Jabari got a dunk off of a McCants’ assist.  McNair was back in and got a layup.  Finally.  Those were his first points since last year.  Terrell Brown got a steal and a layup. 

61-34 Aggies with seven minutes left.  Going into another timeout, the whole team was out playing up to the crowd.  The guys were loving performing so well in front of a sellout.  The Cheerleaders did the Pete Pyramid with Pistol Pete on top, as they rotated him around.  The fans roared.

At 64-44 Aggies with five minutes left, some of the crowd started leaving.  Lope Alessandro Lever finally got some points.  I’d remembered him as GCU’s star player last year.  Jabari and Johnny both laid out on court after a rough play.  They playfully pushed and pulled on each other to get up.  The Aggies actually went to a full court press late.  McNair missed on a dunk, got the rebound, and then missed a layup.  You’re almost there, young man.  Keep practicing. 

With 90 seconds left in the game, the local kids came in, Bryce Rewalt and Tennessee Owens.  The crowd gave them a warm ovation.  Jack Nixon on the radio announced that, “The Aggies are feasting on antelope tonight.”  Tennessee got fouled shooting a three, but only made one of the three foul shots.  There might have been some nerves there, in spite of the score.  The Aggies closed it out with a 72-52 win.

Jabari Rice led all scorers with 18 points.  Ivan Aurrecoechea had 14 points.  Then there was Johnny McCants’ night.  He had 17 points, went 7 for 7 shooting, and had 12 rebounds.  Johnny loves playing against GCU.  He was interviewed on the postgame and is such a nice young man.  Carlos Johnson led the Lopes with 15 points.  He was a heck of a competitor.  GCU is having a down year.  They did lose to a DII school to start the season.  The Aggies are still undefeated in conference.   

But never mind all that, the game highlight was passing by Kassi and Autumn in the concourse on the way out.  We also saw one of the senior VP’s from work, and I got to thank her for the game tickets.  The lowlight of the game was getting out of the Pan-Am parking lot.  That took about a half hour.  Ron and I had ice cream afterward at PQ Treats.  (Ice cream is for winners.)  We discussed a crowded upcoming Aggie Sports schedule with Women’s Basketball, Softball, and Baseball.  We’ll have to sort that out this month.  This was a good win and I really enjoyed being a part of such an awesome crowd.

Sports Journal November 23 to 30, 2019

11-23-19

This is a bit of a cheat here.  I didn’t watch or hear this Women’s Basketball game between the Miners and Aggies when it was played.  I’d been at Aggie Football versus the Miners during the afternoon and ate out in the evening.  I’d tried to get this game on the radio at home, but I’d come in late and the reception on the El Paso station had powered down for the night.

This was the reciprocal game after the Aggie home game (11-13-19).  UTEP won the first meeting in a fairly tight game, but in El Paso, the Miners dominated, 65-45.  UTEP led the game all the way.  Gia Pack had 18 points and Aaliyah Prince had 10 to lead the Aggies.  My dear Katerina Zec had 11 and two other Miner players in were double figures.  (Yes, I’m playing favorites.  I don’t have to cover UTEP’s players fairly.)  The significant stats were a 19-9 Miner advantage in bench points and the Aggies going 1-15 in three-pointers.  They did have a 13-8 edge in steals though.

11-24-19

I still didn’t know how the Aggie Volleyball team had done in their championship game on Sunday morning, but I got to watch the Patriot League Volleyball Championship on Stadium with Army versus American University.  I’d seen the Eagles play against Navy for the championship last year (11-18-18).  The Midshipmen had beaten AU on their home court to win it.

I didn’t take notes during the match, but I can sum it up by starting at the trophy presentation.  The MVP for the tournament was the AU setter, Olivia Wassner.  She was also one of the tallest girls on the team and helped with the blocking.  She had four dump shot kills in the match.  Olivia had run into one of the posts in the first set going for a dig and had to come out.  I was distressed, because I’d latched on to her as the cute one on court.  During that time, Army came back and won Set 2.  When she got back in, American got back on track and won the match 3-1.  Don’t say that people don’t notice good setter play. 

11-25-19

This was a Monday morning game for Aggie Men’s Basketball versus the Colorado State Rams in the Cayman Islands Classic.  I think AD Mario Moccia scheduled this to pick up (and launder) some offshore contributions for the university.  The man will do anything for NMSU. 

   

I woke up late and came in at halftime.  The Aggies had had a big lead to start the first half, but the Rams came back.  They tied it on a pair of free throws at the end of regulation.  In overtime, Jabari Rice went off to the tune of 12 of this 21 total points.  The Aggies scored 14 points total in OT.  Trevelin Queen followed with 19 total for the game.  The Aggies couldn’t hold a big lead, couldn’t lock it down at the end of regulation, and didn’t close it out well in overtime, but they got the win, 78-70.

11-26-19

This was another morning game for Aggie Men’s Basketball.  They were playing the South Florida Bulls.  Strange that there still seemed to be more Aggie fans (or Cheerleaders) there.  However, the Aggies had two more injured players: Shawn Williams with a turned ankle and Terrell Brown with a stomach virus.  Terrell played well initially, but his morning bout of nausea probably got the better of him later.  Shawn scored 13 to lead the team.  Trevelin Queen was held scoreless in the first half.  Johnny McCants made up the difference with 10 points.  This was reversed in the second half.  Trev came on with 10 points and McCants didn’t score again.

The Aggies were up 32-20 at the half and never looked back, winning 65-45.  They were playing against a team that was nationally ranked in creating turnovers, but the Aggies came out ahead in that category today.  When Jack Nixon started talking to Coach Jans after the game, he said this was the Aggies’, “Best game of the year.”  The coach thought that was pretty astute analysis. 

During halftime, Jack interviewed Sherry Jans, the coach’s wife.  Mario had said they’d hired Jans just to bring his wife here.  She was indeed as charming as I’d heard.  Jack called her, “The first lady of Aggie sports,” which I think I heard him also call the football coach’s wife.  Never mind that Barbra Hubbard is the Aggies’ actual first lady.  We’ll just diplomatically say that we’re lucky have them all.

11-27-19

The championship game for the Cayman Islands Classic came on in the evening, while I was at work.  I ended up joining the game in progress in the second half.  I didn’t even know who the Aggie Men’s Basketball opponent was before tuning in.  They were up 49-43 over the George Mason Patriots at the time.  The Aggies’ biggest lead was 15 earlier, but GM’s full court defense was stifling them in the second half.  With seeming inevitably, the Patriots took the lead with five minutes left. 

Terrell Brown hit a three to regain the Aggie lead, but it went back-and-forth from there until GM started pulling away.  The final was 68-64 George Mason.  The score really wasn’t that close.  Jabari Rice had 19 points, but 16 were in the first half.  His last three came when it was too late.  Trevelin Queen had 14 points and Johnny McCants had 11.   Coach Jans sounded depressed and disappointed afterward (and like his voice had been rubbed raw).  This was definitely a lost opportunity.   

11-29-19

We had an afternoon game on Black Friday with Aggie Women’s Basketball today.  The 1-5 Aggies were playing the 0-4 Georgia State Panthers.  Maybe I should have gone shopping.  I had my misgivings in the first quarter when Aaliyah Prince accidentally bounced a pass off of Gia Pack’s head.  Then, Nana Sule attempted to enter the game off the bench still wearing her warmup jacket and was called for improper wardrobe by the refs.  Prince was finding the basket though and had all 9 of the Aggies’ first points.  Amanda Soderqvist hit a three and Gia had 2.  The Aggies led 17-15 after ten minutes.

In the second quarter though, the Panthers’ offense picked up and they jumped out to a 9-point lead.  An emphatic block on Amanda got their defense doing.  Gia hit a pair of three’s late to get the score closer and had 11 points before the half.  34-31 Georgia State at halftime.  Somebody leaned on the final horn for about ten very loud seconds to stop play.  It was about as loud as the Georgia State coach, who was barking orders for the entire game.

I had a hockey game on TV at the time, but poor reception kept me from really watching it.  The Bruins beat the Rangers 3-2.  The announcers had amusingly been throwing dirt on Boston’s chances since the first period, after New York had scored the first two goals. The Bruins scored the winner late in the game.  After they’d won, the team came over to the glass and saluted the crowd.  It felt like a big win for them.

The third quarter started with a 5-0 Panthers’ run that prompted an Aggie timeout.  Nana made it to the free throw line and missed both shots.  She hasn’t scored in five games and has frankly been a disappointment this season.  Micayla Buckner accumulated three fouls trading infractions with the down-low player on the Panthers.  Gia hit another three in this quarter.  45-40 Panthers going into the fourth. 

Unfortunately, the Aggies never really got closer.  Amanda hit another three to bring the Panther lead to five again, but Georgia State just kept adding on.  Strangely at the end, the Aggies made no effort to foul.  In fact, the Panthers stopped the clock for a timeouts twice when their players got trapped.  The game ended 59-51 Georgia State.  Again, the final horn went off for ten seconds. 

Gia Pack led the Aggies with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  She’s just about back to playing like her old self.  Aaliyah Prince finished with 11 points.  She really cooled off after that hot first quarter.  The big difference was again in bench points.  This could really be a problem.  Shockingly, the game itself only took an hour and 37 minutes (from my counting).  The refs seemed to let quite a few fouls go.  It was like everyone involved wanted this one over as quickly as possible.   

11-30-19
Aggie Football finished their season with a 49-28 loss at Liberty University this afternoon.  It’d been close at the half, but turnovers and bad defense had doomed them.  We’ll have to hope for a better season next year.  The Aggie Women’s Basketball team played the Western Michigan Broncos in the evening at UTEP.  The Broncos had been crushed in the tournament yesterday by the Miners by 30 points.  They took it out on the Aggies.  In the first quarter, the Broncos were hitting on their three’s and took a 31-16 lead after the first quarter. 

In the second quarter, Western Michigan got into immediate foul trouble, including their star player, who had to sit out.  They maintained their lead, 48-38.  Gia Pack at least was having a good game with 15 points to that point.  At the start of the third quarter, Didi Echols picked up two quick fouls and had to sit with four total.  Gia kept scoring and the Aggies came within one point of tying twice.  It was 59-58 Broncos after three quarters.

To start the fourth, the Aggies briefly took the lead.  Freshman Soufia Inoussa got in on the scoring.  The Bronco’s star came in and fouled out halfway through the quarter.  The teams tied at 72 with about two minutes left.  Micayla Buckner fouled out for the Aggies with under a minute left.  Soufia hit two free throws to put the Aggies within one with 16 seconds left.  She then got a steal with 10 seconds left, but the Aggies turned it right over and had to foul.  They went down by three after a couple of free throws and ultimately lost 79-76. 

This was a discouraging result, but had a couple of bright points.  Gia Pack finished with 29 points, so her offense definitely seems to be back on track.  Soufia Inoussa was next with 12, excellent for the freshman.  Aaliyah Prince had 10.  However, Western Michigan had two players with 20 or more and that was even with neutralizing their star player.  In the game right after, the Miners would beat Georgia State by three in a thriller.  They are looking good (especially Katerina Zec), though I think (unsure because of poor radio reception) that their star Ariona Gill was injured in the game.

NM State Aggies vs UTEP Miners Women’s Basketball 11-13-19

Oops.  Here I am fan-cheating again with a rival school no less.  I’d been looking forward to seeing UTEP’s Katarina Zec again since the last time I’d seen her here (12-10-17).  The gorgeous Serbian blonde was a standout in that game.  I’d also heard that she’d played well from Aggie fan Danny, who’d seen her play last week.  They’d beaten UC-Riverside, the Aggies’ first opponent this season (11-7-19), pretty badly.

The Aggie Women beat their second opponent, Denver, on the road by 3 last week.  Gia Pack had 29 pts, including five three’s, and led in rebounds.  Aailyah Prince had 20, and freshman Soufia Inoussa had 9.  This was another hard early season matchup.  The Aggies only beat them here last year by two points (12-11-18).

On the other end of the gender spectrum, the Aggie Men’s Basketball team was blownout yesterday by UTEP at the Don Haskins Center.  The Miner men are a much improved team.  They beat national runner-up, Texas A&M in a scrimmage earlier and got some tongues wagging.  Their best player from last year, who was averaging a double-double per game, isn’t even a starter this year with their improved talent level.  Meanwhile, the Aggie men have a bunch of injuries.  Trevelin Queen played well, but the Aggie offense never really got going.  Coach Jans almost stiffed Jack Nixon for a postgame interview because he took so long to chew the guys out in the locker room.  That loss ended a 9-game winning streak over UTEP.

Ron and I were going to tonight’s game.  We went for an early dinner at What-a-burger first.  Oddly, we both got stuffed.  It’s pretty hard to fill Ron’s large stomach, but the Monterrey Melt did it.  We both somewhat agreed we needed to get to El Paso sometime to find a Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich.  We need to get one of these delicious things before they’re banned for killing and/or addicting people.

We got there very early and saw warmups.  Kat was looking good.  After I pointed her out, Ron was entranced.  Kat was looking good playing too, as she was popping three’s.  On the Aggie side, I noticed injured players, Kalei Atkinson and Tayelin Grays, on the sidelines taking care of a little toddler boy.  I think he was Coach Atkinson’s son.  The girls seemed to be enjoying this company.  Later, a couple of Pan-Am staff girls were shooting baskets with him.  He tripped and fell down at one point and cried a little.  One of the girls picked him up and hugged him until he felt better.

It was a pretty good crowd.  The Student section was filled more than usual.  Was it for the rivalry game or the $1K scholarship giveaway tonight?  UTEP brought some fans.  Most of them were behind their bench.  Kat looked up from the court and flashed a big smile at some fans behind us who were cheering for her.  (I was restraining myself from cheering for her.) 

Gasp!  Suddenly, we noticed by the court a very familiar figure.  It was our graduated star player, Brooke Salas.  Umm, she looked good too.  Her long blonde hair was permed out a bit and her figure had attractively filled out a little.  And, what the heck was she doing here?  She came here all the way from Europe from that pro Spanish team she’s playing for because she knew I’d be fan-cheating on her with Kat tonight.  Wow, that’s dedication.  Seriously though, I never expected to see her here again.  According to her team’s Twitter, she’s as awesome there as she was here.  Brooke circulated around to greet some of the boosters.  She also took over watching the toddler.            

PA Ed wasn’t doing the game tonight.  That was too bad, because he would have singled out Brooke at some point with an announcement, whether she wanted it or not.  He likely also would have made an announcement recognizing the championship-winning Aggie Volleyball team, some of whom were here.  Student violinist Christina Mitchell, whose name I think I got wrong last time, again did a great Anthem.  UTEP’s Coach Baker congratulated her after she finished.  I also found out I’ve been getting the band’s name wrong all this time.  They are the Roadrunner Revue, not Review.  

First Quarter

The first points of the game came on an offensive rebound by Adenike “Nike” Aderinto.  She passed to Prince for a bank shot bunny.  Kat came back with a layup and a defensive rebound.  (Yes, I’ll be covering her here right along with the Aggie highlights.)  Aggie fans and Miner fans sat down.  (I guess they sit for their team’s first points, while Aggie fans sit for the opponent’s first score.)  Prince (still easier to type than Aaliyah) dropped in another shot and picked up a free throw.  Kat came back with a three.  Gia picked up a rebound.  Kat was guarding her for the game defensively.

Prince saved a deflected pass and put in a layup.  Amanda Soderqvist’s first shot was a made three.  Katia Gallegos for UTEP got a steal and a layup.  Micayla Buckner did a good job boxing out under the basket with three rebounds early.  The action was so furious I wasn’t even looking at the score, but it was close.  UTEP went on a short run and took a 4-point lead while Gia was sitting out for a quick break.  The Miners got the Aggies on a shot clock violation with some good defense. 

Gia got a steal, but no points came off it.  Prince then got a steal and a layup.  As she ran to the basket you could tell what she really wanted to do was dunk it.  Unfortunately, she’s lacking that level of verticality in her game.  Gia then took a hard tumble into the Cheerleaders under the basket.  She got her first points of the game on a pair of free throws with the foul.  That gave the Aggies a 17-16 lead after the first quarter. 

Second Quarter

Dino Dash!  This time the contestants were fully costumed, which meant that they had a lot of trouble dunking the ball in their inflatable T-Rex outfits.  Brooke was holding the toddler up behind the Aggie bench so he could watch.  Otherwise, she was having to chase him around a lot.  Taking care of this little boy was wearing her out more than when she was playing here.  The kid didn’t stop for timeouts.  

Early in the second quarter, Gia got a bucket when Kat wasn’t on her.  Unfortunately, that was her only field goal for the first half.  The Aggies went up 21-16.  The band collectively did the Macarena during a break.  Soufia got a steal.  She passed it to Prince, who hit a ten-footer.  Nana Sule got a block.  Soufia was fouled on the fast break and converted on the free throws. 

Gia fouled Kat on a shot.  Kat came back with two free throws, a layup, and a 15-footer.  Best not to get her mad.  The band was piping up at Coach Baker, “Sit down, coach!”  UTEP went to a full court trap and retook the lead, 28-27.  They were also in the bonus.  Prince got a layup to get the lead back.  Kat answered with a three, but Amanda then hit another three.  It was 33-32 Miners at the half.

Halftime

Brooke was finally relieved for a bit on child care duties.  She went over the other end of the court and visited with, I think, her old teammate and friend, Sara Lopez.  Good to see her around.  For the $1K scholarship drawing, a member of the band won it.  He was happy as heck and veritably skipped down to the court to collect his prize.  They asked where he was from.  “El Paso!” he shouted.  The UTEP fans cheered. 

Third Quarter

UTEP was still manning a full-court press.  Miner Michelle Pruitt came on strong with three baskets under the rim.  Prince missed a couple of shots and fouled a player and had to come out.  UTEP was now up 40-32.  Didi Echols dropped in a three to break up the run.  Adrianna Henderson was in and got a steal.  Kat gave her a hard foul and Adrianna converted on the free throws.  The Aggies got a turnover with a half-court trap.  There was a timeout with the score, 42-37 UTEP. 

Out of the break, Shania Harper came in and got a basket from under the rim.  Kat fired an airball and the Aggies rebounded it, but lost it on a bad pass by Gia.  Henderson (easier to type than Adrianna) missed on a three, but got her own rebound and made a layup.  Soufia got an offensive rebound.  Amanda converted on another three to tie the score at 44.  On the other end, a UTEP player was injured under the net and came out.  Amanda had fouled her, but came over and helped her up.  The Aggie defense stiffened and forced a shot clock violation.  Henderson made a steal, but no points came of it.  The Aggies were again down by a point, 47-46.                 

Fourth Quarter

I finally noticed that Gia was not in at the end of the Third Quarter.  She also didn’t start the fourth.  “Get that man a chair!” the band was still having fun with Coach Baker.  Buckner (easier to type than Micayla and I’m going to stop explaining how lazy I am with my typing) made a ten-footer in the lane.  The Aggies went up 53-51.  Prince got a steal and a layup.  She had her tongue out, ala Michael Jordan. 

I often pinpoint a turning point in close games.  This one seemed so innocuous at the time, but now I see this was where all the momentum shifted.  There was a lengthy officials’ review on a turnover.  It was initially ruled UTEP ball, but looked on the replay that it was actually a Miner foul.  The refs eventually decided and talked to the coaches and even to the TV commentators.  Possession stayed with the Miners.  It wasn’t so much the call, but that long delay gave the Miners time to regroup.

The Miners made the next shot and got a free throw.  They forced an Aggie turnover, but then turned it right back over.  We were tied at 53, but then there was Pruitt again with a shot clock-beating basket for a UTEP lead.  UTEP again went to a full-court press.  I saw Brooke with some fans in the north grandstand.  I was kind of hoping for an overtime game.  Maybe she’d work her way around to our side of the stands.   

Gia was finally back in with under five minutes left in the game with UTEP up 55-53.  Buckner got a steal, but there were no points off it.  Soufia came up with a rebound and got it to Gia for a layup to make it 57-55 UTEP with three minutes left.  Then the dagger.  Kat hit a three to make it 60-57.  Coach Atkinson took a timeout.  The UTEP fans were now standing.  I’m not sure what triggered that. 

The teams exchanged a couple of misses.  The Miners took a couple of timeouts with under 30 seconds left and the score unchanged.  Prince took a final meaningful Aggie shot that missed and then had to intentionally foul right after.  The Aggies had to do that a couple more times to put UTEP in the bonus.  Katia hit both free throws.  With about 13 seconds left, the crowd was deserting.  There was one more intentional foul and Katia hit one of those, but that was already more than enough.  UTEP won 63-57.   

 

The scoreboard was again not showing the player stats.  Unbelievably, my scorecard added up for the second time in a row.  Who needs official stats?  Katerina Zec paced the Miners with 17 points.  She was also the hottest player in the game.  (Notice how I’m cleverly excluding Brooke Salas, some volleyball players, and a couple of Pan-Am staff members from direct comparison with her.)  Kat played the entire game and definitely showed some senior leadership.  Michelle Pruitt had 14 points, and Katia Gallegos, who is a local El Paso product, had 11.

Aaliyah Prince led all scorers with 22 points.  Amanda Soderqvist came up big with 3 three-pointers and 9 points.  Unfortunately, the story was Gia Pack’s 6 points.  Ron blamed Gia for the loss.  He said she was making a lot of bad decisions on court and thought the coach had sat her out for that.  I wish I could have heard the postgame interview.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some injury or illness involved here.  Maybe Kat was just covering her really well.  (Gia did lead the team in rebounds.)  Ron also said the Aggies were passing very poorly.  They were really only handing it off to each most of the time.

My analysis is that the Aggie Women have had a tough schedule to this point and it’s probably going to get worse on Sunday against the Lobos.  (They’ll be lucky if Lobo fans don’t outnumber their fans in the Pan-Am Center.)  The evening was not a total loss (even there was no ice cream afterward).  Beautiful volleyball star Megan Hart stopped in the aisle nearby to talk to some boosters.  I bravely stepped up to her to say, “Congratulations,” for their regular season championship win.  I got a smile and a, “Thank you.”  Sigh. 

Sports Journal February 2019

2-2-19

I had vague plans to hang out with Ron today, but I wasn’t sure when or where.  While I was sort of in flux, I decided to listen to the UTEP Miner Women versus the Western Kentucky Lady-Toppers (or Lady Hilltoppers?).  I wasn’t going to take any notes on this unless it got interesting, which it did.  It didn’t look good for the Miners even before the game.  They only had seven players available, but it was more like six-and-a-half with one of the girls coming back from injury.   

The Toppers are a good team in C-USA and showed it at the start of the first quarter as they went up 12-2.  But, the Miners came back.  By the start of the second they’d tied it up and took the lead.  They were even up by 12 at one point, but finished up 36-30 at the half. 

By the third, another Miner player was injured just as Toppers tied the score.  Still, the Miners were up by six going into the fourth.  The Lady-Toppers tied it up again, but the score remained close.  As the game became more dramatic, the good-sounding crowd got even more into it.  There was some fan by the microphone screaming his head off at the refs.    

The Miners regained a slim lead late, but were fouling too much.  Zuzanna Puc fouled out.  They might have only had five players available at that point.  Zuzy shook hands with the ref as she left the court.  The Toppers took the lead on free throws.  By this point, the Aggie Men’s basketball pregame was on that I really wanted to listen to, so I was flipping back and forth.

There was lots of contention on the final plays, but the Miners lost 64-61.  The announcers were happy with the competitive effort.  Even Coach Baker was pleased with his girls afterward against a much better team.  For some reason, the girls went into stands afterward to thank the fans.  Damn, why wasn’t I there so I could finally meet Katerina Zec!  I’d be there in an Aggie shirt telling her, “I still root for you, Kat!  I can’t help it!”

Meanwhile, the Aggie Men were playing an odd mid-afternoon game to accommodate some national TV coverage against versus Chicago State.  The Aggies are leading the WAC at 7-1, while the Cougars are winless in conference.  In truth, I was more interested in the pregame than the game.    

Former Aggie Coach Reggie Theus was back in town for an on-court ceremony.  The women in Las Cruces were all now suddenly basketball fans again.  Justin Hawkins, one of his former players and the color commentator, recollected a 2007 New Year’s Day game with Chicago State.  Coach Theus and actress Tara Reid were both throwing parties at team’s hotel in Chicago the night before.  There like 40 people at game the next day and the Aggies nearly lost.

“He walks among us,” said Jack Nixon as Reggie came over to chat.  Again, I was flipping back-and-forth on the radio.  (This was the worst possible timing for me.)  Hawk was in awe.  Jack was a bit more skeptical, but happy to see him.  Reggie said he would “school” his players out on court in practice, playing for money, just to prove his abilities.  Reggie said he wasn’t necessarily “the smartest guy in the room,” but he always tried to know what his players were capable of and would then put them in a position to where they could succeed.  His former players still call him, even a kid he’d kicked off the team and took away his scholarship (he came back as a walk-on).     

Here’s where I’d like to recap the game, but I can’t do it with any honesty.  Ron came by about ten minutes into the first half to watch some TV shows he’d downloaded, and he brought food (that was very nice of him).  The reason I was willing to turn off the game so easily was because it wasn’t much of a game even early on. 

It sounded like a good, happy crowd.  (No doubt there were a bunch of women there standing in line wanting to talk to Reggie.)  Clayton Henry was popping three’s early.  According to the newspaper account, the team did well with 15 made-three’s for the game.  83-39 Aggies was the final.  Terrell Brown led the team with 19 points.  I’m assuming the bench got in a lot of work today. 

The Aggie Women were also playing Chicago State today on the road.  I’m going to assume it was still cold there with aftereffects of the polar vortex.  There wasn’t any live coverage of the game, but when Ron called me, he told me that they’d won big from the final posted on the team Twitter.  The final was 87-66 Aggies and was announced during the Men’s game coverage.   

From the paper, I got more details.  Gia Pack was still playing thankfully, so her injury in the last game wasn’t enough to take her out.  She had 11 points and scored her 1,000-th point.  Brooke Salas led with 28 points.  Monique and Dominique Mills both scored in double digits.  That is awesome.  Usually it’s only one sister or the other doing the scoring in a game.  I wouldn’t count on all four of these young women scoring that much in a game against the other teams in the conference, but it’s good to know they’re capable of it.  I forgot to mention last time, but this Aggie team is also in first place in the WAC.

2-3-19

I thought I would be doing extensive Superbowl coverage today.  I had planned on watching all eight hours of pregame coverage.  Somehow, that didn’t work out, but I was sure I would be watching the game itself.  But then, I noticed TBD was doing a marathon of Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop show and I had to watch that instead. 

I started flipping around during the commercials, but I just couldn’t find the game.  I don’t know where it was.  The closest I could find was an MLS match between the New England Revolution and the LA Galaxy.  The Revolution went up 3-nil at halftime, but the Galaxy made a great comeback and tied it 3-3 with 15 minutes left in the match.  This must have been the most exciting and highest-scoring soccer match of all time.  I missed the end though, since it was soccer and I don’t care, unless Alex Morgan is playing.  It probably just ended in a tie anyway.  Typical soccer. 

Okay, enough jokes at the NFL’s expense.  BECAUSE I HAD $10,000 ON THE OVER AND NOW I HAVE TO GO BACK TO PROSTITUTION IN MY SPARE TIME INSTEAD OF WRITING!  I wasn’t really rooting for the Patriots, but congratulations to Tom Brady for making all of those sports “experts,” who have been throwing dirt on the Patriots’ grave all season, puke all over themselves with yet another Superbowl victory. 

I really only watched the end of the game.  I did watch the postgame on TV Azteca so I could see the annual ritual of Ines Saenz charging on to the field to interview random players with her heavy accent.  At least the Mexican network has the good sense to have a glamorous blonde doing this, certainly the most likely candidate to engage the players whether they could understand her or not. 

So much for football this season.  I hope we can get back what the NFL does best next season: head injuries, domestic abuse, and social justice.  I do think the league broke some new ground with poor officiating this year though.  They can build on that.    

Sports Journal December 29-31, 2018

12-29-18

I indifferently listened to the UTEP Miner Women playing the Tulsa Golden Hurricane this afternoon.  I didn’t have much else going on.  The Miners were late showing up for the game.  By the end of the first quarter, it was 25-4 Tulsa.  UTEP was 2 for 13 shooting.  They came into the game down a player from a practice injury, so they only had nine players on the roster.

In the second, Katarina Zec came in and hit a three.  “They’re within 19,” exclaimed an enthusiastic Duke Keith doing the play call.  Strangely, he didn’t have access to the stats either, like Adam Young yesterday.  Duke didn’t have anyone to help him though, so he was lost during halftime.

It was 35-16 Tulsa at the half.  I was on a phone call for a while during the third.  Kat made a couple of threes, but it didn’t really get close.  Tulsa won 66-45.  They broke a 15-game losing streak to UTEP.  Katarina Zec at least had a good game with 16 points to lead the Miners.   

12-30-18

Aggie Basketball double header today, unfortunately of the overlapping kind.  First up, the Men were in Fort Collins to play the Colorado State Rams.  The broadcast started a bit late due to technical difficulties, which would have some consequences for me later on.  The abbreviated pregame had Jack Nixon talking to the person in the NM State athletics department who makes the football schedule.  It was a short talk, but interesting.  Being independent, NMSU has actually picked up games by playing teams that had openings because contracted games fell through.  The home schedule is the hard part, since no one wants to come here.

Three Aggie players were coming into this game injured, Ivan Aurrecoechea, Johnny McCants, and AJ Harris.  They were wearing boots before game because of bad ankles, but were good to go at the tip.  Eli Chuha was away on undisclosed family business.  Still, the team didn’t seem too worried. 

First Half

It sounded like there was a good crowd there.  This was mostly because the Rams came out shooting well and took the lead and the crowd made themselves known.  Jack passed along a “Hello” to NM State from a former Aggie Cheerleader who was now working for CSU.  He suspected she’s changed allegiances.  Jack praised a Rams player going to the nail to shoot free throws, who prompted bricked both of them.  You could even hear the clanks.  “Broadcaster’s curse,” lamented Jack.    

The Aggies tied it at 20 on a CJ Bobbitt three.  Timeout CSU.  McCants was getting in on the scoring early and then blocked a shot coming out of the timeout.  It felt like that sparked the team.  The Aggies suddenly roared out front, 32-22, with five minutes left.  Timeout Rams again.  Terrell Brown hit a three right out of that, 35-22.  It was 39-26 Aggies at the half.  The game was on a blistering pace as the half only took about 45 minutes to play.

 

I had been listening to the Cowboys/Giants’ game before turning over to this game.  (Remember, I did exempt the Cowboys from my NFL ban.  Also, I was waiting on a call that never came and didn’t have anything better to do.)  I probably should have turned back to the football game when the basketball game didn’t come on on-time.  I flipped back over at one point and heard Brad and Babe call what they were saying was “The last play for the Cowboys.”  Cole Beasley made a nice catch, but out-of-bounds in the endzone.  Game presumably over, Cowboys lose. 

I turned back over a couple of times to try and catch some of the postgame and the second time, I found out that play had been reviewed.  It was called a touchdown and then Cowboys went for two, instead of one, and got the win, 36-35.  Crap, I really missed out on one there, especially since I’d heard the rest of the game. 

Meanwhile, the Aggie Women were still in California to play the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.  Adam Young was broadcasting from the chilly “Thunderdome.”  In the pregame, he reminded us of the last time these teams played (12-29-17).  That was a 30-point loss.  I was there.  (Actually, rereading the post, I apparently had too much fun writing it.  You know, trying to make the crap sandwich palatable.)  UCSB didn’t have a great team last year and don’t have one this year either.  They lost to Coach Trakh and USC earlier in the season.  That’s about all I’m interested in.    

First Quarter

None of that losing by 30 today.  Gia Pack came out on fire.  She had 10 points and a handful of three’s early on.  The Aggies were subbing a lot.  Pam Wilmore came in for first time this year, recovered from an injury.  She’s a true point guard, so that freed up Gia to take some more shots.  It was 14-13 Aggies at the media timeout.  Aissatou Fall came in as UCSB has several really tall girls.  Wilmore got her first points off a finger roll.  Bayee Robinson, also in for her height, was in and blocked a shot.  Gia and Brooke Salas actually came out together for a couple of minutes.  It was 21-15 Aggies after a furious ten minutes of action.

Second Quarter

The Men were up 60-50 with 12 minutes left in the second half.  Gia poured in two three’s in a row, 35-22.  The UCSB head coach threw up her hands in frustration.  Brooke scored her tenth point and then got a finger roll and a foul shot for 13.  It was 44-30 Aggies at the half.  They were shooting 60% from the field.

Third Quarter

Back to Colorado during halftime, I rejoined the game with about two minutes to go.  The Aggie reserves were playing, so I assumed they were winning big.  And they did.  88-68 Aggies.  I shamefully admit my attention drifted during the postgame, so I can’t tell you which players did well.  I think several were in double digits.  Back to Santa Barbara, it was 48-41 Aggies, but the Gauchos were making a comeback.  Brooke was bombing though and scored her twenty-second point late.  61-55 Aggies after three quarters.

Fourth Quarter

Aaliyah Prince scored immediately at the start of the fourth.  She’d scored last four points for the Aggies.  She also took a foul and put in two free throws and got an assist to Kalei Atkinson.  The Gauchos were still shooting well and closed to 67-64.  They managed to get within two.  There was Prince again, this time with a steal and assist to Gia for a layup.  In the last two minutes, Gia got two free throws on an intentional foul.  She got fouled a bunch at the end.  Not that the Gauchos wanted to, since they knew she was a good foul shooter, but she kept getting the ball.  On the last play Brooke pulled down a rebound to finish the game with a double-double.

Aggies win 81-73.  That was a lot better than last year.  11 or 12 players (I heard both numbers) played for the Aggies today, who shot 58% as a team.  With Pam and Tayelin Grays helping on point, Gia Pack went nuts with 29 points.  Brooke Salas had 24 and 10 rebounds.  Aaliyah Prince came off the bench with 10 points.  This is a lot better-looking team going into WAC play this week.

12-31-18

47 degrees and a slight breeze, but clear blue skies over El Paso for this eighty-fifth Sun Bowl.  (Nobody pays me to mention the sponsor.)  This might be the only bowl game that CBS broadcasts (ESPN owns almost all of them).  For whatever reason, the network and the bowl like the arrangement.  I’m pleased for it, since my ABC affiliate disappeared three weeks ago.  Other than Aggie games, this is only college football game I usually watch for the season.  I would think the game was on the radio somewhere locally, but it wasn’t on either El Paso sports station. 

I always love the aerial view of the Sun Bowl.  It looks so dramatic set up in the Franklin Mountains with a commanding view of the city.  Verne Lundquist retired a couple of years ago from calling the game.  He always seemed to enjoy it.  The replacement guys seemed happy to be there, though the weather leading up to the game was not pleasant.  They brought in the usual beautiful sideline reporter that usually keeps me from changing channels too early.  The stadium looked a bit empty at the start, but filled in pretty well during the first quarter. 

The teams were the Stanford Cardinal and the Pitt Panthers.  The pregame said this would be Stanford’s air raid versus Pitt’s ground game.  Unfortunately, neither team did much of either in a scoreless first quarter.  Pitt finally busted out a big run to the Stanford 10 right before the end, but had a settle for a field goal to start the second.  It was a curve ball with late-breaking movement that just got inside the right upright. 

Okay, then my attention started to drift.  They showed a bumper scene of the El Paso downtown ice rink.  Surprisingly, there were a bunch of people there.  The announcers made fun of the size of the rink.  “I got more ice in my backyard at home.”  It was 10-7 Pitt at the half.  I hate to say, my favorite part of the broadcast was, unexpectedly, the studio halftime show.  One of coaches busted out a guitar and sang a folk song about the season, while his co-hosts freestyled along with him.  How fun was that?

It was 14-13 Stanford late when I came back to it.  That would be the final score.  I had been watching some of the “Party like it’s Space:1999” marathon, so I’d missed the two big plays of the game.  Stanford got their second touchdown when their quarterback fumbled the ball on the goal line into the arms of a receiver.  It must have been considered a shovel pass, since it didn’t hit ground and because I don’t think you can score on a fumble.  The other big play was a missed field goal by Pitt that was so bad, they didn’t even reshow it later.  Too bad for Pitt, they mostly dominated the game. 

Condoleezza Rice was on the sidelines celebrating with Stanford.  I guess she’s an alumnus.  I wonder if she’ll ever get that NFL job she wants.  Well, I got in my usual Sun Bowl watching before going to work for Year End processing again.  You never know if you’re going to get a good game or good weather for this event.  I still need to find a way to see one of these in person someday.  And this ends my 2018 sports reporting.  I’ll be at it again next year, which is tomorrow.