Finally back to see the Aggie Women Basketball team.
Since their epic win over UNM
(11-15-22), the team had had a
disastrous 1-5 road trip. The last game
was a heartbreaking 1-point loss to the Lobos
in the Albuquerque in front to 6,000 fans.
(No, I don’t know why their Women’s team is so popular. They’re not that good.)
Ron and I got together for dinner beforehand from Legend Burger. Their burgers were excellent as always. However the game turned out, at least we had
a great meal. The weather was not
wonderful. A hard cold wind had been
blowing since yesterday. It might have
affected attendance tonight (808). I
might have expected more for a rivalry game and more UTEP fans.
Once inside, I went right over to the merch kiosk. I had the unfinished business of purchasing
an Aggie Soccer WAC Championship
t-shirt. $30! Ouch! I have paid for my loyalty. Don’t let it said I don’t love those Soccer
girls. (They didn’t even have the shirts
out. I had to ask for them and I was
lucky they still had one in my size.)
Santa
Claus was in the house.
He was up front taking requests.
(Awesome outfit and beard. He was
a pro, possibly the real Santa.) I don’t
want anything, so I didn’t bother sitting in his lap. Men’s
Basketball finally put out a poster.
It featured their star, Xavier
Pinson. (Also, I’m not going to talk
about the team’s troubles right now.
They’ve got unresolved off-court problems. I’m happier with the Football team. I plan on
covering them in a separate post later in the month.)
We ran into Marketing Director, Nicole Sack, and had
pleasant chat. She was really
wired. She said something about eating
too many of Santa’s cookies. We were
chatting about the finally completed concourse.
The construction for the new box seats had finally been cleared
away. It was looking good, but they
still wouldn’t be ready for Sunday’s Men’s game.
The teams, Aggies and Miners,
alternated on court warming up. Moe Shida flashed a big smile. She seemed happy to be back playing at
home. Katia Gallegos was no longer on the Miners. I’ll miss her. I also missed the Anthem. I gotten up to go to the bathroom and thought
I had a couple of minutes before it would start. The teams weren’t there for it anyway, but
Ron noticed that there’s now a small Canadian flag flying in the rafters. I think that was a leftover from the Men
playing a Canadian team a couple of weeks ago.
Aggie
Coach Adams and Miner
Coach Baker shared a hug before the
game. They’re apparently friends. Coach Adams was in a rhinestone-studded
jacket and high spike heels. One of the
female refs was wearing a mask. If
you’re wondering, she had her whistle in her mouth underneath it. Behind the Aggie bench, I was fascinated by a
beautiful young woman with a mythic-level of curly black hair on her head. Just gorgeous. You could get lost in it.
There was no Band
for the game, though the Sundancers
and Cheerleaders (and Pistol Pete) were there working hard. The team had a new intro video with footage
from their recent games. I really liked
the song. It was an old-timey Western
song that was mixed with a rap soundtrack.
I may have weird tastes.
Something I did not notice until later in the game, Sylena Peterson, who’s played well for the team, wasn’t there
tonight. I don’t know what’s happened to
her. She might be injured, but I don’t
think I saw her on the bench.
First
Quarter
I didn’t try to keep up with the scoring in the game,
finally acknowledging that I didn’t have a scorecard. The Miners started off in a full court
press. They also picked up two quick
fouls before getting a basket. Molly Kaiser scored the first points of
the game for the Aggies. Both teams were
struggling to score playing a half-court offense. Molly got a steal and the game opened up a
bit and became more up tempo. Four
minutes in, Coach Adams subbed in three players. She didn’t sub out all the starters like she
was earlier in the season.
Molly put up another basket. She even stole the ball from a teammate. Shania
Harper grabbed a ball from a Miner and hit Moe for a layup. Elina
Arike for UTEP popped a 3. She’s
their big forward, but can shoot from the outside and can even make free throws. The score was 8-10 Miners with 3 minutes left
in the quarter going into a Media timeout.
The Aggies started beating the press pretty easily by
passing down court. Unfortunately, the
refs kept hitting up both teams with travelling calls. It was annoying. I don’t know if I’m blaming the players, or if
it’s like when the refs call a bunch of double touches in volleyball. It depends on the crew how much it’s called. Molly dropped a couple more jumpers. N’Yah
Boyd for UTEP shot a 3 that went all the way in and then spun out.
Taylor
Donaldson came up with a layup, drew the foul, and made the free
throw for 3 points. Molly made a pretty
step-back jumper. Taylor made exactly
the same move for a shot at the buzzer.
Aggies were up 17-12 after 10
minutes.
Second
Quarter
Molly was at 8 points.
Ene Adams came into the game
for the Aggies. I had not seen her
playing before. I wonder if she was a
transfer. She made a fake under the
basket for a layup. Arike matched Ene
with a bucket down low. Meanwhile, there
were more travelling calls on both teams.
Miner Avery Crouse
hit a 3 to make it 19-19 with 6 minutes left in the quarter. The Aggies took a timeout. During the break, the Cheerleaders tossed
t-shirts to the crowd. (Not the one I
had just gotten.) A girl tried to toss
one to an older guy, but it fell short and was intercepted by the guy below
him. The older guy made a show of being
angry on camera. (He didn’t mean
it. He was also wearing the giveaway hat
from the last game, which I forgot to wear.)
Back to the action, Fama
Thiam, wearing huge bandages on both her knees, found Ene under the basket
for an easy bucket. Ene also made a
steal and passed to Soufia Inoussa
for a layup. Molly missed a shot, which
was rare to this point, but got her own rebound, and then drew a foul on a last
second shot. She made the first free
throw. Suddenly, the refs gathered and
hit Coach Baker up with a technical. (I
don’t know what he did or said.) Molly
proceeded to make the next three free throws.
Nails.
Fama next found Harper under the basket for two. 29-19 with 4 minutes left. Molly picked up her second foul and came
out. As the Miners started coming back,
Molly was inserted back in and got a layup.
Harper and Moe combined on a steal, but their fast break led to
turnover, but led to a UTEP layup the other way. It was 31-27
Aggies at the half.
