NM State Aggies vs Bradley Braves Softball 2-11-23

Ron regaled me about freezing at last night's game when he picked me up Saturday afternoon for some more Aggie Softball.  We also discussed the Men's Basketball season suspension for hazing.  Neither of us had learned much more information.  I was wondering, if they don't play anymore games, will they be handing out those black and white giveaway baseball hats at a baseball game perhaps?  

 

It was warmer today at 55-degrees, but a cold, stiff breeze was blowing in.  Baseball was holding an inter-squad simulated game next door.  They even played the Anthem before the game.  We arrived at the end of Colorado State and Bradley's early game, which the Rams won 11-1.  They also handed out cool seat cushions at the entrance.  A good crowd showed up (no official attendance was given) in spite of the cold. 

 

We ran into Adam Young, who would be doing the radio call.  He said that the Braves looked “exhausted.”  I told him that he owed Ron an apology for prematurely calling last night's game a potential run-rule and jinxing it.  I also asked if he knew about Tim Hagerty's new book.  He didn't, and I said I'd send him a link to it.  

 

I noticed my co-worker and former Aggie catcher, Melika Ofoia, right before the game started.  Unfortunately, she was on the other side of the stands and I couldn't easily get to her through the crowd.  I waved a couple of times, but she didn't see me.  Felicia de la Torre started for the Aggies.  She gave up a couple of walks, but worked around them.  The Aggies went down in order in the bottom.  Kayla Bowen did get a loud song from the dugout. 

 

Bradley had a leadoff single to start the second and got down sacrifice, but stranded the runner.  The Aggies went down in order again.  Melika went crazy for a t-shirt toss between innings and one of people she was with got one. 

 

In the top of the third, Riley Carley made two good plays at third on infield hits, but both runners just beat the throws.  A short drive to the outfield loaded the bases.  Coach Rodolph came out for a mound visit and a pitcher started warming up in the bullpen.  A sac fly brought in the first run of the game.  Gabby Aragon made a diving catch on the play. 

 

After a walk, Laurali Patene came in to pitch mid-at bat on the next batter at a 2-0 count.  Laurali came back in the count and got a strikeout.  There were several Bradley fans there.  They started stomping on the metal stands to make noise.  The next batter worked a walk, which forced in another run.  2-0 Bradley.

 

In the bottom, catcher Kendal Lunar struck back with a leadoff double.  Gabby worked a walk and Jayleen Burton moved them both over with a bunt.  Back to the top of the order, Jessica Carreon singled in a run and Jillian Taylor drove in another with a groundout.  We were tied at 2.

 

Laurali worked a quick fourth.  Kayla made a nice stretch for the final out.  Oh, this was shameful.  Melika left.  When I asked her the next day, she said she got cold.  She’s definitely no longer in playing shape. 

Yee Haw!  Xophia Venegas looking sweet.  

Devin Elam led off the bottom with a single.  Savannah Bejarano came in to pinch run.  That move paid off immediately as Riley hit the wall with a double and Savannah scored, giving the Aggies the lead.  Kendra Levesque followed that with a double and Xophia Venegas pinch ran for her.  Unfortunately, Xophia got caught in a rundown on a fielder’s choice. 

 

No problem.  Gabby banged a two-run homer to left center.  6-2 Aggies.  The coach said she was going to have a good year.  Oops.  Error on the scorecard.  The final out was a groundout to second.  Sitting up on the top row, I was distracted as CSU was coming back into the stadium behind us and then I noticed the pretty girl working at the merch tent. 

 

The Braves went quickly in the top of the fifth.  Jillian came up first in the bottom of fifth.  She surprisingly bunted.  The pitcher overthrew first and Jill scooted to second.  Three little girls in colorful Little League softball jerseys danced and cheered in front of us.  Jill made a risky advance to third on a grounder by Kayla.  Ashley Breeding at second made a nice dive stop on a hit by Devin, but Jill made it home to make it 7-2 Aggies.

 

Then came one of those innings that drive coaches crazy in the sixth.  A leadoff single led to an error second to put two on.  After a line out to center, an error at third loaded the bases.  Coach Rodolph came out to give the infield a little “pep talk.”  Kendal responded by a catching a little popup at the plate and a groundout to first ended the inning without damage.  Adam on the radio said, “Patane gets out of it with a “Houdini act.”

 

Kendal came up second in the bottom and doubled again.  The freshman started off her college career with 5 doubles in 7 at bats.  Unfortunately, Bailey Sample at third made a great play on a liner and doubled off Kendal’s pinch runner to end the inning.  The Braves made the most of their last chance in the seventh.  Two singles started the inning before Sample hit a three-run homer just over the right field wall.  Laurali came back and ended the game with a strikeout on a beauty of an offspeed pitch.  Aggies win 7-5!

 

For the gameballs, Brave Bailey Sample gets one for going 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s off that seventh inning home run and some good defense.  For the Aggies, Kendal Lunar also had some good defense, along with going 2 for 3.  Gabby Aragon had the big two-run blast in the fourth.  Laurali Patene got the win.  She gave up most of her damage at the end, but was otherwise very effective.      

 

At this point, I tapped out.  I was damn cold.  The game thankfully only went a bit more than two hours.  (The umps must have told Coach Rodolph to knock it off with all the mound visits.)  Ron was committed to staying, even to the point of offering to put me in his car with the heat on to listen to the game.  I offered to get dinner at Burger King, if he dropped me off at home on the way back.  I think it worked out for both of us.  I ate at home.  (The burger was good, but curiously insubstantial.)  I think Ron made it back in time for the start of the game.

 

I listened to the nightcap against Colorado State over the radio.  It was a tight pitchers’ duel.  In the end, Emily Dix gave up a three-run homer in the sixth and the Aggies lost 4-2.  While listening, I remembered to send Adam a link to Tim Hagerty’s book.  During the break, he replied with a “Thanks.”  I couldn’t believe he was checking his e-mail during the game.   

 

Superbowl Sunday morning, Bradley finally got a win in the tournament, 9-8 over CSU.  It was a bit of a puzzle why these two were playing an extra game.  CSU came by bus and don’t have a home stadium at the moment.  Perhaps Bradley had a late flight out and agreed to play again.  Both teams likely missed the Big Game, while the Aggies kicked back and enjoyed it.  

NM State Aggies vs Colorado State Rams Softball 2-10-23

Sorry for the lousy picture quality because Gabby Aragon’s smile is tremendous in the picture.  (She’s in the center.  Felicia de la Torre, left, and Kayla Bowen, right, are lovely as well.)

 

Opening Day for Aggie Softball!  We are feeling somewhat optimistic for this season.  Last year was an anomalous losing season for the program.  They’d lost some pitchers to the transfer portal and just didn’t have the arms.  This year, Coach Rodolph recruited a bunch of new pitchers to go along with her good returning position players.   

My co-worker and former Aggie catcher, Melika Ofoia, was positively giddy.  She was watching a big time College Softball game at work the day before.  A couple of weeks ago, I cued her in on an Aggie Coaches Show where they were interviewing Coach Rodolph.  The Coach said she had one of the best catching corps ever for this season.  I was offended on Melika’s behalf.  (She laughed at my outrage.)  I had a random thought and asked if softball players would rather wear regular hats instead of visors.  Nope.  The girls want to show off their hair.  

 

I did not take Friday off to go to today’s tournament.  (I’m planning on taking off a Friday for the next tournament with better opponents.)  One of the Aggie games was scheduled to start in the early afternoon.  I decided to try and take in the game before work.  Ron was already there and watching the visiting teams playing each other, Colorado State and Bradley.  I called him before leaving and the game was running late (CSU won 3-1).  I ran late as my toilet suddenly overflowed right before I was about to leave.  It was about a half hour cleanup, but I still arrived before the Aggie game started.   

 

It was 48-degrees and sunny.  I was probably overdressed in my heavy winter coat and a sock hat, but I kept warm.  There was also radio call for the Aggie games this weekend and some others for this season, which is a nice addition.  A great crowd materialized for the Friday afternoon game (attendance 427).  As you’d think, there was just a few kids in the crowd.  Colorado State brought a good number of fans.

 

Pistol Pete and a few Cheerleaders put in an appearance at the beginning of the game.  Coach Kill and the Football coaching staff were also there along with player, Shiyazh Pete, who I met at the Downtown rally.  (I wonder if he has a girlfriend on the team.) 

 

I noticed Women’s Basketball player, Lucia Yenes, while I was coming in.  Ron was sitting up on the top row.  He might not have been able to sit where we usually sit.  I ended up walking past Lucia to get to him and said, “Hi.”  She didn’t know what to make of it and probably didn’t recognize me from when I got her autograph last week.  Ron was a bit cold, but doing okay for now.         

 

These aren’t complete scorecards.  I’m posting them, since I got most of the game.  It ran too long (3 hours) and I had to go to work (and was a little late).  I was there for the pivotal moment in the game, so I felt satisfied.  The CSU Rams came back out to play this game against the Aggies. 

 

They should have taken a picture of the adorable Jillian showing off her batting skills.

Aggie pitcher Jordan King started the game off well with a looking strikeout.  From there, it went downhill.  Normally sure-handed centerfielder, Jillian Taylor, bobbled a hit that was scored as a double.  New second baseman, Jessica Carreon, and right fielder, Riley Carley, nearly collided on a popup, which resulted in an error.  The next batter walked to load the bases.

 

The bullpen was now active and the Coach came out for a talk.  I noticed catcher Hannah Lindsay was wearing black war paint on her face.  On the next batter, a wild pitch scored the Ram’s first run.  On the next batter, there was an amusing appeal call that went around the diamond to two different umps.  Not as amusing, the batter was eventually plunked on the knee, which clearly hurt. 

 

Coach Rodolph had seen enough and put Felicia de la Torre in.  Felicia gave up a single, which scored another run.  Jill had trouble cleanly fielding the ball again.  The next batter was struck out, which got the Aggie dugout going, but the next batter scored a two-run single.  Inexplicably, Jill bobbled the ball again.  It wasn’t scored an error, but not for trying.  A groundout finally ended the inning.  (There were a few hits through the infield during the game that were caused by bad hops.)  Rams up 4-0.

 

The Aggies' dugout was in full song to start the bottom of the first.  Jordan West at third for the Rams made a great play on a liner on the first batter.  If Jillian was having some Opening day nerves, she got over them in her first at bat with a home run to deep center.  4-1 Rams.  Oh, that pretty camera girl from the Pan-Am Center was working here.  Here I am cheating on Emerson again.  (Don't take any of this too seriously.  I'm just mentioning the attractive features at the ballpark.)   

 

Felicia worked a 1-2-3 second.  In the bottom, the Aggies loaded up the bases in a two-out rally.  There were two singles and a hit batter, as Devin Elam was plunked on the foot.  Unfortunately, the inning ended on a groundout to first.  I compliment Paige Knight on her walkup music, Kenny Loggin's Dangerzone.  Lucia left.  She was only wearing shorts and hoodie out in the cold.  (Nice gams.) 

 

A leadoff walk in the top of third was erased as Paige caught a liner at third and doubled off the runner.  Laurali Patane came in to pitch after the walk.  There was a single and a stolen base on a ball in the dirt, but Laurali ended the inning with a strikeout looking. 

 

Adam Young on the radio call was reporting he could hear Coach Kill yelling at the umpire about balls and strikes.  Next door, the Soccer team was out running laps on their field, and Baseball was having a scrimmage beyond the softball outfield wall.  Jill led off the bottom of the third with a single.  She was thrown out trying to take second on what may have been a blown hit-and-run.    

 

The pretty Marketing intern and a marketing major Football player (maybe, I didn't recognize him) tossed out some cool black and white Baseball hats.  This was going to be the giveaway at the next Men's Basketball game . . . was.  We'll get to that later.  CSU had another quick inning.  Laurali made two putouts.  Adam talked about the Ram’s stadium which was currently undergoing renovations.  They were going to be playing on the road as much as possible and were playing at local high school fields at home. 

 

The Bradley team was still here watching the game.  They got up to go get dinner at this point.  In the bottom of the fourth, Carley singled.  Paige came up and blasted a shot to left field.  The radio call said the ball hit the top of the wall and bounced over.  Ron and I saw it as the ball hitting the fielder's glove and then bouncing over.  Either way, it was a two-run homer, 4-3 Rams.  Left fielder Molly Gates went down hard on the warning track on the play.  Trainers from both teams went out to her.  After a few minutes and some work on the wall, Gates stayed in the game.  She might have just had the wind knocked out of her.

 

It was 42-degrees and sunny in Fort Collins, home of CSU.  Not much difference.  The Rams threatened in the top of the fifth with a single and an error on Jessica at second, but Laurali worked out of it.  I sang out Take Me Out to the Ballgame loudly during the Stretch.  Ron pretended he didn't know me.

 

Jessica bunted her way on to start the bottom of the fifth and advanced on a wild pitch.  The Rams brought in their DP to pitch.  Jill singled off her.  Kayla Bowen thumped a double off the wall to drive them in.  (The Aggie girls nearly ran into each other at home.)  The Aggies were now up 5-3. 

 

Unfortunately, this is where I had to leave.  I did see Volleyball player Ryleigh Whitekettle coming in as I went out.  She is a statuesque beauty, but very tall and intimidating.  I didn't bother greeting her, though I would have liked to have complimented her on her game against UTEP.  I did grab a couple of the new softball posters.  As soon as I got to work, I gave one to Melika.  She was delighted and immediately put it up at her cubicle where she was watching the game over the Internet. 

 

I kept listening to the game on the radio.  The Aggies tacked on another run in the fifth and another in the sixth to win it 7-4.  I'll toss a gameball to glamorous Ram catcher Brooke Bohlander for going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI's.  You wouldn't think catcher would be a glamor position, but then there’s Basia Query (ignore the terrible sketch) and, of course my co-worker, Melika.  Kayla Bowen gets one for her clutch two-run double, and Paige Knight for her 3 for 3 with 3 RBI's performance.  Laurali Patane got the win and Emily Dix got the save as the two combined for five shutout innings.

 

I listened to the next game against Bradley.  I was busy with work, but kept up with it.  The Aggies nearly run-ruled it early, but the Braves came back.  The Aggies finally won 14-11 with Bradley having the tying run at the plate.  The game took 3 and a-half hours, after their first game, which went 3 hours.  Given that these were both 7-inning games, it was brutal.  There were various reasons, but Coach Rodolph was responsible for a bunch of delays for calling time.  There may need to be a rule about visits like in baseball.

 

Also brutal was the weather.  Ron stuck it out till the end, but a cold wind kicked up at night and was blowing in.  He said it cut right through him.  By the end, he was shivering uncontrollably.  I've been there in similar circumstances.  (I can't remember the date of the post to link it, but it was bad.)

 

Much more brutal was a phone call I got from dad right before the end of the game.  Dad was watching the news and Aggie Men's Basketball had just suspended their whole coaching staff and canceled their next game.  The rest of their season was up in the air.  This didn't even have anything to do with the shooting.  This was a new problem.  There were some kind of repeated hazing incidents that resulted in a police report.  A couple of guys had left the team.  I don't know all the details, but I'm sure more will come out.  

Sketch Dump: Ilya 2, Drop 7

I think I was experimenting a bit here with a loose pencil.  I violated my one sketch a day dictum on this page.  This is Erin, Goodnight Moon, ASMR artist.  (On Twitch as Poppy Plum.)  The problem with this pencil-only sketch is that her most striking feature is her red hair.

A whimsical sketch of Twitch Starcraft streamer, Livibee. 

Top left, Twitch Chess streamer Alyssa.  Actress Priscilla Quintana next to her.  Twitch singer Jordan Lane on bottom left.  Finally, a sketch of the Yara Wonder Woman.      

These are sketches of some Internet art.

Lastly, the techno girls are based on Ilya Kuvshinov drawings.  

Sketch Dump: Ilya 2, Drop 6

I saw this Archie cover with Veronica in an extremely 80's outfit and had to try drawing it.  It's not quite right.  Twitch streamer Dizzykitten is on the right.  It's probably not quite right either.  The worst of it is that I wanted to draw the picture because of her shoes, which didn't fit on the page.

Another quick sketch page.  There's two of actress Priscilla Quintana, an Ilya Kushinov sketch, one of Gamora from the Guardians of the Galaxy, and a Scarlett Johansson Black Widow sketch.

 

This is Jennie from Blackpink.  It is based on another artist's full color drawing.  This turned out mostly well enough that I didn't want to try and ink it and accidently ruin it.

A couple more sketches of Audrey Hepburn in my never-ending fruitless quest to do a good sketch of her.

 Here's a couple more of Twitch chess streamer, akaNemsko (Qiyu).  I actually managed to make her look sort of Asian in the one of the left.  

Sketch Dump: Ilya 2, Drop 5

 

There's an Ilya Kuvshinov sketch on the left.  On the right is a drawing of a piece of Internet art.

Another Ilya on the left.  On the right is Twitch Starcraft streamer, Livibee.  She's an adorable Australian Asian girl.  

That's Julie the Apprentice, Twitch chess streamer on the left.  (She no longer streams.)  And there's a terrible Ilya sketch.

  

On the left, this is Adair, one of Julie's friends, who joined her on stream once.  She was cute as heck.  On the right is this model that I kept running into on Pinerest.  I don't know who she is, but there's any number of pictures of her there.

  

On the left, it looks like Ilya was drawing Velma from Scooby-Doo.  Then there's another terrible Ilya sketch.  I had rough days.

Sketch Dump: Ilya 2, Drop 4

 

For days when I didn't have time to really make an effort drawing, I'd have these pages where I'd do a little portrait sketch.  There's Raven from the Teen Titans on the left.  Veronica from the Archie Comics in the upper right corner.  She was experimenting with a shorter hairstyle in the story.  The other three are of Priscilla Quintana from Pandora.  In the lower right, she was dressed as Zatanna in a dream sequence.

A couple of Ilya Kuvshinov sketches.  The bottom one was supposed to be a girl laying down.  I doubt it looked right, so I drew the upper one with the 90-degree orientation.

  

Another Ilya.  It's a bit wonky, but that's one of the better hands I've drawn.

Two more Ilya.

On the left is sketch from some Internet art.  That's another sketch of Priscilla on the right.  It's from the same scene as the top middle sketch on the first page.  

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Women’s Basketball 2-4-23

Aggie Women’s Basketball was coming off of three-straight conference wins into tonight’s game with GCU.  They’d played a weeknight game this week at home that I didn’t take time off for.  (Four players finished in double figures for that game.)  I did take time off from work last week to be sick for three days.  Actually, I was okay after two days, but they told me to stay home another day.  I think about 20 people at work have gotten this over the last two weeks.  I got off lucky.  I’m fine, but several others are on heavy medication and still not feeling well.

Ron did go to the Thursday game and brought me back this cool souvenir hand towel giveaway.  I’m not sure what to do with it.  I wish I had some little basketball figures and a couple of little hoops to put on it to play with.  We went to Whataburger before the game.  Ron used the free Whataburger we’d gotten at a Men’s game last month (1-7-23).  I got a really good, but messy Honey Barbeque Chicken Strip sandwich.  The cashier asked if we wanted a brownie.  There was a competition between the Las Cruces restaurants and the El Paso ones over selling them.  Ron declined, but I got one and that was my best decision of the day.  It was very fresh and filled with chunks of chocolate.

 

Tonight’s game was honoring female college athletes and Coach Adams’ coach when she was playing, Pat Summitt.  The team was wearing t-shirts featuring Summitt.  On the back it had her slogan, “Left foot, right foot, breathe, repeat.”  I was telling Ron about her and told him she was a really good coach.  “In her prime, if she’d come here to coach the Aggie Men’s team, I’d be excited about it,” I said.  I don’t think Ron appreciated her until they ran the tribute video where they showed picture of her and her eight national championship trophies (one of which Adams was a part of).           

 

The Roadrunner Band was back for the game.  The crowd was pretty good (attendance 969).  There was a high school boy’s basketball team sitting behind the Aggie bench.  There seemed to be a couple of girl’s high school teams in crowd.  Some Aggie Women’s teams present, who would come out on court at halftime.  (I noted that the teams weren’t sitting next to each other, but well apart.)  Below us, a grandpa was holding up his granddaughter, who was wearing an Aggie Cheerleader outfit.  He was getting her to do the fight song.  It was too cute.    

Coach Adams was in a silver jacket studded with rhinestones.  On the other side, GCU was led by a petite, cute blonde, Coach Molly Miller.  I wanted to ditch Ron and see what she was doing for dinner.  Ron was thinking the same.  (Hey!)  The team had yet another new intro video.  Lucia Yenes’ behind the back pass wasn’t in it.  Lucia also wasn’t suited up to play.  Ashlee Strawbridge was a somewhat surprise starter this afternoon.

 

First Quarter

The Lopes hopped out to a 0-6 lead.  The Aggies were trying to shoot 3’s unsuccessfully.  The Coach called a quick timeout 3 minutes into the game.  Generally, GCU was taller.  After the timeout, 6’2” Evan Zars racked up a block and snatched an offensive rebound by simply reaching over everyone.  6’2” Olivia Lane posted up on successive plays for baskets.

 

The Aggies went 0 for 5 shooting before Molly Kaiser finally hit a jumper to make it 2-10 5 minutes in.  Coach Adams subbed out four.  Molly drew a block basically running into three players guarding the basket.  She dropped in both her free throws.  The Aggies turned up the defense.  They trapped Lane for a turnover.  Ashlee snagged a couple of hard rebounds.  Tayelin Grays muscled her way to the basket for two.     

 

Sylena Peterson put in a jumper.  Tayelin made two more baskets and went to the line for a foul shot.  The throw missed, but Sylena snatched the rebound.  Tayelin got the ball back and drained a 3 to end the quarter.  15-21 GCU.

 

Second Quarter

This was an interesting addition to the crowd.  A very light-skinned young black woman came down the aisle with a big blue Afro.  She was wearing a white top with a white mini-skirt, white boots, and a pair of large glasses.  It sort of 70’s fashion, but not quite.  She attracted attention.  Pistol Pete came up into the crowd.  He danced with the little Cheerleader girl on camera.

 

Ron started muttering to himself after the Aggies air-balled their first shot.  The Aggies did keep up their defense.  Taylor Donaldson made a half-court steal and hit Tayelin on a fast break for a layup.  22-27 after 5 minutes.  I was getting my view on defense blocked by a cheering guy standing in front of me.  The team was getting rougher on defense, which was generating fouls. 

 

Sabou Gueye got a rebound and started a fast break.  She missed the shot, but Tayelin followed up with a basket.  24-28 with 4 minutes left.  The crowd was in an uproar after a missed GCU free throw and an apparent Aggie rebound that was waived off.  Molly made a steal, but accidently threw the ball away right after.  Sylena hit a running layup and Molly hit a last-second jumper to end the half.  30-34 GCU.

 

Halftime

There was a $1k scholarship giveaway right after halftime started.  A pretty Band member won it.  For Women in Sports Day, the Aggie Women’s teams came down to the court.  This included Tennis, Golf (who were wearing really snazzy long sleeve tops that I’d seen Men’s Basketball coaches wearing, where do you get them?), Soccer (Coach Baarts was there and stayed for the rest of the game), Softball, Swim & Dive, Cheerleaders, Sundancers, Track, and Volleyball (Morgan Stewart was there, Ron was happy, Cat Kelly was too and I was happy).  The ceremony was long enough that the basketball teams didn’t get much warmup back on the court.     

 

Third Quarter

Molly came out with a jumper.  The Aggies pressed and Tayelin made a steal.  Sylena made a turnover trying to make an inside pass to a player cutting to the basket.  Next trip down, Sylena tried it again and hit Tayelin for a layup.  34-38 with 7 minutes left.

I noticed Deshawndre Washington from the Men’s team was here watching the game again.  My favorite sports marketer, Emerson, was here and looking elegant in a white oversized Men’s dress shirt.  I noticed a guy in the crowd came over and gave the little Cheerleader girl a pom-pom.  Everyone was enchanted with her. 

 

Molly appeared to take a charge, but was instead called for her third foul.  The crowd was unhappy with the call.  Sylena muscled one in to make it 36-43, but Naudia Evans hit a 3 for the Lopes to make it a 10-point lead with 3 minutes left.  The Aggies were not giving up.  Molly made a running layup and drew a charge.  Soufia Inoussa hit a big 3 at the end of the quarter to make it 41-49 GCU.

 

Fourth Quarter

Tayelin knocked down a pair of free throws and Soufia hit another 3 to prompt a GCU timeout.  46-49 with 7 minutes left.  Sylena hit a jumper, but Lane made a layup and made a free throw to make it 48-54 with 4 minutes left.  During a ref review, a loose ball rolled all the way down court to the Cheerleaders.  They tossed it back to the refs.

 

Sylena made a pair of free throws, but Lane again made a layup and drained a free throw to make it a 7-point lead.  Lope Dominique Phillips increased the lead to 10 after hitting a 3.  The Aggies took a timeout.  Back to play, Molly fouled out with 2 minutes left.  Tayelin came up with a steal, but missed the layup. 

 

In the tunnel, the Aggie Men and their opponents, Seattle U, were waiting to take the court.  Tayelin buried a 3 coming out of a GCU timeout.  Shania Harper for the Aggies fouled out in the final minute.  The Aggies successfully trapped, but GCU called their final timeout to get out of it.  The crowd booed.  The Aggies also took their last timeout.  There were three timeouts in the final minute. 

 

Soufia made a layup and the Aggies got the ball back.  Tayelin hit another 3 and the Aggies started intentionally fouling with seconds left, 59-62.  The officials stopped play for a review to keep up the tension.  GCU made 2 of 4 free throws on two trips to the line.  That was enough to seal a 59-64 win for the Lopes.        

 

That was a disappointing end, but it was a good game.  Olivia Lane led all scorers with 26 points for GCU.  Tiarra Brown had 13 points and Evan Zars had 12 rebounds.  For the Aggies, Tayelin Grays led with 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks, Molly Kaiser had 12 points and Sylena Peterson had 11.  The Aggies had 19 points off turnovers and 21 second chance points, but GCU shot 47%.  The Aggies shot 36%.  The Aggie Women seem to be one good player short of being great.

 

Autographs

There was a surprise announcement of autographs during the game.  It was wasn’t announced beforehand.  It was up in the concourse right after the game.  The crowd was coming in for the Men’s game, making it crowded.  The Men’s Golf team was showing off their new “Swinging Pete” logo and selling something.  I admit was interested in their hats with the new logo.

 

Ron was too cool to stand in line with a bunch of little girls and walked around the concourse.  Actually, I was at the back of the line.  Ron’s “niece” was there in front of me, as was the girl with the blue Afro.  A mom with two adorable little boys was just in front of me.  I think she was a former player, since she knew the coach who was the color commentator for the game, and he knew her as he walked by. 

 

The little boys were a hit with the girls when I finally got there.  I felt unloved.  Sylena Peterson was up first.  I was glad I got to tell her I appreciated her effort this season.  Ron ran into her later and said the same.  I think she’s his favorite for her hardnosed play.  Aussie Ashlee Strawbridge was next.  I asked if she’d met Rachel Phillips, the El Paso sportscaster, also from Australia.  She hadn’t, but wanted to. 

 

I got to give Tayelin Grays congratulations on her great season.  I wished I’d been about to ask her what flipped her switch to suddenly turn her into a great player this season.  I told Lucia Yenes she had the Play of the Year with her behind the back pass.  I think she nearly blushed over the recognition.  Moe Shida adored the two little boys and got a picture with their mom.  I didn’t do as well.  I’m still wondering how she got here from Japan.  Lastly, I was glad I got to thank Molly Kaiser for her effort.  I think she was glad for it.

 

I’d asked Ron if he wanted to stay for the Aggie Men’s Basketball game.  I was ambivalent, but still willing to pay full price since I didn’t have anything better to do this evening.  He needed to go somewhere after the game though.  After 9 straight conference losses, the Men finally won on Wednesday against a good SFA team at home.  Listening to the game, I learned that color analyst, Anita Skipper, was the Homecoming Queen one year when she was playing.  She did it all.  The Men won again on Saturday night, 82-75, over Seattle U.  The guys are finally starting to play as a team.  I don’t know if it’s too late for their season or not, but it’s good to see.