clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

WBB: Ags Double-up Rainbows 82-41

After a slow start the Women's Bouncy Ball team doubled up the Rainbow Wahine in Hawai'i

By jimhu
Rachel Mitchell and Courtney Walker each scored 10. Walker's moved her to #5 on the Ags all-time scoring list.
Rachel Mitchell and Courtney Walker each scored 10. Walker's moved her to #5 on the Ags all-time scoring list.
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

I corrected an error in the last post. While the Ags are in Hawai'i playing the Univ. of Hawai'i, the 'Bows are not at home. The games for the Tom Weston Classic are at BYU-Hawai'i. The Div 2 Seasiders don't actually seem to play in the Tom Weston Classic, although they lost an exhibition to BYU on Wednesday. The Cougars then beat the Rainbow Wahine on Thursday night.

BYU-H provided a video stream that actually worked pretty well. I watched while listening to the radio, which was behind, on KZNE.

First Quarter

Coach Blair started Hillsman, CWill, Jasmine Lumpkin, CWalk, and Jones.  It was only 8-6 at the first media timeout and then the Ags went on a run.

18-8 Ags end of the first. C. Williams with 6. Hawai'i shot only 25% in the quarter, which was a mix of good D and really bad jump shooting by the Bows.

Second Quarter

The Ags kept up the advantage with Curtyce Knox giving Jones some rest. Chelsea Jennings, Anriel Howard, and Rachel Mitchell were also in by this time. The Ags went on a stretch where Hawai'i turned the ball over on three straight possessions, leading to a 20 point A&M lead. Anriel Howard got 3 steals, 3 boards, and 4 points in just a few minutes on the floor while that happened.

Coach Blair tried a number of different lineups. Khaalia Hillsman was able to hit a couple of left handed hooks in the lane. Danni Williams swished a long 3.

Halftime score A&M 39 Hawai'i 15. 10 different Ags scored. CWill and Khaalia were tied with 8 points apiece. The Ags had 8 steals. Hawai'i turned it over 14 times and only shot 27.3% from the floor. The one negative is that our posts were 0-3 from the FT line.

Third Quarter

The 'Bows came out more aggressively in the second half, getting into the bonus relatively early and sending Khaalia to the bench with her third foul. But they still couldn't stop the Ags. It was 55-26 at the 3:16 timeout. Shlonte Allen got her first playing time in several games. Allen and Taylor Cooper got into the scoring column; Cooper on a long 3 pointer.

61-31 Ags

Fourth Quarter

The Aggie subs kept up the energy and went on an 11-2 run to start the final quarter. Rachel went on a mini-run to fall just 1 point short of her career high. Darienne Serna came in with 2 minutes to go to run the point and made the stats sheet with her first career assist and first career rebound.

Final Score Ags 82 Rainbow Wahine 41

Overall

  • The starters all played 24 minutes or less
  • Courtney Williams and Khaalia Hillsman finished with 12 points. Walker and Rachel each had 10 points to give the Ags 4 players in double figures. CWill also led the team in rebounding with 6. The Ags shot 53.5% from the floor and were 3/5 from 3 point distance. Walker's 10 moved her to #5 on the Ags for all-time career scoring.
  • The Ags and the 'Bows finished tied in rebounds.
  • Pressure D was important.The Ags had 15 steals contributing to Hawai'i's 23 turnovers. On the other end the Ags took care of the ball, getting 24 assists vs just 5 turnovers. Hawai'i shot just 14/44 (31.8%) despite some defensive breakdowns leading to easy layups and putbacks.

Up Next

  • BYU
  • 6PM Saturday, Dec 5, 2015. Yes, this is competing with several conference championship games in football.
  • Laie Hawai'i at BYU-Hawaii
  • Streaming from BYU Hawai'i . Radio 1150AM KZNE. The streaming was better than the Las Vegas event, but it's Flash-based, so don't expect it to work on mobile devices.
BYU was in the same region as the Ags two seasons ago when A&M made the Elite 8 (both teams were eliminated by eventual champion UConn after putting up decent opposition to the Huskies). Like the Ags, the Cougars made the tournament last year but suffered an early exit. Unlike the Ags, the Cougars lost to higher seed and have graduated a majority of the key contributors on the 2013-14 team. The most notable losses were center Jennifer Hamson and Morgan Bailey. But two starters from the 2013-14 sweet 16 team are still with BYU.

BYU is 5-3 so far, with losses to Oklahoma, Colorado State, and Georgia. The first two were road games and the Georgia loss was on a neutral court in a Thansgiving weekend tourney.

Expected starters for BYU are:
  • #21 5-10 Senior G Lexi Eaton Rydalch. Rydalch, who was just Lexi Eaton two years ago was a starter on the 2013-14 team. She was the second leading scorer on that team and the leading scorer last year and so far this season. She averaged over 20 ppg last year and is averaging 21.9 this year. She's also second on the team in rebounding with 5.1/game. Rydalch was an AP All-American honorable mention last season.
  • #3 5-5 Sr G Kylie Maeda (3.9 ppg). Maeda has 28 assists vs 11 turnovers.
  • #23 5-8 Jr G Mackenzi Morrison Pulsipher (12 ppg)
  • #32 6-2 Jr F Kalani Purcell (1.80 ppg) Purcell is the leading rebounder by a wide margin, averaging 12.5 boards/game. Purcell was a JC All-American.
  • #22 6-2 Fr F Jasmine Moody (3.1 ppg). Moody is from Hawai'i.
A stat that jumps out at me for BYU is how 4 different players who have more than 20 assists in the 8 games they've played. Based on comments from their coach, Jeff Judkins, it sounds like this is because BYU wants to penetrate and kick out for jump shots. They average 5.8 3-pointers per game.

A&M and BYU have never played before in Women's Bouncy Ball.

BTHO BYU!

More From Good Bull Hunting

cuppycup, thacktor, and Chuck in a spooky podcast