The Aggies hit the road in search of their first win when they travel to Portland to play a good Portland State team at 4 pm. The Vikings are 2-0 with two blowout wins over Warner Pacific and San Jose State and are led by 6'4 RSr Courtney West who is averaging 18 ppg.
The Ags have looked like a work in progress in their two loses on the season and have not played that well yet. Numerous turnovers and unfocused play has plagued the Ags so far which indicates that they are still searching for cohesion and leadership on the floor. Morgan Bertsch looked like she was getting back in the groove in the second half of the Pacific game and Cierra McKeown looks like she may be emerging as a great 3 point shooter.
There doesn't appear to be any live stream coverage but KDVS 90.3 FM will air the play-by-play.
After two straight lackluster performances the Ags continue to play poorly and trail PSU 33-20 at the half. The Ags are shooting a horrendous 20.6% from the field that include only 1-19 from 3 = 5%! How is it possible shoot 1 for 19 from 3...wow!
Bertsch, Bessolo, Hall are a combine 3 for 18 combined. The team is lacking leadership from the verteran players.
A team that starts 3 seniors and a junior really shouldn’t be struggling to start the season like this. Yeah they are trying to work in some pieces but the veteran players should be playing better together
Ags lose their third straight 65-50 after a miserable shooting display. The Aggies shot 25% overall which includes 4-33 from 3 for 12%. Morgan Bertsch had 19 and Cierra McKeown had 8 but neither shot the ball well and after that the contributions from everyone else was practicably negligible.
The Aggies have a starting rotation that includes 3 seniors, a junior and sophomore that got a good amount of playing time last year but have failed to find reliable team leaders so far. The level of drop off from last year's team is surprisingly unexpected.
Gianotti, Nagel and Nafehk were really a special trio of players. They were all so solid in all aspects of the game...smart, poised, focused and all 3 could shoot the 3 and drive the ball. This year's team is struggling to find the right pieces right now.
I don't think the coaches or the players saw this coming...they're really struggling.
Hard to say why this team is performing so poorly. I think it's like Russ Bowlus said above about how much chemistry gets underestimated. That could be part of it. The team is certainly pressing given the number of shots they are missing. It seems like one they start missing and turning the ball over it just snowballs. Jen's got her hands full trying to get this team on track.