Arizona State from the Big 12 comes to Davis today for a 2 pm game. The Aggies will be at a huge height disadvantage as the Sun Devils have 8 players listed at 6'2 to 6'7 on their roster. It's rare for a power conference school to come to Davis and this a great opportunity for the Aggies to get a signature win for the program. Go Ags!
Aggies 57 Arizona State 50 in a tough, defensive struggle. First win ever for the Aggies over ASU and a signature win for the Aggies beating a BIG12 team.
Amazing how almost all of their team is a transfer. I wonder if this is the future of college athletics. No commitment to your schools or your team mates just I guess for the NIL and ASU is not a very highly rated institution. 121 vrs 33 UC davis and ASU gets UCIs best player and UCI is just below UCDavis in the rankings. So these athletes not not care at all about academic issues, just what they might get in NIL down the line. I findall,of this very depressing.
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Just note that UC Irvine women took down Oregon State in a convincing fashion: 60-48. The Beaves are 3-7 now, UCI 7-3. The level of play in the Big West is definitely rising.
Our women played hard D. It was an interesting game to watch. Permissive officiating. The chemistry of Arizona State seemed off watching them down the stretch. Need to get better on free throws, though.
I probably wouldn't say the Big West Conference for Women's Basketball is rising.
Here's the Massey rankings before today's games:
139 UC Irvine
144 Hawaii
155 UC Davis
167 Long Beach State
214 UC Santa Barbara
224 UC Riverside
227 Cal Poly
273 UC San Diego
325 Cal State Fullerton
337 Cal State Northridge
346 Cal State Bakersfield
Permissive officiating. The chemistry of Arizona State seemed off watching them down the stretch. — abridge
14 of the 16 players on ASU's roster are transfers from other schools. I don't know how you can have good team chemistry when you build a team with 90% transfers. It takes time for players to play together and get to know each other personally and care about each other. Unfortunately, this is the new landscape of college sports where a lot of players are chasing the money that colleges are throwing at them.
ASU only had 10 dressed players. Their play reminded me of neighborhood playground hoops - people are used to everyone else’s game, and they play WITH each other, but don’t really play TOGETHER.
Sabel was definitely a great addition. Jen Gross seems to look for players who fit in and will buy in to the established culture. Year 1 is usually a learning year; Tova often came off the bench her 1st year.
Vic Baker is another example of someone who has grown into a solid pice of the puzzle...and she is fun to watch. Still gets a little out of control at times, but we like how much she cares.
It would be nice to see Ally Fitzgerald stay healthy long enough to get consistent minutes. She seems to have a sweet shooting touch.