The women looked pretty good tonight. They ran well, the forced turnovers and scored off of many of them. Hall was awesome. She seemed to be everywhere. The Ags really pulled ahead when Boston's three point shooting went cold. They'd been lights out in the first half, but defense on the perimeter took away uncontested shots until the 4th quarter when a few minutes of slack let Boston tie the game up. Then the Ags knuckled down (mr cliche here) and sprinted ahead. They could have quit but just motored through it. Aggie Pride at work! Makaila Sanders demonstrated some real ball handling chops.

Montana State was voted by coaches and media to be the #1 team in Big Sky. How the Ags fare against them will be a marker. Montana State puts a premium on defense. Will the Ags be able to shoot from the outside to open up the lane? We're not a big team and they're still blending. Should be an interesting contest.

Here are the game notes from Montana State

Game is going to be streamed on Big Sky TV on a device near you.

I'm liking this team. We didn't see Stobbart shoot from the outside at all during the exhibition games. I'm thinking she'll need to drain a few tonight.

Photos from UCD Women's Exhibition Games

I think the women are looking pretty good. This is a very different team than last year's. I can't say enough about Katie Toole who really knows how to deliver the ball to the basket in the paint.

I'm remembering that large round thingie with what were most definitely breasts on the outer periphery.

I saw this and, yep, I'm nervous too. Berkeley is close and there are a lot more $$$ in the Pac 12 than here, maybe a factor of 2 or 3 at least in pay. I think Jen would have to seriously consider applying for the position.

Well, they're talking about something late summer/early autumn to welcome the new players. I guess since the team didn't go to the NCAA it was a "screw you".

The ESPN WNBA draft show may have been just about the worst. Seems like ESPN just doesn't do women's basketball very well.

Here are some shots from the Aggie game: <https://bit.ly/2TXleDu>

and from the Auburn v BYU game: <https://bit.ly/2HENSme>

Stanford didn't drop deep into their lineup until the 4th quarter although Tara did chose to rest her very best players for several periods during the game. But so did we. We never made it closer than 20 but we played them close to even.

BYU will have their hands full but I'll be rooting for them. Their cheer squad, and in particular their mascot, demonstrated all the best qualities helping a person they didn't know, couldn't have known, reach her seat. The president of BYU will get a letter of appreciation from me as will their AD. Totally class act in all respects. I hope Gunrock and our cheer squad will be as supportive!

The NCAA tournament is structured in favor of the elite teams. I think we'd see a better tournament if we gave byes to the top 8 seeds and required neutral court contests. Now I know that won't happen for reasons of $$$$. But I can still scream into the wind.

I'm writing mostly about the women's tournament here but the same is true for the men's tournament as well the stratification just isn't as severe on the men's side.

The Ags played three competitive quarters after the first - but that was enough. The Stanford defense played a very tough game: they were faster and bigger and confident. It showed. Our shooting was terrible that first quarter - but the shots weren't there and then there were forced shots. It carried over to the defensive side where the Ags were a step slower most of the time.

I was pleased with Stobbard's performance. She was in the middle of things and did some fine 3 point shooting.

CC had a terrible game - she had a very difficult defensive assignment (when doesn't she?) and was over matched. She carries a very high expectation for herself, I think, and let it get into her head.

It's too bad we couldn't have played BYU or Auburn. I watched that game and felt we could have been VERY competitive with either team. I liked the BYU team a lot and I'll be cheering for them. But I think they'll have to play a nearly perfect game to be in the contest with Stanford.

I believe you'll be able to stream individual games using the ESPN app on a mobile device, Apple TV or via your laptop.

As I've watched the women evolve over the season I see a team that has learned to put their adversaries down and not let them up again. They learned at Hawai'i what happens when you let off the gas. Over the past half-dozen games our scoring has become more distributed, our defense more formidable, and our bench deeper. I like this team a lot. It will take a wretched shooting performance and a major defensive implosion for the Ags to lose. That can happen, but I don't see it as likely. The team is healthy and they've learned how to win.

a 20 points off turnovers compared to 2 for Fullerton explains a lot about the game.

Here are a bunch of images from the game: CSU Fullerton vs UC Davis men

Here are a few snaps from the game: UC Irvine & UC Davis

It's hard to believe that Long Beach could have sustained the almost 70% shoot from the first half. You have to like Stef and Silar for the way they worked after TJ went down. There were lots of opportunities for the Ags to lose the game - but they chose the path to win it.

This was a great game to watch. I wish I had recorded the broadcast. I haven't heard Bob Williams with Scott Marsh - I have to think they are a killer team.

A great night at Hamilton Court!

I have a Fuji X-T3 that shoots 20 frames / sec with (mostly) good auto focus. The hard part is figuring out what to shoot. alas my wretched knees don't allow me to plop my butt down on the court under hoop where I could do better work. It's embarrassing to need a gantry to come and help me get up! Thanks for your kind words.

How to watch if you can't make it to the Pavilion:

Thu Mar 15
WBB UC Davis vs Idaho 6:00 PM Big West TV (WNIT 1st Round)
http://bigwest.sidearmstreaming.com/watch

I believe that BigWestTV will stream the game from the Pavilion. I just looked at the page which shows they intend to provide links but haven't yet updated the links.

http://www.bigwest.org/tv/

ESPN3 is a channel that is streamed over the internet - it's not on cable or satellite. If you have cable or satellite TV you can log into the ESPN site to watch the game. I don't recall the details. I can watch ESPN3 on my iPhone or iPad my appleTV or on my computer using my Comcast credentials.

Hope this helps.