The defensive strategy of many of the teams the Ags have played recently has been to collapse on Morgan and make the other players beat you. For the most part, Morgan has still been able to find ways to score. When we have struggled against this strategy is when our other starters have gone cold from the outside and also when we have turned the ball over frequently.

My 3 keys to the game:

1. Take care of the ball and limit the number of TO's.
2. Be the aggressor on defense and limit the number of second chance points.
3. Shoot a good percentage from the outside which will help free up Morgan inside.

More than anything though, come out aggressive and set the tone and tempo for the game. Play with energy from the get go and keep it up for 40 minutes. It's all or nothing; win and move on or lose and go home.

Go Ags!

I wonder if we would have been given another home game if it weren't the the robotics conflict since our rpi is #73 and Kansas State is #89? If we get by this round we would play the winner of the Purdue @ Indiana game and they both have higher rpi's: #54 and #62 respectively so I think we'd be going to the Hoosier state. The rpi's were last updated on March 12th.

http://realtimerpi.com/college_Women_basketball_rpi2.html

Having enough money is the most important factor in a job when you don't earn enough but, after you feel comfortable with your income, nearly everything else moves to the head of the list.

There are a lot of reasons for Les to stay right here:

1. He's worked hard to turn the program into a legitimate contender each year in the Big West and the sky is the limit of where Aggie basketball can go. I think he'd like to be around for the ride.

2. He believes in the Aggie model of recruiting high character athletes that get it done in the classroom as well.

3. He has a lot of history and connections in the greater Sacramento and Davis area and his wife is a realtor in Granite Bay and currently has listings up to the $1.5 million range.

4. His son Tyler, works in San Francisco and Logan, Utah, is a long way from SF.

5. He has often said that he and his wife love the Sacramento area and always wanted to return someday. UC Davis gave him that opportunity.

5. Money isn't everything especially when you have enough to be comfortable in your lifestyle. I'm sure he and his wife are doing fine and he just may be at a point in his life where the quality of the job, family, friends and geographic location are more important than a bigger paycheck.

Kansas State has great size. Nine of the 12 players on their roster are over 6 feet tall including 6 players over 6'2: 6'2, 6'3, 3 at 6'4 and one player at 6'7. With that kind overwhelming size I would expect that they will collapse on Morgan every time she touches the ball. She'll see a lot of double teams so it will be important for the Aggie guards to hit their shots from the perimeter and make them pay for collapsing in the paint.

Another strategy is mix things up and let Morgan play at the high post on some sets. She can knock down outside shots. The Ags can also bring in Marly Anderson and play her at the low or high post along with Morgan. Marly can score in the paint and can knock down 3's and they would need to pay attention to her inside too.

It will be interesting to see if the Ags decide to push the pace. The Wildcats pride themselves on tough defense so we will probably try to run and score when we can before they get set in their defense. If they go big, then run, run, run when we can.

Rebounding will be tough so we have to box out be aggressive. We must go hard after the ball and use our quickness to offset their size.

Defensively, we must be locked in and aggressive trying to cause TO's. We'll need the athleticism of Bessolo and Hall to help us on the boards and defense.

We can beat Kansas State but we need to take care of the ball and bring our A game.

Les was recently quoted, in a Bee article, that he was in it for the long run at Davis and that, after working so hard to turn the program around, he wanted to be around to enjoy the success. He has also been a very big proponent of the Aggie scholar-baller model of athletics and has said that the Aggie model was college athletics done the right way. Then again, I suppose everyone has a price at some point...

I don't know how they do it. I was always cramming and stressing during finals week and I wasn't playing ball. I remember that Bob Williams was proctoring finals the on the road in Kentucky the day before the men's team won the D2 National Championship. How many of the elite programs do you think require this kind of academic rigor and integrity of their players? Not many, if any, I'd bet.

UCONN may have a chip on their shoulders but when you have the talent that UCONN has and are up by 36 points after the first quarter, there's no justification for having your starters in the game at that point. What's the point of trying to score 100 points in a half and humiliating your opponent. It's doubtful that any team can hang with UCONN this year but it would tickle me pink if someone beat them. And, I know you're just reporting the info and don't necessarily agree with it.

That's an excellent point, Obda. WBB needs all the help it can get. It's growing in interest but there's very little parity since just a few of the big schools grab all the very top players. There's an enormous gap between the few elite teams and the rest of the D1 field and, if the sport is to grow, we definitely need more interest and participation by young girls so the sport can grow just like soccer has grown.

BTW, I lost a some respect for Geno Auriemma when his team beat St Francis 140-52 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. After they scored 55 points in the first quarter and led 55-19 and were up 94-31 at the half. The game was over and their starters should never have seen the court again but he let them play into the opening minutes of the 3rd quarter. That was bush league in my book.

It's really too bad that the power conferences have so much influence. It's like a small, local business trying to compete with a big corporation...just really hard to get your product noticed.

It's 7 pm Central time but 5 pm Pacific time. Don't tune in at 7 pm our time or you'll miss the game!

The Ags will play at Kansas State on Friday, March 23rd at 5 pm Pacific time.

Of course, wishful thinking on my part...

Kansas State beat Utah 74-57 at home in Manhattan, Kansas. Now we wait and see if the WNIT will do the right game Give the Aggies another home game.

There might be more parity once the FBI finishes their investigation of cheating in college basketball and some of the big boys get busted.

I assume the WNIT selection committed makes all the decisions regarding the games.

We absolutely should get a home game, but I think you're right that the political sway that the power conferences have will probably send us on the road again.

Another great win for the Aggie women!

58-49 Aggies after 3 quarters. Go Ags get this one!

It's a tough environment they're playing in. The Wyoming fans are very vocal on the no calls and the foul calls.

38-33 Ags at the half.