Despite their loss to Central Florida the Aggies stayed at #5 in the Women's Mid Major Poll:

http://www.collegeinsider.com/womens-mid-major-top-25.php

Game recap from the Reno Gazette Journal:

http://www.rgj.com/story/sports/college/nevada/2017/12/19/sharper-nevada-basketball-team-rides-21-2-run-win-over-uc-davis/967979001/

Ags fall 88-73. Les pulled Chima early and, even though it was reported that Les was just giving his bench some experience, I don't buy it. Les is far too competitive to sit his leading scorer one and a half minutes into the second half. He didn't even put him in when the Ags got the lead down to 12. Something was not right between the coach and Chima...he pulled Chima after UNR scored inside on him twice early in the second half. My guess is Les didn't think Chima was being physical enough. I'm not a fan of benching a player like Chima for the rest of the half though.

I lost some respect for Eric Musselman. He's fiery and he didn't start pulling his starters until under 2 minutes left in the game even with our bench players playing 15-20 minutes. The game was well in hand for them but he wanted to run up the score...not cool, IMO.

I don't think I would want to be in the Ags locker room with Coach Les after these last two losses. We'll see how the team responds to his apparent displeasure with them...

I don't think Les has been happy with Chima tonight. It also seems that Les feels like the game was pretty much over early in the second half and, combined with being disappointed with some of his players, he is letting his bench play. Musselman looks like he'd like to run up the score.

They just reported that Coach Les is letting other players get some PT..??.

Also, looks like Mooney is dressed and on the end of the bench.

Not sure what has happened with Mooney. He hasn't even been in the Pavilion in street clothes...completely missing...

Huh...Chima is 5-7 from the floor. If it wasn't for his grit and offense we'd be down 20 or more.

That's largely been the story of the year. The Achilles heel of this team is that Chima and Siler have generally been the sole source of our offense.

Ags played well for 15 minutes and then awful for 5 minutes and UNR goes on a 17-2 run and lead 42-27 at the half. Turnovers and the inability to score outside of the paint is killing us and will continue to do so until we find some perimeter shooting.

We'll need to play an exceptionally good game to hang in there with the Wolfpack. They have a lot of experienced D1 transfers from high profile programs. Our opponents have seen a lot of film on us by now and they are keying on making things very difficult for Chima an Siler. We need some other players to begin to really step up. I hope we play well and give ourselves a chance.

Watch the game on Facebook Live here:

https://www.facebook.com/sports/171067303489558/

Well, Goags20172, I'm glad you at least got to see the Aggies make a run at UCF because the first 24 minutes of the game were the was the most lackluster play I've seen from them this year. I've seen them go through stretches where the shots weren't falling as all teams do but, when they would go through a short stretches like that, they made up for it with solid play on the defensive end.

Yesterday, however, when they got behind early, I saw players hanging their heads, failing to hustle back into good defensive position, standing around the basket flat-footed instead of aggressively blocking out and going hard for the rebound and playing tentatively instead of playing with focused determination. None of this kind of play has been characteristic of this team this year.

UCF was a quicker team overall and, when you add in a lack of aggressiveness from the Ags, that's a recipe for getting blown out. I thought Jen Gross could have dialed up the pressure on defense earlier in the first half instead of waiting until the second half to start double teaming the ball and applying pressure at mid-court. When the Ags did start making a run it was because of the defensive pressure and rebounding assertiveness by Bessolo and Hall which sparked the team, but coming back from 25 down with only 16 minutes left to play was just to much.

There were times on the offensive end when we had a chance to push the ball and get out and run but we often pulled up or passed up a quick look and settled into our half court offense. When that happened the Knights defended the perimeter well with their quickness. Run and gun is not our style but I would have liked to have seen us try to penetrate and kick the ball out before UCF got a chance to get set in their 2-3 zone. Morgan Bertsch has wonderful, quick spin moves in the paint but she was off her game in the first half too and was missing shots that she normally cans.

The strength of the Ags is their togetherness, maturity, smart play, and good depth. They do not, however, have exceptional overall team quickness and speed and that makes teams like UCF a tough match-up for the Aggies.

How will the Ags respond to this disappointing loss. Jen Gross had this to say after the game: "The biggest adjustment that we had to make was that we had to play with a lot more fight," Head Coach Jennifer Gross said. "We were a watered down version of ourselves in the first half and I think the players felt that. However, I was really proud of our group for responding and playing with a lot more fire in the second half. Every game, win or lose, we're going to learn from it and use it to make us better."

More comments from Gross here:

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/w-baskbl/recaps/121717aab.html

This game was a tale of two halves. If there really is such a thing as a finals hangover it was on display in the first half this game. The Ags came out flat as a pancake and had little energy. They were being out hustled and out played on both ends of the floor. UCF was the aggressor from the start and the Ags failed to match the Knights' energy and dug themselves a very big hole down 21 points at the half. It's like the team was playing in a daze.

A minute and a half into the second half the Ags were down 25 and looked dead in the water. With 4 minutes gone in the 3rd quarter they were still down 23. Jen Gross knew she needed someone to step up and bring some life to the team. She also needed someone match the Knights' athleticism and aggressiveness. Nina Bessolo and Cierra Hall did just that. Their defensive pressure started forcing turnovers and shots started falling for the Ags. Morgan Bertsch had been getting pretty much manhandled by the Knights' 6'3 Fr post, Masseny Kaba, and suddenly she got determined and more aggressive too.

The energy that Bessolo and Hall brought to the floor ignited the entire team and the Aggies woke up. They battled back and got as close as 5 but the hole was too deep and they lost for the first time this year.

In some ways this game may be a blessing in disguise. The Ags now know that you have to be ready to play against teams that have good talent no matter what their record looks like. They got beat because they were not the aggressors in the first half. UCF was and the Ags were hanging their heads when the shots weren't falling and Knights' lead kept growing.

When you play with energy on the defensive end it carries over to the offensive end. That wasn't happening in the first half. The Aggies would have won this game by double digits if they had played the first half like they played in the final 16 minutes.

I'm sure the team is disappointed and are not happy with the way they played in the first half. So now the unbeaten streak is over and they need to regroup and then head up to play their toughest opponent of the year, Oregon State, next Wednesday, and, you know what, they just might be even more determined after the way things went tonight.

By the way, there was a really nice size crowd today which was nice to see. Too bad it took the Ags so long to wake up and make a game out of it. In the end it was a great effort to come back from being so far down.

It took the Ags 22 minutes to wake up and play aggressively. Got the lead down to 10 to start the 4th

Complete domination by UCF. The Ags have not faced a team with this kind of athleticism this year and it shows.

The Knights defense is as advertised. 18-10 UCF after the 1st quarter

My wife and I are going to try and get to the game on our way home from SF. Go get this one AGS!

Some post-game comments by Coach Les in the Enterprise article:

Les was especially critical of UCD’s lack of defensive intensity.

“That’s something I wasn’t happy about,” he said. “Afterward, I told the team that they (USF) were the more physically aggressive team, especially on 50-50 balls.

“How many times did I see us get bumped and lose the ball? This is a grown man’s game, and most nights the more aggressive and more physical team is going to win the game. They were the more aggressive, physical team and that’s something we can control.”

Added Les, “It’s a disappointed group and we have some things to work on, but this is a marathon. We have to get back to work and get after it. We have to show up for practice every day, individually and collectively, and do the things to get better. Because if you don’t do that and you don’t respect the game, it can really humble you

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/aggie-men-succumb-to-usf-scoring-streaks-74-61/

I love his competitiveness and grit. It just seems like he's trying to force the ball up at times when he's completely boxed in and he's getting banged around a lot. I'm not sure where the offense is going to come from to help him out though.

They're a pleasure to watch. They are fundamentally sound, have good depth, and play with poise and confidence. It's unlikely but not inconceivable that they could run the table.