 "Photo: Krista Avila")
After two recent victories against San Jose State and Fresno State, it looks like the Lady Aggies have returned to their winning ways.
If it was only that simple.
The team has only two seniors on the roster this season, guard Tyshae Walton and center Niki Holt. While the number of seniors may be lacking, the team plays well despite its youth. The Aggies are a small, fast team is capable of creating plays on offense. They play aggressive half court basketball and drive the lane often, which usually results in fouls being called and trips to the charity stripe. At press time, NMSU leads the Western Athletic Conference in free throw attempts and percentage.
Right now, sophomore guard Madison Spence is playing well. She leads the conference in scoring and she led the team in both victories against the Spartans and Bulldogs with 18 points and 20 points respectively. Fellow sophomore guard Danesha Corbett averaged 13.5 points in the last two games and freshman guard Kaitlyn Soto chimed in 13 points each game.
Notice a guard is mentioned three times and no frontcourt players are.
When your team is led in scoring by three guards the last two games, it raises a red flag. Where's the post game? The Aggies are a good slashing team, able to draw fouls and play the perimeter well, but there's no real threat of a post player making big shots or getting to the line.
A good post game would definitely benefit the Aggies, because it would cause double team situations down low, which would leave players such as Soto, who has been hot from behind the three point line recently, open to make shots or even drive the lane to get to the line. Having a post presence would also take the pressure off Spence and the other guards, so they dont have to put themselves in harm's way to score buckets. A good post game also
creates all sorts of second chance opportunities if you can snag a few rebounds.
The Aggies aren't just missing a few links on the offensive side of the ball either. For all the aggression on their side of the court, NMSU doesn't translate that onto the defensive side of the ball. The Aggies are currently eighth in the conference in field goal and three-point defense. However, the Aggies aren't all bad on defense. Right now, NMSU leads the conference in blocked shots.
If one could liken the Aggies to any professional team, it would be a Greg Oden-less Blazers. The Trailblazers are stacked with athletic guards that are capable of driving the lane and drawing contact in a league that gives away blocking fouls like a candy store on Halloween. However, unlike the Blazers, the Aggies are lacking a great weapon that smaller teams in the league have: a quick fast break game.
The Aggies need to develop a more aggressive defense that causes turnovers and is able to outrun the other teams in order to get the open lay-ups and high percentage shots. Even on a scoring drive by the other team can lead to a tough defensive situation if the ball was advanced up the court quickly before the defense can settle in.
This plays in NMSU's favor. The only problem with a quick striking offense is the team that executes it has to be in very good condition and be able to run the floor multiple times. That doesn't look to be a problem for NMSU, and if need be, the Aggies can change up their guards to give their starters rest, not unlike a "line change" in hockey.
While they may be young or undersized compared to other Division I basketball teams, the Lady Aggies are capable of using their weapons to become a contender for the WAC title at the end of the year.
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