Game Three: UTEP 74, Fresno State 72

"What a game. It's 2 am and I'm high. I'm stoned on basketball. Fresno State came to El Paso, and they were tough. They could shoot, they had a lot of energy, and #22 (Amie Havener) could really rush the basket.

They played us close. It was touch and go the whole first half, and we were up by one, 38-37 at halftime. I was in a zone in that early part of the game, and I was just under 20 points. Everyone was simply looking at me and I knew that if I was open, someone was going to find me. I went wild. I got 36 points against Fresno State. Had nine rebounds. I wanted 10, because a double-double would be cool but I got beaten up enough under the basket. Move me to the #2, coach! Don't make me play forward!

Patty Clark got suspended for fighting in the game, and Martie (Marta Jaworski) was playing center. She wasn't hitting anything, but she kept getting those rebounds for us - she ended up with 13. We kept trying to fight Fresno State off, and we led by ten at one point in the second half, but they caught up with us and put that press on us. Forced a couple of turnovers, and I was to blame for one of them. #44 (Iesa Blumenfield) hit a shot with six seconds left to tie the game at 72-72 and Coach Ballard is drawing up this play which is as confusing as hell. I'm just nodding my head, trying to pretend that I know what was going on. I just don't want to go into overtime, because I'm out of gas, chucking up bricks near the end.

So we have the last possession and Josie (Josina Costa) takes the inbound and passes the ball to Marta. Marta is looking for Josie again under the basket but can't find her. So Marta, who hasn't hit a shot all night, fires a mid-range jumper with like half-a-second left and she just plants it! Everyone jumps right off the bench. The pep band starts playing "Shadows on the Mountain" and Fresno State's coach is challenging the shot, saying that time expired when Marty hit it.

The band keeps playing "Shadows" while the refs look at the video. Marty took the shot with 0.7 seconds left. The basket is good and the band breaks into "Miners Fight". It was great to have such a great game, but I don't think I was the star. When Marty hit that last second shot, she was the star."

--Brenda Dean



My wife asked me what I got out of playing a card game when video games existed. The above is what I get out of a card game.

I've played very few Statis Pro Basketball games like this one, where the game is very tight all the way through and you feel as if you're slogging you're way through the game. With UTEP up by 10 late in the half, Fresno State began to come back.

There is an option called "PRESS" in the Fast Action Deck. The defense can state they are pressing, and for that offensive possession, the offense must read under the "PRESS" option. Two out of three times, UTEP lost the ball and Fresno State began to turn it on. With just a few cards left, Iesa Blumenfield took a shot off the secondary and hit it, tying the game with just two cards left.

The first card was "Pass to Center" under the ACTION phase, so Marta Jaworski had to shoot off the SECONDARY phase. And with the last card of the game...the shot result is "22". Two points. Game over.

I needed all of my six Home Field Advantage points. I decided this time that I would use those points to keep Brenda Dean from fouling, if a foul ever indicated that Dean got the foul. Dean was hot in the first part of the game, scoring like twelve of the first thirteen points. Down at the end, with two Home Field points yet, Williamette Moss got a forced rest. I could either ignore the forced rest or lose my points or sit her down.

I sat her down. Smart decision.

I had started the game and played it early in the morning during the week before work. By the time Frisco Del Rosario commented on Amie Havener's ability to shoot the three and get the offensive rebound, I was in mid game and I started back up with an offensive possession. I gave her a 3-point attempt, and she missed the shot, I flip over the card, and under rebound, it said, "Offense F1" - Havener. Is that weird or what?

If you look over the box score, you'll notice that both sides took a lot of field goals. I was really trying to give everyone as many 3-point shots as possible, something I've been a little weak on in past games.

Furthermore, Dean got very close to a 40-point game. You don't see 36-point games much in women's basketball. However, playing as the UTEP coach, the great part of the game wasn't Dean's 36 points - it was Jaworski hitting that shot with the final card. That was just sweet.