Aggies face stiffest of tests in Round 1
Mark Trakh had heard all kind of conflicting advice on what to say about another NCAA Tournament for his New Mexico State Aggie women.
It’s three years running that the 24-6 Aggies have qualified, albeit with a very low seed assigned to play a very high seed right off the bat. In this case, NMSU is seeded 15th, Stanford (28-5) is seeded second in the Lexington Regional, and they tip it off Saturday in Manhattan, Kan.
Say things like the Aggies are just going out to do their best, he’s been told, then that’s “sending the wrong message” of a defeatist. On the other hand, “if you say we’re going to beat them, then people say, ‘Coach is delusional.’” Trakh said Wednesday.
Trakh prefers the second tack, but he leans only slightly that way. His preference is to state what’s obvious to him — a game against coach Tara Vanderveer and the Cardinal represents a tall order — so much so that “everybody on our team is going to have cricks in their necks from looking up.
“They’re big, strong, they’re Pac-12 (tournament) champions coached by a Hall of Fame coach,” Trakh said. “Great kids, great program.”
The elite nature of the Stanford program, which Vanderveer has led to national titles in 1990 and 1992, has been clear to Trakh for many years, and never more so than his time coaching Southern Cal (200409). “They were tough to recruit against,” Trakh recalled. “We thought we had one kid from my hometown and we couldn’t get her because Stanford wanted her.”
Stanford’s roster of 13 players includes players from Virginia to California to Canada to points between — including Albuquerque. Sophomore Alexa Romano has played in 20 games and 131 minutes total, the most in a 14-minute, six-point performance in December against Yale.
SEND-OFF: Aggie fans are invited to send off the team today at 12:45 p.m. from the Pan American Center. The Aggies Roadrunner Revue band and spirit squad will be part of the gathering. … Tickets to the game are available at the Pan Am ticket office or calling 575-646-1420.