Lady Aggies looking to repeat defeat of Pack
Lady Aggie basketball faces the University of Nevada Wolf Pack on March 1 for the second time in their Western Athletic Conference season.
Nevada pushed first place-seated Boise State University to a second place ranking with their upset win of 81-70 on Feb. 24. Senior point guard Traci Graham led her team with 22 points. Graham, who had been named WAC Player of the Week for Feb. 26, was one of three Wolf Pack players to put double digits on the board.
“I know they’re going to be ready to play,” USU Head Coach Raegan Pebley. “We have to come out and play really well, inspire aggressive smart basketball against Nevada.”
At their previous meeting with Nevada, the Aggies dominated with a 59-44 final score. USU senior forward Brittany Phillips topped the team’s scoring with 17 points and also pulled down eight rebounds. Concluding with a 39.7 field goal percentage, the Aggies were able to keep the game in their favor throughout most of the game.
USU fell to Louisiana Tech University last Saturday 71-58 in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum for their senior night. Phillips took the lead once more with her 17 points, followed by junior forward Jenny Gross with 14. In her 38 minutes of play, junior guard Taylor Richards managed eight rebounds for her team and 10 points.
“With Nevada, we match up a little bit better to them,” Pebley said, “so our posts and our forwards should be rebounding better. We have a much better chance of winning statistically when you look at us, if we out-rebound our opponents, and our team knows that. It’s always a key to victory.”
USU expects the Wolf Pack to come out stronger. They will have more fire after getting beat so badly in the Spectrum, Richards said. The Aggies are ranked sixth in the WAC with their 7-7 record, just two down from the Wolf Pack with 9-5. In a preseason media poll, the Wolf Pack ranked fourth in the WAC while USU was placed in the No. 9 position.
Against the Aggies, the Wolf Pack will be looking to continue a three-game winning streak that began with their defeat of San Jose State Univeristy 70-52 on Feb. 17. The Wolf Pack will be celebrating their own senior night while hosting the Aggies, as this will be their last game at home in the Lawlor Event Center this season.
“I feel like we’ve played against teams with momentum all year,” Pebley said. “At this point in the season, it’s coming out and just playing good solid basketball – not trying to be too emotional – just play a game and come out with a win if you can.”