Christensen, Brown combine to beat Wolf Pack
Sparked by an aggressive first half run and high tempo offense, Utah State (8-8, 2-1 WAC) stymied Nevada (13-4, 2-2) Saturday afternoon, dominating the Wolf Pack 81-69 and proving the Aggies can challenge anyone in conference play.
USU sophomore Devyn Christensen came off the bench to lead the Aggies, recording a career–high 24 points in what Aggie head coach Raegan Pebley described as the ultimate “team effort.”
“Great win for our program,” Pebley said. “I thought tonight was literally a total team effort. Fourteen of our 14 dress players played in the first half, and I think 13 of our 14 played in the second half. It just really allowed us to stay more fresh.”
Coming off a 10-point loss to Fresno State last week, the Aggies unleashed a blitzkrieg on the Wolf Pack to begin the game. Nevada jumped out to an early 4-2 after two minutes, but struggled to get anything going as USU roared back with an 18-point run which saw Christensen and junior forward Ashlee Brown lead the way on offense and defense.
“That was fun,” Christensen said. “It’s fun to watch and fun to be a part of. Basketball is a game of runs and when you get big ones like that – 18 and 0 – that’s just fun basketball to play.”
The Aggie defense, high-tempo and opportunistic, especially frustrated Nevada guard Tahnee Robinson and forward Shavon Moore, who each turned the ball over six times despite finishing the game in double-digits for total points. Brown said it was the Aggies’ ability to transition to the offensive end off those turnovers and convert them into points which sparked the 18-point run.
“The points that we had, we had a lot of deflections and a lot of steals,” Brown said. “We converted on those steals and that’s always a great thing to do.”
Nevada came into the game amid one of the team’s best starts in program history. The team – picked to finish third in the preseason media and coaches polls – has won 10 of its last 12 games, including notching back to back conference wins the past two weeks.
But even past success couldn’t help the Wolf Pack dig itself out of the hole against the Aggies. While Nevada would close the gap to 42-31 by halftime, the team met staunch resistance from a high-flying Aggie defense and up-tempo offense every time momentum began to swing.
“That was huge,” Pebley said of her team’s response to each Nevada mini-run. “That (shows) a lot of growth from our team… . It was good to see us respond to their runs.”
One of the reasons USU was able to continually keep the Wolf Pack at arm’s length was the play of the bench. Christensen led the charge, and aside from hitting 50 percent from the field, also hit three of five from 3-point land and seven of eight at the line.
“She was killing at the free throw line,” Brown said of her teammate. “Devyn is just a great bench player. She comes off the bench and she brings a spark – defensively and offensively. She’s a shooter who people need to start respecting.”
Nevada shot better from the floor than USU (45.8 percent to USU’s 39.1) but the difference turned out to be turnovers and total scoring opportunities. Nevada turned the ball over 25 times to the Aggies’ 13, with the Wolf Pack gaining only six points from 3-point shooting to USU’s 18 points off 3-pointers. Brown said the win shows that USU – picked to finish second-to-last in the preseason coaches poll – can compete at the very top of the WAC.
“We weren’t picked to win the conference, of course, but we have our goals set high and the bar is really high,” Brown said.
USU will have a chance to prove that the bar has been raised even higher when they travel to Ruston, La. this Thursday to take on the conference-leading Lady Techsters (11-5, 3-0). The Lady Techsters are coming off a triple-overtime win on the road against Fresno State to take over first place in the WAC, and will present a challenge for Pebley’s team as the Aggies continue to stress playing 40 minutes of aggressive basketball.
“We’re ready,” Brown said. “La-Tech is a gym that’s hard to play in, but we’re going to prepare and our coaches are going to set up a gameplan that’s going to get what we need to get done.”
Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. (MST).
– adam.nettina@aggiemail.usu.edu
SOPHOMORE DEVYN CHRISTENSEN (LEFT) and junior Ashlee Brown combined to score 46 points against Nevada Saturday in a 81-69 win over the Wolf Pack. The Aggies improved to 2-1 in WAC play and evened their season record at 8-8. Brown was also named the USU Student Athlete of the Week. TODD JONES photos