Second-half surge lifts Ag women
Utah State women’s basketball team closed out its home games for the season as the team overcame an early deficit to win 72-64 against Cal State Fullerton.
After being down by as many as 16 in the first half the Aggies started to execute the last five minutes of the half to go into the locker room down only eight.
“It didn’t seem like we were down that much,” Utah State forward Brittany Tressler said. “We were playing really hard and we knew if we kept playing hard it’s anyone’s game no matter what the score is.”
After the Aggies jumped out to a 6-0 lead, Fullerton went on a 12-0 run and over the next 12 minutes the Titans outscored the Aggies 29-7 with three runs of 12, six and six.
Utah State Head Coach Raegan Pebley said the Aggies couldn’t defend the penetration of the Titans and couldn’t get into their offensive sets quick enough.
From then on the Aggies executed their game plan and went on a 12-4 run.
“Going into half we felt like we were playing hard and we knew what had to be done when we came out,” Utah State guard Kahlie Quinones said.
Within the first five minutes of the second half the Aggies had tied the game at 37.
After that it was a back and forth game that came down to the last minutes thanks to the Aggies not allowing the Titans to make a run.
With three minutes left, after the two teams had switched three pointers, Fullerton had a chance to close to within one of the Aggies but Melanie Mosley missed two free throws to give the Aggies an opening.
The next possession down the floor for the Aggies resulted in a pair of free throws for the Aggies and Ali Aird made one of two to put the Aggies up four.
The next Utah State possession was the key to closing out the victory.
Kahlie Quinones hit a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner to give the Ags a seven-point lead, even though Pebley said she had told the team to look for an inside shot first.
Quinones said she didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to take it but she was confident in that shot going in.
The shot allowed the Aggies to play loose down the stretch.
“When you’re up four you feel a little antsy and you tend to foul sometimes,” Quinones said. “As we got into the game the more confident we were and the less confident they were.”
Down the stretch the Aggies did all the little things to keep the lead and showed their confidence.
Down the stretch, the Aggies made their free throws to win by eight and move closer to securing a first round bye in the conference tournament.
For the game Ali Aird had a double-double scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Five Aggies scored 13 points or more and seven had at least eight. Pebley said she was very happy with the balanced scoring especially as they were heading on the road to close out the season.
The Titans came out shooting in the first half and shot 62 percent from 3-point land to get out to their early lead.
In the second half the Ags held them to just 30 percent to help seal the victory.
With three conference games left the Aggies are one game out of fourth place which would assure them a bye in the first round of the conference tournament in March.
The Aggies need some help from around the league to move into fourth, but the Ags will also need to win out unless Cal State Northridge or Idaho lose the rest of their games.
Utah State will next face Long Beach Thursday night in California. The game tips off at 8:30 p.m.
-krn@cc.usu.edu
Utah State center Ali Aird puts up a shot Saturday against Cal State Fullerton. Aird recorded a double-double and helped spark a second-half rally in the Spectrum. The Aggies won 72-64. (Photo by John Zsiray)