Ag women basketball keep on rolling
Camille Brox and Taylor Richards played intense defense in the Aggies’ 61-57 win over Cal-State Northridge Saturday night in the Spectrum. The backcourt duo helped force 23 turnovers and gave the team a spark when it needed one. Brox pressured the ball up and down the floor in the first half, deflecting passes from the Matador’s guards. At one point, she swatted a shot into the third row. For much of the first half, Richards was on the bench in foul trouble. “I try to play as hard as I can,” Brox said. “I know that’s what the team needs from me, and that’s to play defense and get the team riled up.” Brox’s play in the first half fired up her teammates, including Richards as she came out on fire for the second half. The Aggies started the second half on a 15-6 run and gained a lead that they would never give up. Richards scored all 14 of her points in the second half as well as pressuring the Northridge guards up and down the court. “I knew I had to play hard from the beginning to get myself back in the flow of the game,” Richards said. Richards also cemented the lead in the waning seconds as she sank three of four free throws from the line to keep it a two-possession game. “Those free throws at the end were really important,” Utah State head coach Raegan Pebley said. “The three-point cushion helped us on defense.” The game was close throughout with Northridge taking the lead early on with an 11-0 run, then the Aggies came back with their staunch defense and Brittany Hagen’s nine first-half points. “We had the inside game and we had the outside game,” Utah State center Ali Aird said. “It was a good variety scoring wise.” Aird was the main inside game finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds, five of which were offensive. After Northridge’s LaJoyce King made a couple easy baskets to start the game Aird and the rest of the Aggies stepped up their defense. Aird had four blocks in the half to help limit the Matadors to 27 points at halftime. Aird was called for a technical foul in the second half after complaining about the referee’s call on a loose ball. The Matadors leading scorer Ofa Tulikihihifo was held to just two points in the first half but finished the game with 17, scoring half of Northridge’s points in the second half. Halfway through the second half the Matadors tied the game at 44 after an 8-0 run erased the Aggies’ biggest lead of the game. From there on out Richards and Aird scored 15 of the Aggies’ 17 points to keep the Matadors out of striking distance in the final minute. The win was the third in a row for the Aggies, a major step as their next two games will be on the road against Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside. “We’ve got a tough battle coming ahead,” Pebley said. “We wanted to get a winning record in conference before we hit the road.”-krn@cc.usu.edu
Utah State´s Camille Brox guards a CS Northridge player in the Aggie´s 61-57 win over the Matadors Saturday in the Spectrum. (Photo by John Zsiray)