‘Roller-coaster ride’

On the basketball court, traveling can get you into a lot of trouble.

Off the court, it’s one of Ashley Anderson’s favorite things to do.

She and her family have been to Japan, Germany, Hawaii, and Alaska, among other places.

For the 5-foot-9 forward on Utah State women’s basketball team, this season has been quite a journey so far – but one that has brought her closer to home.

Anderson, a native of Hyrum, walked on to the Aggie team after spending last year at Utah Valley State College in Provo.

She first began dreaming of playing at Utah State when she was at Mountain Crest High School.

The day the university program was to be re-established, Anderson went to Raegan Pebley, the new head coach, to ask if she could play here.

The two decided it would be best for Anderson to start her career at UVSC and see what happened from there.

Anderson wanted to play at Utah State “for a lot of different reasons,” she said. “I wanted to come up here for a new experience. I wanted to come here because it’s ‘hometown.’ I like the coaches.”

Anderson kept in touch with Pebley while averaging 4.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game for the Wolverines last year. The coach told her this summer she could walk on at Utah State, so she left UVSC.

It’s been an emotional season for her.

Anderson has witnessed highs – playing in the first women’s basketball game at USU since 1987, and lows – losing 10 straight regular-season games to open the year.

“At the first of the season, we all knew that we had to come out and work hard,” she said. “Like any team, there’s going to be ups and downs, it’s a roller-coaster ride. The first game, that was so emotional because we were all so excited to get started. There’s been ups and downs within the season, like when we haven’t played well, but I feel like overall we haven’t got too down.”

Breaking the losing streak on Christina Zdenek’s buzzer-beating three-pointer against Cal Poly was another high point.

“We were all excited to finally get that win against Cal Poly,” she said. “We just want to stay up and keep working hard and doing well.”

A low of a different kind was the personal challenge Anderson faced when she lost a grandfather she was close to.

She found out Dec. 14 that her grandfather was sick. An exhibition game against UVSC, her former team, was scheduled for Dec. 16.

“I thought it was pretty hard, but my mom and dad said ‘you need to go out and play for him,'” she said. “I already wanted to have a good game since we were playing UVSC, but I think there’s that extra …

“I think he helped me out,” she said.

Anderson responded with her best game of the year up to that time, scoring 12 points.

“He was alive still, [they] put the radio on by him so he could hear it, and I think he knows. He was unconscious, but definitely, I wanted to play well for him, because we were pretty close.”

Her grandfather passed away Dec. 18 while the team was traveling to play Western Michigan and Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne.

“I believe Coach Pebley helped her out a lot in that situation,” said Anderson’s father, Gary.

Ashley’s family is one of the main reasons she wanted to play at USU, she said.

“It’s fun to look up there and see everyone supporting you,” she said. “I wouldn’t be anywhere without them so it’s always fun to have them here.”

Even on the road, Ashley can look to the stands and see some of her hometown crowd.

“[Ashley’s mother Pam and I] try to be to all the games we possibly can,” Gary said.

Gary and Pam hit the road along with Ashley, racking up frequent-flyer miles to support her wherever she plays. Her older brother and sister and their families, and her grandparents also support her at home games.

Travel is nothing new to Gary. He is the international business manager for Molecular Bioproducts, a San Diego-based company, and travels overseas often. But during basketball season, the company knows Gary is unavailable for travel, other than trips to see Ashley play.

“I don’t think there could be a father that could be more proud of his daughter and her determination,” he said.

Ashley’s play is improving.

While she averages 4.7 points and 15.3 minutes per game over the entire season, since conference play began she is averaging 7 points and 21.7 minutes per game.

Ashley scored a career-high 16 points against IP-Fort Wayne Dec. 21, and moved into the starting lineup Dec. 30 at Weber State.

Despite being a walk-on, Anderson knew she could have a shot at starting if she played well.

“Coach Pebley told us when we started practicing in the middle of October that ‘I don’t know who the starters are going to be yet and nothing’s set in stone,'” she said. “I always thought that I could if I worked my hardest.”

Ashley may continue her connection with athletics even after she’s done playing basketball. The business department at USU was another reason she wanted to come to USU.

Her post-basketball goals include working in marketing, Ashley said, maybe in marketing for a college athletics department.

“That would be a fun job, to deal with athletics at the university level,” she said.

-royburton@cc.usu.edu