WAC tourney win eludes Aggies in season of marked improvement
The women’s basketball team concluded its 2006-2007 season with a sixth-seed Western Athletic Conference tournament standing, the highest the program has reached since it was reintroduced to the university for the 2003-2004 season.
Coach Reagan Pebley sent off the first group of players to participate in the program from their freshmen to senior years.
Forwards Brittany Hagen and Brittany Phillips, along with guard Camille Brox, have complete their senior year, all receiving high honors from the basketball program.
Junior guard Taylor Richards contributed largely, being named to the Iowa State Classic all-tournament team and scoring a career-high 26 points early on in the season against Idaho State University.
Richards’ point total following play this season is 850, which puts her at No. 10 on the record board for career scoring.
The Aggies have greatly surpassed their win-loss record compared to last year’s 3-24 total as the ladies brought in 11-17 for their regular season. Their WAC record also saw improvement with 7-9 and a sixth-place finish.
USU lost to California State University-Fresno 71-60 for their final game of the season. Both Phillips and Richards were named WAC players of the week. Phillips finished sixth on the career-scoring list with 892 points.
Hagen finished with a No. 2 ranking for her 111 games played in her career at USU, with Brox right behind her with 109 games played.
As a team the Aggies shot .708 at the free-throw line, making them third in WAC standings. USU also took the eighth place in offensive scoring and sixth place in defensive scoring in the WAC.
This season’s record gave Pebley a record of 33-78 in her 111 games at USU. The Aggies did not manage to bring down a WAC tournament win this season, as they lost to the University of Nevada-Reno in their first game in Las Cruces, N.M.
“The team prepared to be better than last year, and we have a record and statistics that measure their improvements,” Pebley said. “I am proud of how this team showed the ability to stay focused on the process of achieving their goals.”
-eawads@cc.usu.edu