Lady Aggies get crushed on the board at Fresno
Concluding their regular season play, the Lady Aggies suffered a foul-soaked loss to the Fresno State Bulldogs, 71-60, on Saturday in the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif.
USU led off scoring in the first half and hit the floor running. However, it didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to work their way to the front.
With numerous fouling on the part of USU, the Bulldogs shot 21-for-30 from the line during the entire game, giving them just the edge they needed.
Halftime came slowly, giving the Aggies a 10 point deficit, 37-27.
“I think we fought in the first half,” Head Coach Raegan Pebley said in a post-game radio interview. “What we were able to do in the first half is make Fresno, excuse the pun, but call the dogs off a little bit with that on-ball screen, so we were able to get a few things.”
Bulldog junior guard Tierre Wilson led her team with 17 points and 13 rebounds, the makings of a double-double. Wilson was one of three Lady Bulldogs to post double digits. She was joined by senior guard Chantella Perera, who had 15 points and seven rebounds. Rebounding also took a tole on the Aggies, both defensively and offensively. Fresno led in rebounds snared, 50-33. This is the highest amount of rebounds USU has let slip by this season.
Senior forward Brittany Phillips ended with eight boards, a team high, but it was difficult to find a win without doing more to defeat the Bulldogs in rebounding.
“We lost this game tonight because of rebounding,” Pebley said. “We got absolutely slaughtered on the board, which forced us to play defense twice as much as we had to, which forced us into fouling twice as much as we usually do. Against a team like Fresno, that plays right into their hands.”
Junior forward Jenny Gross pulled down six rebounds in the first half but acquired three fouls early on, taking her out of the game for a while.
Gross concluded her 31 minutes of play, managing to stay out of foul trouble for the remainder of the game, by leading her team with 18 points. Along with a career high for Gross, the only other Aggie in double figures was sophomore guard Danyelle Snelgro, who tallied 10 points.
The Aggies shot a 39.3 field-goal percentage, including five 3-pointers. Sophomore forward Lindsey Freeze bolted off the bench in the second half to give her team nine points at a crucial point in the game. USU guards Snelgro and junior Taylor Richards helped in scoring, together totaling 11 assists.
Despite valiant efforts from every Lady Aggie, they were unable to touch the Bulldogs and dropped to 11-198 overall and 7-10 in the Western Athletic Conference. They will assume the their No. 6 seat in the WAC as they make their way to Las Cruces, N.M. Wednesday will mark USU’s first game in the tournament, and the Aggies are looking forward to capturing their first win in conference tournament play.
“We’re ready for whoever is ready for us,” Snelgro said. “We want a good match-up, and we want to play a great game. We want to win our first conference game ever, and we have a great chance to do that.”
-eawads@cc.usu.edu